Coffee Knowledge Base

 

K-CUPS Pay More for Less - October 2011

K-CUPS Pay More for Less

Many people have asked if Mavericks has plans to start providing our coffee in K-Cups. The short answer is NO.

The long answer is this; Mavericks has two primary objectives in providing coffee to our customers. The first objective is to provide the best tasting and freshest possible coffee to our customers. The second objective is to provide Mavericks coffee at a value price to our customers. Providing Mavericks coffee in K-Cups prevents Mavericks from providing the best tasting and freshest coffee and also precludes Mavericks from providing a value price to our customers.

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In order to ensure the freshest and best tasting coffee to our customers, Mavericks coffee ships within hours of roasting and NO Mavericks coffee is ever ground until ordered. Mavericks coffee is ground and shipped the same day to the customer.

Ground coffee degrades very rapidly. When coffee beans are ground, the entire surface area of the coffee is now exposed to oxygen, which rapidly begins the process of decaying the coffee and degrading the taste, flavor, and aroma. With K-cups, despite many innovative and clever manufacturing processes, using vacuum sealing, nitrogen flushing, and other proprietary and patented methods, the fact remains coffee is ground and packaged many months before it arrives on the shelf at you local supermarket.

Two rules around here at Mavericks is “old coffee is not fresh” and that “you cannot make old coffee fresh coffee”.

Now the second objection to K-Cups is the price. The basic economics is quite astonishing. With a trip to the the local supermarket, I found a standard box of K-Cups from a major coffee chain containing 4.75 oz of ground coffee in K-Cups for $8.99.

That means to buy 1 lb (16 oz) of K-Cup coffee, the consumer would pay $30 per lb. While there are exotic coffees such as Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kona coffees that demand a very high market price based on the quality, taste, and aroma, that is not the case with K-cups. (Incidentally, buyer beware of “Kona Blend” offerings from many companies. Article on this matter coming soon.)

If you have been considering K-Cups, remember the K-Cup coffee does meet any reasonable definition of fresh and it is nearly three time more expensive to buy. - M

Size Matters with Coffee Beans - September 2011

Size Does Matter

Did you know that when it comes to the taste of you cup of coffee, the size of your coffee beans really does matter?

Coffee beans are classified and sorted using a gravity screening system. Coffees grown at elevation are more dense and larger in size. The altitude slows the rate of growth increasing the density and quality of the bean. “High Grown” Arabicas as they are often termed have a more favorable flavor profile and are used in specialty coffee roasting.

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So what is considered to be a good size coffee bean. Coffee is graded for size based 1/64 of inch. From Mavericks prospective, our normal selection process does not begin until beans are screened to 17/18 or greater in size, which is considered a large bean. Depending on the region those beans may be designated as Superior if they are from Latin America or in the case of Colombia, they would be labeled Supremo. Beans screened 18/19 or greater in size are considered extra large any may carrier the designation AA if originating from Kenya or Fancy if grown in Kona, Hawaii.

 This certainly is not an exhaustive list, but it should be helpful for beginning to evaluate the coffee you are purchasing. While you may be purchasing “Colombian coffee” at your local market, the country of origin should be one of the first of many criteria used in order to select a good quality coffee and not the only factor considered. - M

Grading Your Coffee Beans - August 2011

Coming soon!

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