Guatemalan Coffee Beans

Guatemala is a small Central American country, but has amazing climatic diversity. The soil, rainfall, altitude and temperatures are perfect for coffee - in fact, multiple types of coffees.

Coffee arrived in Guatemala in the 1700s, from the Caribbean. Originally dominated by the Spanish plantation owners, German interests took over the majority of the Guatemalan coffee trade in 1870s. The Germans invested heavily in the Guatemalan coffee industry and improved the working conditions of the largely Mayan workers.

4Beans on their Guatemalan coffee beans:

"** Medium roast ** Full bodied, rich in flavor with a smoky complex cup and a hint of spice. Plays nice with others."

Barb's Blend - One of Our Finest Coffee Blends

This is our newest creation - a wonderful combination of Peruvian, PNG, and Guatemalan beans. It happened by chance and has been a great hit. It is characterized by outstanding flavor, highlighting an apple spice sweetness with a great savory aftertaste.

The Peruvian component comes from a high altitude with volcanic soil, which brings out the bright effervescent snap, gentle sweetness and a nice medium body. Medium acidity with a wonderful aftertaste.

The beans from Papua New guinea (previously described in a previous post - click here) have a mellow and aromatic complexity with an apple wineyness, medium body with modereate acidity and broad flavor.

The Guatemalan beans are full bodied, rich in flavor with a smokey complex cup and a hint of spice.

Put them all together, with the right roasts, and you have an excellent blend that results in a superb, unique cup of coffee. Try some today. Go to our online store and have some shipped to your home.

Fresh Roasted Beans from the Mexican Chiapas Region

Mexican Chipas coffee is grown in the south of Mexico, bordering Guatemala. Mexican coffee is generally lighter bodied in their cup character, but that does differ by the region. Mexico is not really known for coffee; the country does not strongly promote it's coffee industry, but there is a long tradition of coffee growing and some fine coffees at moderate prices can be found in Mexico.

Coffee was introduced to Mexico in the 1800s from Jamaica. In the 1980s coffee became Mexico's largest export crop.

Four Beans on Mexican Chiapas:

"We roast this coffee dark. Bright, sweet with a definite clove, spice to compliment the apricot fruit flavor. Medium body, well balanced, excellent cup and a creamy smooth mouth feel. Medium acidity. This is my 2nd most favorite coffee and another great morning getter-upper."

Four Beans Coffee provides the freshest gourmet coffee in Illinois and online. If you would like to find out more about premium fresh roasted beans, or would like to buy gourmet coffee online, please visit our site.

Fresh Roasted Coffee Beans from Costa Rica

Four Beans Costa Rican fresh roasted coffee beans come from the "La Pastora" estate in the Tarrazu region, which is located in the interior mountains of Costa Rica. The coffee from this region is a bit heavier than other Costa Rican coffees, with more aromatic complexity.

Coffee production began in Costa Rica in 1779. The country has many areas with near perfect soil and climate conditions for coffee. Like most coffee in the Americas, it is thought the original source of the plants is Ethiopia, or possibly Yemen. It is Costa Rica's largest export, though recently coffee plantations have been losing ground to real estate development.

Here's what Four Beans roastmaster has to say about their Costa Rican beans:

"We do a light roast. One of the true wonders of coffee. Bright and clean cup with a bit of berry fruitness and apple spice. Medium body, low acidity, excellent mouth feel."

Four Beans Coffee provides the freshest gourmet coffee in Illinois and online. If you would like to find out more about premium gourmet coffee, or would like to buy gourmet coffee online, please visit our site.

Holiday Gift Idea

Are you looking for a unique holiday gift for friends or family? Sometimes it is difficult to find a unique present, one that reflects your values, but also offers the recipient something they’ll enjoy. Buying from a small specialty roaster is a great way to help the American economy and give your friends and family something they’re going to love. Visit our online store and order some fresh roasted beans today!

Coffee Beans from Sumatra

Coffee was brought to Sumatra by the Dutch in the 1700s. It is thought that the original trees were from Yemen or Ethiopia.

Sumatran coffee is not thought to get its flavor from unique soil or weather conditions, but more from the unique picking, preparation and processing the beans experience.

