There's NO Excuse For Bad Coffee!!!
Types of Coffee
Estate, Single Origin Coffees
Estate coffees are grown, harvested, processed and bagged by a single company or at a single facility. This usually results in high quality coffees, as the entire process is carefully controlled. However, this does not mean that estate coffees are always of a higher quality than non-estate coffees.
 
Single origin coffees are those that come from a specific geographic region (e.g., a Costa Rica Tarrazu or a Sumatra Mandheling). All estate coffees are single origin coffees, but very few single origin coffees are estate coffees.
 
A varietal is a type, or sub-species, of coffee plant (e.g., yellow catuai, red catuai, bourbon, tipica, etc.). Different varietals are popular in different geographic regions.
 
A blend is a mixture of different coffees aimed at producing a specific taste (e.g., blending a Costa Rica for it’s acidity and body with a Sulawesi for its richness and earthiness). Straights are best served as brewed coffee, while blends are a must for espresso and are often used for brewed coffee as well.
 
Arabica vs. Robusta
Coffee Arabica and coffee Robusta are the two primary species of plants used in commercially harvested coffees. Arabicas grow at higher altitudes and have a more refined flavor, while Robustas are harsher in taste and grow at lower elevations. In almost all cases, Arabica coffees are of a higher quality, but there are a few notable exceptions. Because robustas provide a better crema in espresso, a number of growers have cultivated high quality Robusta varietals for use in espresso blends. These robustas are commonly used in Italy, and there are a small number of American roasters who have followed in the footsteps of the Italians. Robustas have about twice as much caffeine as Arabicas, they are much more bitter, and they lack the full flavor of Arabicas. Robustas are the most commonly used coffee found in the inexpensive cans on your grocer’s shelves.
 
By the way, since all coffee “degasses” carbon dioxide while it is still fresh (this lasts about 7-10 days), the only way to can coffee without the can exploding from gas pressure build up is to make sure that the coffee is stale before sealing the can. Thus, all coffee that you buy in a can is stale. Specialty coffee roasters get around this problem by bagging the coffee in degassing bags that have a one-way valve. Gasses can escape, but air cannot get in.

Decaffeinated Coffee
There are two types of decaffeinated coffees. One uses the Swiss Water Process, and the other uses the solvent process. Both processes are performed while the coffee beans are in their green state. Decaffeinated coffees are not 100% caffeine free, but are close.
 
The Swiss Water Process involves using a flavor charged water to remove the caffeine from the beans;
no chemicals are involved. The solvent process steams the beans to loosen the caffeine molecules, then soaks them in water mixed with the solvent. The solvent evaporates at low temperatures, and is further burned off in the roasting process.
 
At Capitola Coffee Roasters, we use either the Swiss Water Process® or a non-chemical process , as most consumers are hesitant to drink something that was treated with solvents.
 
Sustainable Coffee
Sustainable Coffee is the catch-all term used to describe the efforts of numerous people and organizations who are trying to promote organic, shade grown and fair trade coffees as a means of helping both the environment and the farmers who harvest coffee. Following is a brief description of each of these terms.
 
Fair Trade
Fair Trade is an innovative concept first begun in Europe in the early 1990s in which coffee producers and coffee consumers are connected in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Currently, the price of coffee on the world market is so low that in many countries it costs farmers more to produce their product than they can earn by selling it. For this reason, thousands of farmers have had to abandon coffee as a source of income and have turned elsewhere for sustenance.
 
Buying Fair Trade Certified coffees ensures that the small-scale farmers who grow and process these beans receive a fair price for their efforts. This enables farmers to care for themselves, their families,
and their communities while reinvesting in the care and quality of their coffee. Fair Trade Organizations encourage producers to engage in environmentally friendly practices that manage and use local resources in a sustainable manner. In addition, the middleman is cut out so that the cost of coffee for the consumer does not increase. Public accountability is ensured through the use of an independent third party that certifies all Fair Trade coffees sold in the United States.
 
For more information on Fair Trade, please visit www.transfairusa.org
 
Organic
Organic coffees are grown entirely without pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers. They are also often shade grown—interspersed with other plants—to preserve vanishing wildlife habitat and discourage erosion.
 
Unfortunately, many farmers in developing nations use toxic chemicals to control pests and kill weeds,
and since many of these same farmers are illiterate, they are unaware of the levels of toxicity of the products they are using. These chemicals include DDT, Paraquat, 2,4-D (Agent Orange), and Thiodan. Some of these chemicals have killed people working in the coffee fields, and they are also responsible
for the demise of many birds and fish.
 
By purchasing organic coffee, you are encouraging farmers to improve their own health and that of their environment.
 
For more information on organic coffee, please visit http://www.orcacoffee.org/
 
Shade Grown
When coffee first arrived in Latin America, farmers simply thinned patches of rainforest and planted coffee bushes under the forest canopy. In recent years however, agronomists have promoted the planting of coffee in open fields without any shade trees. These full-sun farms produce more coffee beans, but at
a terrible cost to the environment, as these open fields are now devoid of other trees or wildlife. Mexico loses a million acres of forest every year. An equal amount is destroyed annually in Central America.
 
This destruction of the native tropical forests is leading to the decimation of migratory songbird habitat. Warblers, tanagers, thrushes and orioles are in trouble for many reasons, but primarily from deforestation in the tropics, where they spend the winter. The survival of these birds is at stake.
 
By purchasing shade grown coffee, you are casting your vote for biodiversity. As more shade grown coffee is sold, pressure will mount on farmers to cease the deforestation of the land.