Over the past 30 years marketers have tried thousands of tactics to sell things. We have heard the "Your to smart to be without this product" tactic. We have heard the "Everyone needs this product" tactic. We have also seen the way that TV sells products making them more appealing then they really are. Has the coffee industry followed such tactics? Sure it has! Do you remember Folgers little jingle? "The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup." That ad made Folgers famous! So, is the term "Gourmet Coffee" another sales tactic? No! Allow me to explain.
Coffee is grown all around the world, and because of the many differences in governments, cultures, and religions people do things differently in other lands. So, how is Gourmet Coffee made? When you acquire coffee beans from different regions they for the most part go thru a similar process. Beans are picked, dried, and sorted pretty much the same way. The differences are the climate and the elevation they were grown in, and the pesticides the farmers used to protect their crop. Those are just a few factors. We also need to consider the roasting process. The roasting process is as crucial to coffee as air is to our lungs. If you under roast your coffee your coffee may turn out weak, and if you over do it your coffee will taste burnt. So, where does the word Gourmet fit in? The hardest coffee to acquire today is the Jamaican Blue Mountain. The reason is due to the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. This coffee is the most sought after coffee, because of its rich taste and divine smell. When roasted correctly this coffee is probably the best tasting in the world. What other factors makes coffee Gourmet?
When Roasters add flavorings such as chocolate syrups, or caramel to name a few, these additives give your coffee a unique taste that is qualified as Gourmet Flavored Coffee. The definition of Gourmet is a fine food or drink that has been judged by an expert to be excellent. When coffee experts say that a certain brand of coffee is excellent then their credibility is on the line. It better live up to the hype or their opinion and reputation becomes as worthless as the dust on a windowsill. If an expert deems a product as excellent then it has to be good. Right? Well, it should. We live in an imperfect world, but Gourmet Coffee is legitimate. Many people around the world take pride in there coffee and when you find one that stands out you will find that it is in high demand. It cost more then regular coffee, but depending on your preference in many cases it is worth its weight in gold.
Where do you find Gourmet Coffee? The best place is straight from a Coffee Roaster, and there are thousands to choose from. They all have different techniques, recipes, and philosophies about coffee. The great thing about them is that they always have fresh roasted coffee. Some other places would be at a supermarket, but I highly advise against these places. The coffee is usually never as fresh as it should be. I hope that this article was able to help you understand that Gourmet Coffee is real, and not a clever marketing tactic.
Grant McArthur and Peter Familari with AAP
source: herald sun
November 18, 2009 10:25AM
Comment: so does that mean the more I roast, the sooner I could become a brain surgeon?
SEPARATED conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna appear to have suffered no brain damage as they remain in a serious but stable condition in Melbourne.
A team of Australian surgeons performed groundbreaking surgery on the sisters yesterday, who were joined at the head, at the Royal Children's Hospital.
A hospital spokeswoman said the girls' condition had not changed overnight and they remain in a serious but stable condition and connected to ventilators.
Chief surgeon Leo Donnan said there was currently no evidence the girls suffered any brain damage.
He said despite the success of yesterday's surgery, the chance of the sisters coming out of the procedure unscathed was still just 25 per cent.
"That was always a long-term prognosis and a long-term view, not just from the surgery that was performed yesterday," he said.
"We have still got many unknown things that will need to be addressed related to how well they recover from the surgery and how their bodies adapt to the separation."
But he said apart from the risk of infection, the girls' bodies needed to adjust to operating independently.
"They both will have issues with their kidneys and with other organs as well," he said.
"There is a whole lot of changes that will occur over the next couple of weeks, even into months, and we really don't know how well they will tolerate those."
The twins were given a 25 per cent chance of coming through the operation unharmed, with a 50 per cent chance they would be brain damaged and a 25 per cent chance one of them would die.
Details of the marathon surgery have emerged, with medical specialists revealing how they fought fatigue throughout the 32-hour surgery.
Associate Professor Donnan said there were plenty of tricks used by the 16-member medical team to battle fatigue, including the use of "light pop" music, the Herald Sun reports.
Taking regular breaks and being fit and rested before the surgery were essential, Mr Donnan said.
"They make sure they have some time where they don't think about what they're doing, so they'll step away and they will listen to some music during the time - of course they will," he said.
"In long cases like this there are waves when you feel a bit tired and then other times when concentration is very important, everything just disappears, and you concentrate on the job at hand."
Anaesthetist Dr Ian McKenzie said coffee was a mixed blessing.
"People can live on it but if you keep flogging coffee you sometimes feel worse later on," Dr McKenzie said.
"There are people who do micro-surgery who avoid caffeine so they don't have twitchy fingers during delicate surgery," he said.