Sumatra uses a unique semi-washed process on the beans. After picking the beans are washed and then only partially dried. The outer layer is then removed exposing a swollen grean bean. These are then dried on a patio or in the dirt. Often times, they are dried multiple times - when the outer layer is removed, by a middleman, and then once again prior to shipping. This unique drying method gives it the "forest funk" taste that Four Beans' roastmaster refers to.

Four Beans on Sumatra:

"Heavy body with a syrupy chocolate after tone. Earthy, deep, complex, full-bodied, low acidity, smoothness with a touch of forest floor "funk". Creamy richness adds to the tough of butterscotch, spice and mustiness. This stuff goes with anything, but you gotta like funk."

 Try some - go to our online store and order some today.

Roasting

Well it's 10:30 Monday the 23 and I'll be roasting for the next couple of hours if you want to stop by....

Storing Your Coffee

The coffee bean's enemy is air and moisture. Coffee beans are at their peak within 24 - 72 hours after roasting. Coffee starts loosing its freshness as soon as air hits it along with light, moisture and heat. That's why it's so important to get your beans packed and in your house as soon after roasting as possible.

The most direct and simple way to store your coffee is to buy your coffee in small quantities as needed, WHOLE BEAN , and store it in an airtight canister (ceramic is best) or vacuum canister, in a cool shady spot on the counter or in the cupboard. Coffee should never be stored in the refrigerator or freezer unless absolutely necessary. All our coffees are shipped in bags with degassing valves, zip-lock, and heat sealed.

If you get your coffee shipped ground, be aware that ground beans don't stay fresh as long as whole beans because more surface area is exposed. Keep your ground beans in an airtight container at room temperature, in a dry, dark place. They should keep for approximately two weeks.

Four Beans House Blend Coffee

Blends are what makes a coffee roaster special. The coffees are chosen to complement each other and sometimes the combination yields a mixture that has a flavor beyond what any of its components has on their own.

Today's blend is simply called the "House Blend". Four Beans' has combined the Ethiopian Harrar bean with beans from Sumatra. Let's look at the individual bean flavor profiles:

Ethiopian Harrar:

 "Wild Coffee - Experience blueberries, cocoa, and a touch of cinnamon and cardamom. Medium body - low acidity."

Sumatra:

"Heavy body with a syrupy chocolate after tone. Earthy, deep, complex, full-bodied, low acidity, smoothness with a touch of forest floor 'funk'. Creamy richness adds to the touch of butterscotch, spice and mustiness. This stuff goes with anything, but you gotta like funk."

Four Beans describes the combination as:

"A combination of Sumatra and Ethiopian Harrar gives this coffee its uniqueness. A "forest funk" to "wild coffee" and this is what you get, a unique taste that's easy to drink pot after pot after pot."

Try this blend, or any of their other blends, today. Order some at the online store.

Roasting

Just to let you know we will be putting our roasting schedule HERE.  It will probably happen on the day and time that we roast  but at least it's something to let you know what's up.

I will be roasting today (Sat) at about 10:30 am.

Roasting Day at Four Beans Coffee House

It was roasting day at Four Beans and we just happened to have our camera ready. Take a look at our latest video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYod8BJzj0I

Brazilian Daterra Coffee Beans

Most Brazilian coffee exports have consisted of robusta beans, a lower quality bean commonly used in supermarket shelf coffees. However, some Arabica beans are grown in Brazil and Daterra is an example of the very best.

Daterra was Brazil's first sustainable coffee farm, becoming Rainforest Alliance certified in 2003.

Daterra's beans are grown at an altitude around 3800 ft and at a fairly constant temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and ideal environment for coffee trees.

Daterra has spent considerable resources on quality control. They call it their Penta System®, which they implemented to ensure quality consistency through rigorous inspection.

Four Beans’ Daterra beans come from the estate of Villa Borghesi.

The Four Beans roastmaster’s comments:

"This is the only coffee we buy already blended and it’s called “Sunrise Blend”. Coffee is brought into the consortium and several blends are created. This one is the best we've found. Soft, nutty, low acidity with a nice bettersweet chocolate aftertaste. Another all day coffee."

