“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind there are few.” — Shunryu Suzuki

As you may have heard, Coffee Bean Direct is searching for beta-testers to sample and review our coffees and teas. Enthusiasm is the only requirement.

There is a methodology in place for tasting and reviewing coffee and tea, but you do not need to have experience with that. It’s referred to as cupping, a term that makes me slightly uncomfortable. Cafés, roasters, and independent organizations often host cupping events open to the public (so far, we cup privately here at CBD). For a beginner, they can be a great opportunity to learn what you like and how to find it.

Here are some notes I came across recently using a sophisticated smiley face scoring system. This is my preferred style of note-taking.

Notes courtesy of Michael Allen Smith, ineedcoffee.com

Unfortunately someone “reading” these would have trouble learning anything other than what I enjoy. Writing a review that’s not purely subjective takes some practice. You might want to read a few reviews online to see what kind of language you find useful. The cupping notes of experienced reviewers are fun to read for their imaginative descriptions alone. For example, here are some notes I came across for one of our coffees on http://www.coffeereview.com:

“A very light-roasted, naturally sweet coffee that stays just on the rich side of raw. Low-toned but intense aroma: nut notes (raw cashew?) with hints of flowers and butter. In the cup soft acidity with a shimmer of wine, substantial body, continued sweet raw nut notes with hints of butter, chocolate and flowers. Rich, long, slightly heavy finish.”

After reading a few of those, you might start to wonder if your oafish palette is up to the task of reviewing anything. Don’t be intimidated. While noticing what you taste and learning how to talk about it is important, a fresh, unbiased perspective is a valuable one. Also, we’re more interested in how our coffees and teas taste to you as you would normally prepare and drink them than slurped black from a spoon. So instead of going into the nuances of proper cupping technique, I’ll just relay a few things that helped me to move beyond “tastes like coffee”:

• Acids, sugars, and bitters are the principle components of flavor. Sugars are easy to identify. Acids create tartness or tanginess (think lemon). Bitterness is more difficult to describe, but it is commonly associated with a negative harshness (unsweetened chocolate), as opposed to acidity, which can be pleasant and desirable.

• A light roast is not necessarily less flavorful than a dark roast. A light vs dark roast level can highlight different flavors in the same bean. A light batch might be more complex, while a dark batch might have fewer, bolder flavors.

• Strong or weak coffee can be made at any roast level. Strength refers to the ratio of coffee solids to water in a cup of brewed coffee. A dark roast or a flavorful cup is not the same as strong, or concentrated, coffee.

• Body refers to the way the coffee feels, and is independent of flavor. Oils present play a large part in determining whether a coffee feels heavy or more viscous in body, or light/smooth. The more oil present, the heavier the body.

When describing flavor, I recommend using terms that seem accurate and have real meaning for you. They don’t need to be part of the popular cupping lexicon to be useful to readers. For instance, “tastes like night-blooming flowers” sounds lovely, but has little meaning for me. Tell me it tastes like fruity pebbles, and I’ve got a handle on it. If you need a place to start, check out my Pinterest collection of various charts and wheels used to identify coffee and tea flavors and aromas. Don’t be afraid to expand upon them, ignore them, or invent your own!

We’re fully embracing fall here at Coffee Bean Direct with the return of pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin chai tea, and all of our favorite fall flavors. We even did some pumpkin carving, including this masterful rendering of our tree logo:

That  fine orange residue blanketing Greg’s face is pure pumpkin spray.

Aside from warming up a fair complexion, it turns out melon flesh does wonders for the skin. It’s loaded with vitamins, zinc, and exfoliating fruit acids. Greg looks great.

If you’re on a budget, skip the pricey spa treatments and dremel a gourd in the comfort of your home or office. Eye protection is recommended. Happy fall!

Editor’s note: Our reviewers are independent guinea pigs who receive no bribes of any kind, unless you count complimentary coffee or tea and our thanks! Thank you to Liz G. for sharing your experience with us!

How would you characterize your relationship with coffee, on a scale from casual to dependent?

Extremely dependent! I am not functional until my first cup of coffee has been consumed.

What kind of coffee do you usually drink?

I usually drink Dunkin Donuts coffee at home.

How would you describe a really good cup of coffee?

Strong but not too dark, makes me slightly sweaty and tingly and excited to be alive. The world is full of endless possibilities.

What are you drinking today, and how did you brew it?

I drank Chocolate Whiskey, freshly ground and brewed in a Cuisinart coffee maker at home.

What else is in your cup? Cream? Sugar? Details, please:

My coffee is mixed with two sugars and fat-free half and half.

In your own words, describe the aroma & flavor:

Robust, subtly flavored, rich, nutty and scrumptious.

In your opinion, what would this coffee pair well with?

I was actually surprised that the flavor was not so strong that it would be more of an after dinner coffee. It is delicious with a breakfast pastry or something sweet.