"We had some music from about 3 o'clock in the morning through to about six o'clock. It's the type of music I'm willing to listen to but it's not my favourite music. It's a sort of light pop."
Fatigue had been a concern for the surgeons, but they had all managed to have some sort of sleep, he said.
The biggest burden had fallen on neurosurgeon Wirginia Maixner and her team, who spent many, many hours on their feet delicately separating the girls' brains.
However, because the surgery had been planned so meticulously and far in advance, there had been some changes of shifts.
"We've had plenty of time to sort the diaries of anaesthetists, surgeons, anaesthesia technicians, nurses, all sorts of staff," Dr McKenzie said.
Plucked from a Bangladesh orphanage two years ago, the conjoined twins survived the marathon of surgery that doctors say will give them every chance of healthy - and separate - lives.
Emotional guardian Moira Kelly last night told friends "the girls look absolutely beautiful".
The beds have been positioned as close as possible to reduce any shock the orphans may feel when they wake and find themselves apart for the first time since they were born almost three years ago.
The twins were separated at 11am in a moment that brought tears and elation to the 16-strong surgical team.
Dr Donnan emerged with a huge smile just after 4pm to tell the world the operation had delivered the best result possible.
The separation came two years and two months after aid workers in Bangladesh turned to Ms Kelly's Children First charity as a last-ditch effort to save the twins.
An earthquake off the NSW Mid North Coast has rocked the Hunter region early this morning, Friday 12th March 2010, Geoscience Australia says.
The tremor, was not major, measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, hit 80 kilometres offshore in the east and south-east regions of Port Stephens at 3.24am.
According to a reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald, Glenda Kwek; "It was felt by people around the Hunter region, in Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie," Chris Thompson, a Geoscience Australia spokesman, said. "There were no reports of damage and we don't expect to get any." Mr Thompson said most quakes that took place in this area usually occurred onshore, where damage to people and property was more likely.'s
Glenda's story went on to say "A spokesman for the State Emergency Service said it had "no reports of any damage as a result of that tremor". A father on holiday with his wife and son at Fingal Bay said he felt the quake. "We felt the earthquake last night. We are on holidays at Fingal Bay and we awoke to the house shaking," Tim, who did not give his last name, said. ‘‘My wife grabbed me and all we could think was how to get out of the house with our son if it happened again.’’
A resident of Anna Bay told the ABC the tremor reminded him of the 1989 earthquake in Newcastle. "The Newcastle one sprang to mind straight away because we were here at that time as well. "It felt very similar so the Newcastle one at Boat Harbour, just felt like a minor tremor, and I remember being quite shocked at the damage that caused so nearby," he said.
Last decade, Geoscience Australia recorded almost 3600 earthquakes on the Australian continent - about one a day.
The largest recorded was a 5.4 magnitude quake recorded near Mount Redvers in the Northern Territory.
"Because Australia sits in the middle of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, we are not prone to regular, large damaging earthquakes," Clive Collins, a senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia, said in a statement released last month.
"However, within the last 100 years there have been 14 magnitude 6 to 7 earthquakes which have occurred on the Australian mainland."
Caffeinated aromatherapy - thats pretty much it in a nutshell, don't you think? If your still buying your coffee from the supermarket, you really are missing out on thesensory pleasures of expertly roasted coffee beans.
Bay Beans featured on the front and second pages of the Port Stephen Examiner - for those of you that are locals, I bet it was a bit of a shock seeing me staring back at you! For everyone else, if you want to take a look at the article, its on the blog section of BayBeans
This months Premium Reserve is PNG Highland - chocolate, nutty and very fragrant. Its on limited supply, so be quick if you want to taste this fantastic bean.
We have been working on our prices a bit this month. Bay Beans freshly roasted coffee beans 250g is $8.9 and 1kg is $29.7 -thats some pretty seriously good prices right there.You can also buy 3kg bags at $87.7. If you are responsible for buying coffee beans for your office, do yourself, and your team a favour and switch to Bay Beans for that freshly roasted goodness - you will be the star of your office. Forward this email onto your office manager, and tell them about our VIP Club, which rewards them for their good taste.
If your enjoying your freshly roasted coffee bean why not try our subscription service. Its a set and forget service, like a weekend paper delivery. We deliver to you every 2 months freshly roasted coffee beans, for a 6 month period. It saves you some cash too at just $49.7
Twitter has been a lot of fun, allowing us to communicate with the coffee loving community. If your on Twitter, look us up @baybeans. If your new to twitter - take a look atwww.twitter.com.au/baybeans we had our bio updated by a very quick witted wordsmith and they have written a case study on the process.
If you are looking for a great gift idea, or you just want to spoil yourself, try our Variety Packs - a selection of coffee beans, gift wrapped for $17.7
Our new roaster has been superb, creating consistent and perfectly roasted coffee beans.
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