Gourmet Coffees For Coffee Lovers, A Review
Posted: Wednesday, March 04, 2009
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
I used to wonder how manufacturers of foods could produce a product that consistently tasted the same. And you can believe it or not, it is difficult to do, especially in such things as coffee or teas, jellies, peanut butters, and so on.
There are numerous factors which must be strictly controlled, not only the recipe and method of making the finished product, but the growing of the raw products. And even that is not simple. The soil, the climate, the fertilizer, method of growing and even the altitude has an effect on many crops.
I tasted it a few times as a small lad, and didn't like it. By the time I was nearing adulthood, I had been stuck with a cup now and then and had learned to accept it.
But when I was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953, you had a choice of beverages for breakfast, coffee or bring your own water. So I drank coffee, and soon learned to like it. I still have to admit, the army had good coffee. Not gourmet, or near the best I ever drank, but nevertheless, good. By the time my tour was over, I absolutely loved the stuff. So, for much of my adult life, coffee has been my choice of beverages. My liquid intake has been about half water and half coffee, with maybe 0.5% a mix of carbonated cola drinks and juices. I detest tea and most alcoholic drinks, and even the alcohol drinks that I half-way like, I don't drink.
The problem with becoming a coffeeholic is that you become a connoisseur of coffees. I judge the quality of a cafe by the taste of it's coffee, rather than price. But the price can, very early, keep me from enjoying it and can stop me from returning to that restaurant. Now don't get me wrong, I have not tasted more than a small sampling of the vastly different coffees on the market, so all I can do is size up the ones I have tasted.
Coffee is grown, at least to any commercial degree, in only a few countries and almost all of them have mountainous regions where their coffee is grown. It appears that the fertile soils from the slopes of volcanoes offers the best soil for coffee as well as the higher altitude which gives a more stable temperature and proper moisture for growing the beans. Some of the best known countries are Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Columbia, Brazil, Jamaica, Hawaii, Kenya, Puerto Rico, Ethiopia, India and other smaller producers adding up to about 70 countries. It is a huge worldwide industry. It is estimated that there were over 100 million sacks of coffee beans sold to coffee companies in 1998
Starbucks is possibly the best known chain of coffee shops. They are, in my opinion, overrated. They serve excellent coffee, but not the best I have tasted. And it is very expensive. I have purchased their brand of several blends and paid 3 or 4 times as much for it as Folgers or Maxwell House, yet I could find little difference in taste quality. I classify coffee in 4 categories, good, great, outstanding and "hysterically" fantastic!
One night in sleet and snow, my wife and I were going through the Tennessee-North Carolina mountains headed for Charlotte when we came to an Inn which my memory wants to say "Lemon Tree Inn" but I have since been unable to find any listing or such name of one in that area. We stopped to get a cup of coffee and we were about to freeze. They ground the beans for the two cups of coffee and you could smell the aroma 20 feet away. That was undoubtedly the most hysterically fantastic cup of coffee I have ever had! I don't have a clue as to what brand, roast, or blend it was but it was some more good! As they express it in some parts of southeastern North Carolina it was "fit'n".
Then, a few years ago, I did some volunteer work in a church office for a while when some good soul donated a case of S&D coffee packets. The packets did not have any specific blend or name of the coffee, only the S&D logo. It was the most delicious of any I had tasted other than the one lone cup atop the Tennessee mountains. I tried to find the donor, to no avail, tried to find a distributor in our area, to no avail, and had about given up. I tried Gevalia, very good coffee, tried some of Folgers "gourmet" blends, very good coffee and several other specialty coffees, but found none as tasty as those of S&D's. So recently, I looked them up on the internet and to my distress, found that they have dozens of coffees, and I still have no clue as to what those donated packets were.
