Posts Tagged ‘Coffee Roast Level Chart’

An interview with Lisa Rotenberg of Rocketfuelcoffee by GCPuffs.com

Cigars and coffee have been matched together as long as they have been making cigars and growing coffee beens. The rich taste of the cigar matched with a succulent cup of coffee starts the day for many as well as anytime of the day. One of the hottest brands out today is Rocket Fuel Coffee, owned by Lisa Rotenburg, and has a variety of coffees to fit every taste. Lisa took a moment recently to sit a chat with GCPuffs.



G.C. Thanks Lisa for taking time for us,how did you start in the coffee world?

L.R. As an illustrator and graphic designer, I was looking for a business I could run from home that would make use of my extensive portfolio of illustrations and paintings. I have been painting for about 15 years. Every painting is recorded as a high resolution scan and can be used as licensed property – cards, posters, you name it.  I saw a coffee company for sale but realized I did not have to buy anything I could start the site myself based on my experience as a graphic designer, a Power Seller on eBay and an entrepreneur. I found a supplier here in Toronto and went to CoffeeFest in Chicago to learn about the industry. My husband Matthew is a CEO and chartered accountant and fabulous mentor. We both happen to love coffee. The rest is pretty much learning as I have gone along and here three years later, we have http://www.rocketfuelcoffee.com/.

G.C. You often talk about cigars, how long have you enjoyed them?

L.R. About 4 years ago Matthew brought home a couple of cigars from a golf tournament. We tried them on our back porch and liked them but it was way too strong for me. We visited a shop near us and I tried a vanilla “thing” and we started being regular customers, moving into Cuban mild cigars, buying a small humidor. When I opened my coffee business, we became more interested in these premium topics such as Single Malt Scotch, cigars, and steaks.
Two years ago I became very active on coffee forums on the internet, even moderating one of them. I am very active on Facebook and Twitter, with literally thousands of contacts combined in these venues. Last year I figured it out that cigar folks might become coffee customers if I joined their forums. It is risky as they don’t much like a female in there too much – and I am the only one most of the time. But I am trying my best to hold my own and I am a good cigar customer on the
trade section so I think that is why they tolerate me.

G.C. How do you think the combination of cigars and coffee work as a pairing and is that something you try to promote as a cigar smoker?

L.R. Cigars and coffee are the perfect pairing and are part of what I call my “$25 theory”. This is before we even get to the perfect taste complement, which I will get to in a moment. Lisa’s $25 theory suggests that if you will spend $25 on a wonderful cigar (or 2), or a half pound of great coffee, a glass of single malt Scotch, a decent bottle of wine, delicious dessert for 2, a good rib eye steak… you get the idea where this list is going… you will buy the items interchangeably on the list. So to participate on these discussion forums or market to one will market to the other. So on my website it is very nice to list a coffee and cigar pairing. Everyone wins. And it is delicious!

G.C. With all your involved in with cigars and the coffee, what is it that you find gives you a get away from it, time to just relax?

L.R. It is with coffee and cigars that I do relax… at our log home in Feversham, north of Toronto.

G.C.What do you see for the future of your coffee?

L.R. We are working on a couple of very interesting projects right now where we are trying to sell larger volumes of Rocketfuelcoffee.com. One is getting involved on a Group Coupon site. We like the idea of roasting fresh Hawaiian Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain Rocketfuelcoffee.com and putting together a one or two pound gift box and shipping it out to customers on these venues. A second project I have been exploring is called Raiserbean.It allows schools, churches, foundations or hospitals to use Rocketfuelcoffee.com for fundraising. They sell our amazing coffee and split the profit with us. We can even design custom labels for them. Of course the link with cigars is always on our mind!

G.C. You seem to really enjoy what you do. Is there ever a time it gets to be a little to much?

L.R. Interesting that you should ask that. This is not only a business for me. I am kind of obsessed about coffee, cigars and art. A good steak, a glass of single malt scotch and you have a great day for me. I can talk about these things forever. My husband has to shut me up. So it does not get to be too much for me. It is others that perhaps that I should be more worried about.

G.C. What’s next for you? Any new coffee coming out?

L.R. Right now I am very active in the art tours in my community where that log home is located. My paintings sell very well and I love painting up there. The coffees sell well and I love sitting on our back deck smoking special cigars. Recently I discovered Casa Fuentes, but they are hard to get up here! Trading for coffee is a good way to get them. New coffee? Folks seem to like the best ones we have. New ones don’t do as well.

G.C. Again thanks Lisa.

L.R. You’re welcome!!

If you have not tried Rocketfuelcoffee.com, you’re missing out on some of the best gourmet coffee on the market. Check out the web site and try some. If you’re not sure about what type you may like, ask Lisa, she loves to help!
G.C.

When strolling the aisles of a grocery store, shopping for coffee, sometimes it can be hard to know what you are actually buying.  Big companies like throw around coffee buzz words in order to ensnare the uneducated customer.  It’s hard enough to catch the difference between a “Kona Coffee” and a “Kona Style Coffee”, but discerning between roasts is worse.  What the heck do the terms like “French Roast” or “Italian Roast” mean?  Even if you are able to figure out that a french roast is relatively dark, where does that fall on the Light –> Medium –> Dark scale?  Or how about the City –> Full City –> Full City+ scale?

Unfortunately there is no easy way to explain this.  When coffee went from being a regional ceremonial drink in Ethiopia to an everyday wake-me-up addiction in the West much became muddled.  To make matters worse, companies like Starbucks refrained from using any of these confusing terms and created their own scale which tries to describe each coffee’s level of “boldness”.  This has now multiplied the number of terms to recognize and understand.

In order to understand what’s really going on here, let’s start with two practical examples.  Look at this close-up shot of Rocketfuel Konakaze Blend:

Rocketfuel Konakaze Blend Close-Up. See the oils?

Take a close look.  See how the beans are shiny?  Those are the precious oils from the coffee bean.  The oils are what provide the coffee flavor itself.  The darker a coffee is roasted, the more the oils begin to leave the bean and appear on the outside.  Fundamentally, any coffee with a lot of oil showing on the beans can be considered a darker roast.  Next, take a look at a close-up of Rocketfuel 100% Hawaiian Kona:

Rocketfuel 100% Hawaiian Kona Close-Up. Where are the oils?

In this shot the amount of oil we see is basically zero.  The beans have an almost pastel look to them.  Most would classify the color as medium brown.  This is traditionally referred to as a medium roast (although this particular case in on the lighter side of a medium roast).

These two examples provide a very good frame of reference for most coffees you will run into.  When thinking about roasting this way, what becomes apparent is that the only universal truth in coffee roasting is the look of the bean; it doesn’t lie no matter what label is applied to it.

Taking this concept a bit further, we can learn to apply commonly used terms to a specific shade of brown.  This way when we see a term like “Viennese” or “Full City” we can have an estimate of how dark the beans are roasted.  See the table below:

Chart based on information from Ken David's book, "Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying".

While learning these terms are important for a coffee lover to understand, even more important is to purchase coffee from a roaster that provides clear and consistent information about their product.  So, next time a lot of coffee roast terms are thrown at you, be on your guard.  Watch out for non-specific terms and you’ll be that much closer to the perfect cup!