Wishing You All the Best

 

Java Mountain Roasters wishes you the season’s best.

Brazilian Coffee

Brazilian Coffee Fields

Coffee was introduced in Brazil by Francisco de Mello Palheta in 1727 from Cayenne, French Guiana. Today, Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer and is becoming a significant player in the specialty coffee industry. Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, and Mundo Novo coffee varietals are grown in the states of Paraná, Espirito Santos, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Bahia.  Bourbon and Typica are the two most popular Arabica coffees grown worldwide, Typica being the base plant of many coffee varietals. The highest grade of well-known Brazilian beans, Bourbon Santos is a coffee to savor at any time of day.  It is smooth and pleasant with fruity notes, medium body and mild flavor. Next time you buy coffee, check the origin of the beans. It’s quite possible they will be Brazilian.

Meet Me in Idaho Springs – Teddy Roosevelt

One of the great things about Idaho Springs was its small town atmosphere of shops lining Main Street and people visiting on street corners, without some of the provincial thinking that could make a small town oppressive.  Every community, be it big or small, had its characters, the people who inspired the “only in …” phrase.  Idaho Springs embraced their citizens who teetered on the ragged edge of sanity, certain that without them, the town simply wouldn’t be right.  There was the man whose name nobody was sure of, because he tended to claim to be someone different every week.  This week he was Teddy Roosevelt, sporting a very dapper cowboy hat with the right brim tacked up, and a pair of rounded specs with no glass in them.  He loved reminiscing about San Juan Hill as he sipped his morning latte` at Java Mountain Roasters.  Asta always gave him free biscotti if he promised to stay at his own table and let the other patrons come to him rather than the other way around.  When Ricky stepped into the coffee shop she was immediately enveloped in the aromas of fresh, deeply roasted coffee, and the smile of one Stanton Christophersen, who was currently rapt in conversation with Teddy.  Ricky ordered a Pumpkin Spice Breve Latte with whipped cream and a salted, caramel biscotti and sat down next to Teddy, across from the adorable Stan.  He was handsome this morning.  She sipped her drink, happy to revel the charms of these two interesting men.

Kona Coffee

Kona coffee is Coffea arabica which is cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world because only coffee from the Kona Districts can be described as “Kona”. The heritage trees in the Kona districts have been developed over the past 175 years on the west side of Hawaii. The mix of sunshine and rainfall, combined with porous, mineral rich volcanic soil creates favorable coffee growing conditions and produces a coffee that is typically mild and sweet with a hint of spice.

The coffee plant was brought to the Kona district in 1828 by Reverend Samuel Ruggles, from Brazilian cuttings. The coffee market crashed in 1899, and big coffee plantations became a thing of the past, replaced by small family farms.  The tradition of running family farms has continued throughout Kona to this day. Since the first introduction of coffee here,  Hawaii has been the only state in the US to commercially grow it. According to the Kona Coffee Council, the rocky location and the fact that the coffee does not ripen all at the same time means the Kona trees cannot be mechanically harvested. Since they must inspect each bean as they are picked, you are assured a perfect cup of coffee, which was picked when ripe, and not a combination of immature or overripe beans. This excellent quality has made Kona coffee one of the most highly valued coffees in the world.

51st Annual Georgetown Christmas Market

Come join the 51t annual Georgetown Christmas market. This year the market is on December 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th! Enjoy food vendors, craft vendors, Dickensian carolers, horse-drawn wagon rides, roasted chestnuts, bonfire, Santa Lucia Children’s Procession, Santa’s Polar Express Train Rides, shops, wassail competition, restaurants and so much more! This is a European-inspired market with free entertainment and admission. Don’t miss this fun, family-oriented event which will include appearances by St. Nicholas in his traditional robes! This fabulous Christmas event is 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. all four days in historic Georgetown. Bundle up and enjoy the quaintness of the town and the gaiety of the season as Georgetown decks itself out for Christmas!

