An Appeal to Our Readers

I know a couple of things from Google Analytics:

1. Some people read this blog. Not a lot, but some.
2. Some of our dear readers (to borrow a phrase from Stephen King) have visited the 4 Beans Online Store.

From our 2009 sales numbers, very few of you bought any fresh roasted coffee beans from the online store.

So, why not? I ask this question in all sincerity. We need to increase our sales in this tough economy. What are we doing wrong? Is it that people just do not buy coffee beans online? Is it that the beans are too expensive at 4 Beans? Is the store lame?

Please help us with some feedback. Let us know if there's something we could do to entice you to try our beans. Please also let us know if you would never consider buying fresh roasted beans online... and why that is.

Thanks dear readers.

Espresso

Before I became the coffeenut, I really didn't understand espresso. I thought it was a special type of coffee bean, or a special type of roast. It's neither. Any coffee bean, any roast, can be made into espresso.

Italy is the capital of espresso. Different roasts are popular by region in Italy - darker toward the south, lighter in the north. Many of the terms associated with espresso are Italian in origin: cappuccino, latte, grande, venti, barista...

Espresso differs not in bean or roast, but in the brewing method. Here's my favorite explanation of the espresso brewing method, from one of my favorite books on coffee:

"...Brewing method: forcing hot, but not boiling water at high pressure through finely ground beans, fast."

The Joy of Coffee by Corby Kummer

For much more information on espresso, go to this page at coffeeresearch.org (a wonderful source of information about all aspects of coffee).

Health Benefits of Coffee

"Want a drug that could lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and colon cancer? That could lift your mood and treat headaches? That could lower your risk of cavities?" - from Coffee: The New Health Food?

Wow. I don't need an excuse to drink coffee, but it sure is nice to read that it has health benefits! This article, off of WebMD, points to 19,000 separate studies done on coffee drinking. And the consensus is clearly that the benefits of drinking coffee far outweigh whatever disadvantages coffee has to offer.

Now if only I could find a similar article about bourbon...