I'm fairly new to the coffee world, having just recently purchased my first espresso machine.

I have ordered some coffee from online roasters (Black Cat, Hairbender) and there is a small micro-roaster down the street from my home (Joe Bella's). I've tried everything our local place has, and I'm starting to develop a palate for coffee. Detecting major differences, putting a name to the nuances, etc. I'm fairly experienced in the wine and beer tasting world, so I'm no stranger to developing a palate.

I'd like to find a way to expose myself to a wide variety of coffees. I'm going to have to go through an online roaster, as I'm far away from any big roasters.

I figure I could just buy coffee at random, or select award winning coffees, read reviews, and do that.

My vision is a subscription service that automatically ships you a pound a week, or 2 pounds every other week (or some similar quantity) and includes a background on the coffee, similar to winemakers notes. I guess I should specify that I want coffee for espresso primarily.

I've found a few possibilities, and I'd love some feedback:

• Sweet Maria's Espresso Workshop - I'm not sure exactly how this works. Do they auto bill, or do you buy each time? I like the discussions of the coffee. This seems like a great way to learn.
  
• Roaste Espresso Tour - This seems kind of cheesy, and low on information. Any feedback?

Thanks for any help you might have!

I am on a tour myself. How do you do that?

Go through this list start from top to bottom:

List of our favorite Roasters

Simple

Not sure if you are interested in going the home roasting route, but that's certainly a good way to go to test a lot of different beans as you can buy a few pounds of each of a number of bean types at a time and roast as needed, thus keeping fresh. Can't do that with roasted coffee as it would get stale if you bought more than a couple of pounds total at a time. On the downside you miss out on pro roasted coffee (of course, with practice you may just prefer your own).

darilon wrote:Not sure if you are interested in going the home roasting route, but that's certainly a good way to go to test a lot of different beans as you can buy a few pounds of each of a number of bean types at a time and roast as needed, thus keeping fresh. Can't do that with roasted coffee as it would get stale if you bought more than a couple of pounds total at a time. On the downside you miss out on pro roasted coffee (of course, with practice you may just prefer your own).

I definitely want to roast in the future! I think in the next 6 months or year I'll go that route. I'd like to get a good sense of what professionals think coffee should be, before I try to roast my own. Thanks for the suggestion!

If you want to develop your palate for coffee and are already into wine, I'd stear clear of the blends and look into Single Origin, so you'll get a view on terroir and differences in taste based on geographical placing. Start with one from each continent (one from Honduras, one from Colombia, one from Kenya and one from India perhaps) and then you'll get an overview. There are big differences between, say a Kenyan and an Ethiopian, and a Honduras and an El Salvador, but as a said, start with each continent and work from there. You will also get a better overview when seeing the content of a blend, what to expect

I think a good bet might be a subscription from

http://www.gocoffeego.com/

They represent 15 roasters - among whom are some of the country's most respected (granted - there are some great roasters who don't work through GoCoffeeGo, but the ones who do are all good and well vetted)

Generally, this is considered a bit kinky, but if no one else is around, no harm will be done.

In any event, I'd suggest lowering all the window shades and blinds, just to be safe.

Hope this helps.

ken

Ah, see? And I refrained from posting, "Well, you start by getting a used trench coat . . . . "

*groan* Poor form, Ken. You're encouraging mopery, after all...

alyce wrote:start with each continent and work from there.

+1.

When I started roasting, I purposely limited myself to the Sidamo region, not only to get a sense of the typical flavor profile, but also to baseline my roasts against well-known pros. IMO it's a great way to learn how your particular roasting device works.

-s.