Cafe de Colombia

Coffee was first introduced to Colombia in 1723, presumably by Jesuit priests that brought the seeds from Venezuela. The country produces about 12% of the coffee in the world, second only to Brazil. Colombian coffee is often regarded as some of the highest quality coffee in the world. Colombia has traditionally grown arabica beans although today Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, and Maragogype coffee varietals are cultivated. Its unique geography makes Colombia perfectly suited for producing a delicious, high quality brew.  Arabica beans come from  a species of coffee originally indigenous to the mountains of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, hence its name. It is also known as the “coffee shrub of Arabia”, “mountain coffee” or “arabica coffea”. Coffea arabica is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest Arabia for well over 1,000 years. Gourmet coffees, such as Colombian coffee, are almost exclusively high-quality mild varieties of arabica coffee. The climate in Colombia has traditionally been hot and dry enough to grow this variety very successfully, although climate change in the last twenty years has caused coffee production to drop off some in the region. These beans are so popular, the next time you’re in a restaurant and order a cup of Joe, chances are you’ll be drinking Colombian. Freshly roasted Colombian coffee beans are rich in flavor, heavy bodied, have a bright acidity, and are intensely aromatic. So drink up – and enjoy!

African Coffee

Coffee from different regions of the globe have distinct flavors. This is because the plant and its fruit are affected by the soil and surrounding environment. Traditionally, it is thought that coffee originated in Africa. From there it spread into Arabia and eventually Italy.  Coffee beans are still grown in African and beans from this region are very distinctly flavored. Coffee beans that are grown in Kenya have a bold flavor that has an overtone of black currant. This berry flavor is very unique and gains fans from across the globe.

East African coffee beans, in particular, are loved for the intense body they yield, as well as their spicy acidity. These include beans from Ethiopia and Tanzania. If all you drink is Columbian coffee, you can change your game by sampling the unique flavor of African coffee.

Meet Me in Idaho Springs: The Decision

The dilemma was Halloween.  In Idaho Springs if you didn’t dress up people asked if you had been ill.  Ricky’s trademark costume was a witch with long spider web fingernails and a hat that made it hard to walk through the average doorway, but last year the hat had blown off and landed in the street where it was trampled by a guy on a Vespa that was covered in orange lights.  So now she had no hat, and you couldn’t be a proper witch without one.  She was feeling a little panicked because tonight was the night that the Main Street businesses would be open for trick or treating and general milling around.  Asta was serving her “Creepy Caldron Coffee” that came with a plastic spider on the side of the cup, Josh and Michelli would be handing out miniature whoopee pies with cobweb frosting, and the brewery had some sort of bat-wing brew for patrons to sample.  Ricky made jewelry, all by hand with semi-precious stones and some intricate detail.  Trick or treaters to her studio would get their name in a drawing for a chance to win her onyx and coral pendant that she had just completed.  She called it “Black Heart” in keeping with the holiday.  She was expecting a crowd and couldn’t greet them without a costume.  That’s when she decided to go to the new consignment store and get a dress and possibly a wig that could make her look like her great Aunt Pearl.  She would put on too bright lipstick and tuck a hanky into her cleavage, and her witch shoes could easily double as Aunt Pearl footwear.  She ran across the street into the store, and there he was-the Ryan Reynolds guy, behind the counter.  She should have looked more closely at the card he gave her where it said he was the proprietor of “Repeat Performance”, the new consignment shop in town.  He was wearing a dark gray sweatshirt and jeans, and he looked like he belonged.  Ricky pulled his card out of her coat pocket and looked at his name.  If you were going to buy an old ladies dress from someone, it was only right to introduce yourself.

Pumpkin Spice Breve

Caffè breve is an American variation of a latte: a milk-based espresso drink using steamed half-and-half instead of milk. The snows bring with them a desire for warmth and comfort making this a perfect cold-weather drink – richer and slightly less sweet than a latte. For a special treat to welcome the autumn snow, try a Pumpkin Spice Breve from Java Mountain Roasters. It’s delectable ~ a bit like pumpkin pie in a cup. Do you love the winter weather? This will add to the joy of the season. Do you not? A breve is a truly wonderful way to console yourself. Drink up – you deserve it.

Regular Saturday Fix

If you’re looking for a real, made from scratch breakfast to start your day, saunter on in to Mainstreet Restaurant. Let me tell you why. The other day I wanted pancakes. You know the kind – they fill up an entire plate and don’t come from a mix. And I didn’t want Aunt Jemima to pour on top – I wanted real butter and authentic maple syrup. Mainstreet has a wonderful variety of pancakes – fruit, sourdough, buttermilk and rye. I chose the sourdough, with it’s delicious tanginess which goes beautifully with the sweet from the syrup. In addition to the griddle favorites, they offer the usual breakfast meat choices along with applewood smoked pork loin. Since they smoke their meats in-house, I felt the pork loin would be the best choice and I was not disappointed. Delicious! Affordable! It’s my regular Saturday fix. Maybe it should become yours.