Don’t forget the coffee this Easter weekend
Real, quality coffee is made with freshly roasted beans
With another traditional feast weekend on our doorsteps, many will be flocking to the stores to stock up on provisions.
As many will be overstocking on libations for fear of enduring a day without, a detail that many overlook is what coffee they will be serving this weekend or any time for that manner.
Having travelled to coffeeproducing regions I was surprised to discover that coffee beans and/or ground coffee were sold with a best-before date on the packages. The reason that
this is done is that coffee is meant to be consumed within a month or two of being roasted. Most coffee served in Canada is three months old before it even hits the store shelves.
Today I’m talking about coffee beans that have been roasted within the last month, or like those that were handed to me by Tracy Cosburn that were still warm from roasting. I watched
her roast at her locally owned Kyoto Coffee and it doesn’t get any fresher than that.
The beans came from the uninhabited Enorga Valley in Papua New Guinea whose coffee crops were destroyed by blight in the early 1900s. The coffee plants were replaced with the legendary Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee plants which are known for its mild flavour and lack of bitterness largely due to its low acidity, making for a fruity and floral coffee that will not induce heartburn and can be easily enjoyed without cream or sugar.
Kyoto Coffee roasts their fair trade, organically grown coffee right here in Peterborough at their store north of Trent University. It is in my opinion an exceptional producer of roasted coffee beans. They operate with a global consciousness and are committed to the community.
Pick up some coffee from Kyoto Coffee to enjoy with family and friends this weekend and if you want to create specialty coffees with your fresh brewed Kyoto Coffee I suggest using it in the following recipes using locally harvested maple syrup like that made by Squirrel Creek in Millbrook.
The following recipes are easy to prepare and can be enjoyed either with or without the alcohol listed in the recipes..
Kawartha Coffee
Ingredients:
2oz Pure Maple Syrup 1oz whole fat milk
1 ½ oz Canadian whiskey
4oz fresh brewed coffee Method: Heat the syrup and the milk up to 90 C and pour them into a coffee mug. Pour in the whiskey and top it up with coffee.
Kawartha Cappuccino
Ingredients:
2oz Pure Maple Syrup
2oz whole fat milk
1½ oz. spiced rum
3 oz. fresh brewed coffee Ground cinnamon
Whipped cream (optional) Method: Heat the syrup and the milk up to 90 C, then pour them into a coffee mug. Pour in the spiced rum and top up with coffee.
If you have a method for steaming and frothing your milk combine the ingredients and froth it up.
Top with ground cinnamon and or whipped cream.