Specialty Coffees

Whole Bean Varieties

I rightfully place the entire blame on my twin brother for my love of specialty coffees. Several years back he extolled the pleasures of using a whole bean variety of a specialty coffee. He explained the advantage of using a burr mill grinder for the particular coffee he was brewing. Only the amount needed for brewing a pot of coffee was ground at the time.

Great tasting coffee was the purpose for doing it this way. Well, I was fine with any coffee I drank. My taste buds required my adding sugar and creamer to the cup. Any coffee.

And, I knew this was a passing fancy for my brother, that in a year or two there would be no more praising the advantages of using specialty coffees.

After a couple years had passed I realized my brother was still serious about using the whole bean variety of coffees that he personally selected. Shortly thereafter I was in Costco and saw a burr mill coffee grinder offered at a nicely reduced price. I thought, "what the heck, it is time to give all this a try."

Old Bisbee Roasters in Arizona was my first experience in ordering a specialty coffee. Such coffees are 100% Arabica. They are "Fair Trade" coffees from the region they are grown. Old Bisbee roasts your beans at the time of ordering. Buying two one-pound bags gets free shipping by USPS Priority Mail.

While awaiting my shipment's arrival my brother suggested that for my first cup to add only creamer, skipping the sugar for my first taste. I followed his recommendation and added only creamer to my first cup of specialty coffee. And… w0w… OMG, "this is delicious." Never again did I add sugar to my coffee. Needless to say, I am totally spoiled. I cannot drink restaurant coffee [totally awful].

My fist order from Old Bisbee was the Guatemalan, as well as Ethiopian Sidamo Guji Natural. Since then I have also tried Bali Blue Krishna, Burundi Shembati, Costa Rica La Rosa, and Sumatra Takengon Mandheling. Locally, Starbuck's Komodo Dragon is a nice blend.

Getting the best price per pound is my goal when parting with the extra cost for a specialty coffee. Great tasting coffee is always worth the extra cost.