Fresh Roasted Papua New Guinea Coffee Beans

Papua New Guinea is the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, the islands of the Bismarck Arhipelago and the island of Bougainville (one of the bases of the famed "Black Sheep Squadron" for you World War II aviation fans). It was ruled by the British until 1975. The main island is mountainous with deep, lush valleys. It is roughly the size of California, but with 1/6th of the population - about 6,300,000 people.

The coffee is thought to come originally, via the British, from seedlings harvested from Jamaica's Blue Mountain region. Four Beans' Papua New Guinea (PNG) comes from the Arokara estate. Like all the estate coffees from the area, the beans are we-processed. Like wine, coffee quality varies by year. Depending on the year and the harvest, Papua New Guinea coffees range from good to spectacular - they rarely disappoint, even in "bad" years.

Here's how Buff, the roastmaster, describes Four Beans' PNG:

"Medium roast - 'PNG' mellow and aromatic complexity with an apple wineyness, medium body with moderate acidity and broad flavor."

Four Beans' Diedrich IR-7 Coffee Roaster

Four beans has a Diedrich IR-7 roaster, in the shop. (Here's more information for you hardcore coffee roaster fans.) The coffee bar wraps around the roaster, so if it's roasting day you can watch Buff roast the beans! But, if you can't stop by on roasting day, here's a video that shows the roaster and explains the process. Enjoy.

See the video: Buff explain the wonders of the Diedrich IR-7 roaster

Tanzanian Peaberry Coffee

Tanzania Peaberry is a hand-selected, pulped, and fully washed coffee. The processing of the beans is very labor intense as special screens are used to separate the peaberrys from the rest of the coffee beans.

A peaberry is a naturally occurring phenomena. The two seeds inside the coffee cherry fuse, and the cherry rounds up to fill the whole fruit. Some coffee experts insist that the nutrients and associated flavors are concentrated in the remaining seed, producing a more intense coffee flavor than a normal coffee bean.

Tanzania is a tiny producer of coffee beans. Primarily grown around Mount Kilamanjaro (a volcano at around 19,300', it is Africa's tallest mountain) the conditions are ideal. The coffee trees are at an altitude of around 4,000', with rich volcanic soils and plenty of rain all year around.

Order Tanzania Peaberry from the online store. It's available in a medium / dark roast. Buff describes it as: "Medium body, very soft and clean in the cup. A rich and mellow treat."

Coffee from the Zimbabwe Enhoek Estate

Four Beans carries coffee from the Enhoek Estate in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia. Zimbabwe has been exporting coffee to the United States for some years. It is a wet-processed coffee, grown on approximately 130 commercial farmers and almost 2 000 small-scale farmers. Most growers are in the mountainous Chipinge region in eastern Zimbabwe, bordering Mozambique. 

The flavor profile is described as similar to the acidy, winy-toned coffees of the other countries of East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya). The coffee has medium body and a full rich flavor culminating in a heavenly aftertaste.

As in Ethiopia and Kenya, the coffee is meticulously hand picked, fermented and sun dried on the farm, before being graded and bagged for export.

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

Coffee started in Ethiopia. The first coffee trees were found in Ethiopia approximately 1400 years ago. And, one of the best coffees you can find anywhere is still grown in Ethiopia. Four Beans carries Ethiopian Yirgacheffe at their online store. Available in a dark roast, the coffee exposes great floral and tangerine notes with a coconut aroma and chocolate after taste. It’s a bull bodied coffee with an excellent mouth feel.

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans grow at an altitude of about 4000 feet and are all picked by hand. Each tree is visited several times a year and only the ripe cherries are picked from the branches. It’s a very labor-intensive process. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is a washed coffee bean – after the skin and pulp are removed, the beans are soaked up to 72 hours. Beans treated with the “wet” method usually have higher acidity and a fuller bodied taste than beans processed using the “dry” method.

Watch the Four Beans Coffeehouse Video

Watch Barb light up the screen in this video shot when Four Beans opened. It was just discovered in the vaults! It also explains a bit about the beans and the roasting process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBZIFEF2-_c

Welcome to Four Beans Online

We are passionate about fresh roasted coffee beans. We have a wide selection at our online store and we are going to use this space to discuss the types of beans, how we roast them, how to brew them and more. We hope you join in the discussion - maybe you can turn us on to some beans we haven't tried yet!