I roast all of my coffees via Ohio’s cottage foods law, meaning that I cannot sell them online or mail them; however, you can find my coffee via the Miami County Locally Grown virtual farmer’s market or by purchasing it from me directly. I also deliver within 25 miles of Pleasant Hill, Ohio as determined by Google Maps directions. What to know more? Contact me.
Any of my coffees can be roasted to any roast. The roast listed with the variety is the one I have selected, but several of the ones I carry work at various roasts. Interested in knowing more? Don’t hesitate to ask.
Varieties and Prices – About Coffee – About Roasting – Roasts – Terms
Varieties and Prices
Brazilian, Natural Process, Commodity, Full City roast
A neutral, full body coffee with low acidity and a classic coffee flavor. Some claim this variety tastes like what coffee should taste like. At Full City, this coffee retains its flavor without adding the bitter notes of a darker roast.
1/2lb: $8 – 1lb: $16
Columbian, Decaffeinated, Commodity, Full City Roast, Espresso roast
A sweet, floral coffee with medium body. This is a pleasant coffee to drink even if you don’t normally drink decaffeinated coffees.
1/2lb: $9 – 1lb: $17
Espresso Blend, Traditional Northern Italian recipe, Espresso roast
This is a classic espresso blend following a recipe used in northern Italy since the early 17th century, roasted to espresso roast for the complexity of flavor and texture. This coffee benefits from aging after being roasted, and I recommend letting the grounds rest for a day or so in the air after grinding for the full effect if making proper espresso.
1/2lb: $8 – 1lb: $16
Ethiopian, Yirgacheffe, Regional, Commodity, American roast
1/2lb: #8 – 1lb: $16
Guatemalan, Via Herminia, Regional, Full City roast
With hints of chocolate, flowers, and new mown grass, this medium body coffee is among the most flavorful I roast. The Full City roast preserves the complexity of flavor, but a Vienna roast can add a pleasing emphasis of sweetness.
1/2lb: $8 – 1lb: $16
House Blend, Full City roast
1/2lb: $9 – 1lb: $17
Indian, Monsooned Malabar, Regional, Commodity, City roast
1/2lb: $10 – 1lb: $20
Mexican, Turqueza Estate, Estate, Vienna roast
1/2lb: $8 – 1lb: $16
Peruvian, Fair Trade, Organic, Commodity, Vienna roast
1/2lb: $11 – 1lb: $22
Sumatran, Estate, Full City roast
1/2lb: $10 – 1lb: $20
Tanzanian, Peaberry, Mt Meru, Regional, Commodity, Full City roast
1/2lb: $8 – 1lb: $16
About Coffee
What we think of as coffee is the dried bivalve seed of the fruit of an evergreen perennial bush related to holly, known by its scientific name as Coffea Arabica. While the origins of coffee are shrouded in history, legend holds it was first discovered by Ethiopian shepherds in the region where the wild plant is native and abundant. It may have been cultivated by as early as the first century BC, but for certain, growers had established estates and trade routes from the Mocha region in Yemen by the early 15th century.
The coffee production process is a complex and lengthy one, starting with growing the plant itself. Coffee seeds incubate slowly, taking as long as six months to sprout, and require a peculiar mix of light, sandy, moist soil. Once sprouted, the bush can take from three to seven years to mature.
Mature bushes produce either an annual or twice annual crop of small fruits referred to as cherries. The seed of this cherry is the coffee bean. The bean itself is bivalve, meaning it has two halves, although the peaberry variety has only one half. The cherries must be harvested when ripe, then they are either pulped to liberate the bean or dried to release the bean. The freed bean must itself be further dried.
Once dry, we now have green coffee. We then roast the green bean to one of several levels of darkness.
The final step in the process is to grind the bean into grounds, pour 180-200 degree water over them, and let the tincture steep. The resulting liquor is what we think of as coffee, enjoyed by billions around the world everyday.
Coffee is a commodity crop, grown in the tropics around the world and representing a significant part of the GDP in nearly every country where it is grown. It has one of the largest distribution networks of any commodity crop and boasts being the only crop with dedicated outlets for the sale of its final product. (top)
About Roasting
There are a variety of different ways to roast coffee ranging from everything from using a plain old skillet to an air popcorn popper to expensive gas drum roasters and fluid air bed roasters. I use three different consumer grade electric drum roasters similar to a counter top chicken rotisserie.
The coffee roasting process is a little complex, taking the beans from room temperature to as high as 480ish degrees–beyond that, the coffee tends to literally catch on fire. During the roasting process, the beans undergo several dramatic changes through several stages.
The first stage is cinnamon, where the beans transition from green to yellow as they begin to release trapped gasses and water. This is the stage where first crack begins and is also the first brewable level of roast for some coffees
The second state is first crack, where the beans begin to swell to as much as double the original size. The beans begin to turn various, darkening colors of brown and emit a faint crackling sound reminiscent of quietly crumpling paper.
First crack flows into second crack. By this point, the beans are deep brown, and the center seam of each half of the bivalve splits, emitting a sound like cracking nuts. This step can be quite loud and can sometimes cause individual beans to explode into pieces.
From second, crack, the bean begins to turn black as its stored sugars begin to caramelize. This process expels oils stored in the bean, making the beans shiny and wet looking.
Continuing to heat the beans will cause the oil to burn away, first a bright black bean, then a dull black bean. Heating beyond this point will cause the surface of the bean to start to char, and beyond 490 degrees, the bean may catch on fire. (top)
Roasts
Cinnamon: the lightest roast where the coffee can be brewed and so named because of the faint cinnamon smell some coffees give off at this level of roast. The beans are still hard, though lighter green than when raw. Few coffees lend themselves to this roast. (top)
American: so named from the era when Americans still roasted their coffee indoors in cast iron pots or skillets. The coffee is just barely browned. Typically, American roast comes just before second crack or when the coffee just starts to smoke. (top)
City:
Full City:
Vienna:
Espresso:
French:
Italian:
Terms
Blend:
Commodity: This coffee is a blend of coffees from the same country or growing region
Estate: This coffee comes from a specific coffee estate (farm) in a specific growing region
Fair Trade:
Natural Process: This coffee is air dried while the beans are still in the cherry, then the dried cherry is knocked off using some kind of shaking device. This process tends to give the coffee a milder flavor and often leaves the beans less acidic.
Organic:
Regional: This coffee comes from a specific growing region
Strictly Hard Bean (SHB): Along with Strictly High Grown, Strictly Hard Bean is a term used to describe coffees grown at altitudes above 4500 feet, resulting in a denser, harder, more flavor filled bean. A secondary effect of this growing choice is that the coffee often grows above the native treeline, meaning it the plants do not require deforestation.