Nevertheless, I contacted one of their customer service ladies and discussed my dilemma with her and asked if there was a way that I might get a sample of a couple of most popular route sales coffees. She recommended that I try for one, their Traditional Gourmet, which I did, and also asked for one of their Columbian Gourmet samples as well. When they came and I tried them, eureka! They both hit my top category of classifications on taste. Absolutely mouth wateringly fantastic. Strangely, it seemed that they still were not hardly up to those I tasted from that donated case. But close enough! I have since ordered a retail bag of the Traditional Gourmet, a retail bag of another of their "Buffalo & Spring" Columbian Supremo blend and two single pot packets of their "regular" Columbian grind which I have tried already and find it as good as your regular store brands, but not up to their own gourmet blends I first received. I have yet to try the Buffalo and Springs Bag.
But I am thankful that I have found either of the two gourmet blends which will suffice to satisfy my coffee cravings. They come in about any size you might want to order. Some come in 12 oz. Bags, some 14 oz. And either ground or whole bean. And most if not all, may be purchased by the case of 42/ 1.5oz. Packets. Once I have tried most of their possible blends that match those in the donor's case, I plan to order the case lots of 42 pkts. You may find them by simply putting S&D Coffee into Google's search window. Their home office and production facilities are located in Concord, North Carolina. These people have route sales in larger cities where they supply stores and businesses with coffee for their own use, plus they have a retail facility where individuals may order by phone or by mail. Not only do they maintain a wide variety of coffees but they also have teas and specialty gift baskets, and other related products. Visit their website at: http://www.sndcoffee.com/about/. Incidentally, I have no connection with this company, I am not paid or compensated in any way and have no ulterior motive for building their coffee up rather than it has me hysterical at the moment. I guess I'll go brew me another pot.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Great article Joel, and yes, I am a coffee lover myself since the "Navy Days". I have my cup every morning, and take some to work with me. My favorite is Folgers coffee, I just love their coffee, and I have been drinking it for years. My wife likes that brand as well, and we both drink allot of coffee. Very interest about he different kinds though, I had never really thought about it I guess, but that is allot of sacks of coffee to produce. wow. Really like the article, good read, and now I"M set for a cup myself.....Your fan, and friend in pen.....Gary.Thanks Gary for your nice comments. I also have been a regular Folgers fan. They possibly have the best "grocery shelf" coffee there is. But, there are some of the more expensive coffees which are far better. I can't afford them. But this S&D Traditional Gourmet is sooooo much better and isn't all that expensive. I have calculated it and I can brew an 8 cup pot of it for about 50 cents. That is a bout 6 cents per coffee machine cup, or about 12 cents for a normal mug. That isn't anything near what a can of cola costs and many people drink that instead. So I have decided to go for broke, and really "hysterically" enjoy my coffee.
Joel,I hadn't seen your articles in the last week, looked you up and Voila! an article on coffee -- certainly one of my favorite subjects. As a coffee aficionado, I will, at some point, write an article about my search for the perfect cup of coffee as well.Your comment about Starbucks? My first attempt at this brew was at an airport and it tasted burned! Those that are not burned are, in my opinion, somewhat bitter. It takes a lot of sugar and cream to get that one down my throat! I will never understand the draw for Starbucks and those willing (and wanting) to pay the price.Job well done, Joel. Many thanks,NancyNancy, I agree completely with you on all of this. Especially Starbucks. I failed to plaster them in my article, only because I have never had a cup of their brew in one of their shops. My only contact with them was three bags I purchased (one at a time) in stores. I, like you, could not imagine anyone paying a premium price for such. Of course, I love coffee, and as the old saying goes, when it's bad, it is still pretty good.Thanks for the comment.
hi joel,i also am addicted to coffee, but have only used maxwell house.i am going to see my son graduate from the airforce academy on saturday in texas. when i get back, i may have to try some of these coffees.thanks for sharing this with us,my best regards,sueThanks for commenting Susan, I guess I might be a little fanatical about coffee, but when you just don't care for any other beverage, I guess one just naturally gets to craving good coffee, or whatever the beverage that he does like.
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