San Diego's Finest Organic Coffee & Tea

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Chefs

For the last few years, one of the biggest trends in coffee has been single brew cups.  Coffee companies like Intelligensia have found a way to make pour over work on a large scale basis.  When I talk to our friends / customers, there always seems to be a common thread to the comments – consistency.  My own experience with pour-over has been that I have had some of the best and some of the most mediocre cups of coffee.  The skill and experience of a Barista is probably more evident here than on an espresso machine.  Furthermore, different coffees respond differently to pre-wetting, total length of extraction and number of pours … etc.  For all of these reasons, many of the cafes here in San Diego that have implemented Hario bars have soon abandoned them.

We have been intermittently using a number of methods in our cafe over the last couple years including vacuum, Chemex and the Clever dripper but until now have not committed ourselves to a single cup program.  Enter the Gold Cup Brewer!  This machine was conceived to address exactly these issues.   From rinsing the filter to setting the pre-wet and pulsing for every coffee, this machine is fully programmable – and consistent.  If we don’t like the way a particular origin is coming out, we can adjust it until we get it right and then know that the result is repeatable.

This Brewer offers a wonderful solution for a great many venues who wish to focus on quality but need to eliminate waste.  A fine dining restaurant can now produce a perfect cup of coffee for every customer and not worry about throwing away pots of coffee.

So what are you waiting for?  Come on down and try a cup of our Honey Processed Costa Rica.

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October is Fair Trade month and as part of the celebration, Cafe Virtuoso was featured in a Podcast with Jubilee Economics.

Jubilee Ecomomics mission is to promote practices, ideas, and stories for living economically on Earth, our one-planet home.  For more information visit their website at

http://jubilee-economics.org/

Listen now to “Coffee As A Virtue”

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Pronounced roy-bos, is Afrikaans for “red bush”.  Growing exclusively in South Africa, rooibos provides a delicious non-caffeinated alternative to traditional teas.   Rooibos, Aspalathus linearis, not being a true “tea” because it does not come from the “tea” plant, however, it is sometimes (and inaccurately ) called red tea.  Not to be confused with red honeybush, which will be covered in a later entry.

Rooibos has a very high level of antioxidants and is said to have various curative properties; I find it soothing before bed as it is a subtly sweet and delicate with a faintly minty aroma.

Most popularly found in its’ oxidized state (red) it is actually green when picked.  Green rooibos is far less popular with a very mild flavor reminiscent of grass or hay.  The freshly harvested needle-like leaves are cut and then lightly bruised to initiate oxidation then quickly fired just as most green teas.  This process is usually referred to as fermentation however, this is completely inaccurate–there is no actual fermentation taking place, only oxidation.  Nevertheless, the result is the light red-amber tisane you will quickly fall in love with as soon as you try it!

Brewing tips:

Rather tolerant of various temperatures, I suggest starting with filtered water at 190-200F and steeping 4-6 minutes.  The flavor is rather delicate, so you need not worry about over-steeping, as it will only become slightly more concentrated without becoming bitter or astringent.  Rooibos also blends extremely well (be creative): add a peel of orange or tangerine or dried cranberry to add a subtle tangy tartness; or add steamed milk and vanilla syrup for a tasty treat.

 

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