Would you enjoy drinking this again?

I plan on drinking it every day! It is versatile, rich, bold and not too dark or light. It got the job done and was very pleasurable. My taste buds and my caffeine dependent body were dually satisfied.

Interested in reviewing our coffee/tea or beta testing something new? Leave a comment!

Perhaps you’ve heard about the Kickstarter campaign we launched last week? It’s all over our website, Facebook page, Twitter, and our pizza.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, you can learn all about our campaign on our Kickstarter page. If you’re a fan of our coffee it’s definitely worth a visit. You’ll find a behind-the-scenes look at our operation and a chance to win caffeinated prizes. Check back often and tell all your friends! That might decrease your chances of winning, but you can always back us for a guaranteed prize and karmic rewards beyond measure, so spread the word!

Kickstarter in a nutshell

You’ve probably heard about Kickstarter, but you might not know who it’s for, or how addictive backing projects can be. Kickstarter is a relatively new site, built around a slightly less new concept: crowd-funding. By allowing anyone to back a project at the level of their choice, Kickstarter attracts a wide variety of investors—including riff-raff like myself—and funds projects whose appeal might be lost on traditional financiers (like an edible history of chocolate).

First-time philanthropists can encourage projects they care about and feel, in small part, responsible for their success. Project creators know that prizes matter too, and put some serious effort into offering their backers something unique as a reward. Rewards might be material or experiential, involving supporters in the project itself as it takes shape.

Browse through the site yourself and you’ll find creative projects of all kinds, including countless ways to help a small business grow. Here’s a few examples of the many start-ups with current campaigns:

Specializing in funky, small-batch blends and looking to expand beyond the capacities of their current garage set-up.

Shared office space for freelancers, remote workers, and the self-employed in Charlotte, NC.

A tiny, organic hot sauce company with demand exceeding their production abilities, in need of basic equipment and time in the kitchen to grow.

Supporting local farmers and providing affordable fresh food to Huntington, WV, once called

…and many, many more! Browse by city to find projects in the works in your area, and don’t forget to visit our page and show us some love while you’re at it!

What exactly are we getting at with our new slogan?

The other day I discovered a dusty can of (non-Coffee Bean Direct, I’ll admit it) ground coffee in the back of my cabinet. Not only was it not past the date stamped on the can, but I still have another nineteen months to enjoy it at its “best.” How can this be? Working at Coffee Bean Direct, I’ve learned that roasted coffee is a perishable item with a shelf-life closer to lunch-meat than ramen. Bad coffee will not poison you however, which is why those mysterious best-by dates can range from 3 months from the date of purchase to more than two years.

This improbable freshness window is created with supermarkets in mind. Large stores typically order their coffee as needed from distribution centers where products sit for weeks at a time. A generous best-by date takes all that wait time into consideration. So when is coffee actually fresh? When it has flavor, and the closer to the roast-date the better the flavor. Packaged well, whole bean coffee can retain its flavor for six months to a year. How quickly coffee goes stale varies with the bean variety and roast level, among other things, but as a rule we never ship any coffee more than thirty days old, and grind it shortly before shipping.

Why does coffee lose its flavor with age?

After roasting, coffee beans go through a “de-gassing” period during which they release CO2. The fresher the coffee, the more gas it produces, and these gases contribute to the aroma and the flavor of the coffee. Eventually coffee beans stop producing gas and can be considered stale. Exposure to air, heat, moisture, and even light speeds the whole process along. Sealed bags with one-way valves indicate that coffee was packaged while fresh, allowing CO2 to escape without admitting oxygen. Coffee in other types of containers—like k-cups or vacuum-sealed packages—were allowed to de-gas before sealing (those k-cups would explode if packed with freshly roasted coffee). What you’re getting is a product that is unlikely to change much in terms of freshness, because it is already stale.

Is fresh coffee worth seeking out if stale is all you’ve ever known?

That depends on whether or not you care about how things taste. If you enjoy coffee because it is brown or because it is caffeinated you’re in luck – those qualities won’t change much with age and any coffee will do. To me, stale coffee is flat and dull and I don’t know why people stand for it. It’s as if we’re training our mouths to accept the realities of a post-apocalypse diet of food from the bunker. As for that can in my kitchen, I’ll probably hang on to it in case of emergency. Caffeine fills me with magnanimous good cheer, which might be in short supply post-apocalypse, along with potable water. But until the day comes when I have to gnaw old grounds like an animal, I’ll enjoy the fresh stuff!

What’s lurking in your kitchen? Check out the dates on your coffee, new or old, and let us know what you find!

P.S. If your coffee happens to be from us, we label our bags with a five-digit roast date, known as the Julian date. The last two numbers indicate the year, and the first three the day from 001 to 365. To easily match the code on your bag with a month and day, check out this handy chart!