The assignment i decided to do was visit the coffee roasters in Brooklyn. Visiting a vineyard was difficult, searching for a location that gave a tour and most of them are quite far and I didn’t have a way of transportation or getting there. This is actually the second time I am visiting this place and it’s very nice. It’s big, lots of variety of coffee and has a home feeling to it. Immediately as I walked in, I was greeted by several workers. I said “I am here for a tour, I called a few days ago and someone said they would give me a tour and show me around?” One of the workers laughed and said that I spoke with him and that he would be happy to give me a tour of the coffee house. “Going into this tour, i already knew coffee would be great because there were some health benefits to consuming coffee, like extra antioxidants, decrease chances of diseases and great for the liver.” -http://www.huffingtonpost.com

In the image above, you see the entrance of the coffee house. It was very large but in an unknown location. It’s very difficult to find it unless you know the address because it is hidden from the large streets. Its located by the waterfront.

I love the set up of the coffee house. It has a comfortable area to sit and relax and enjoy your coffee. Most places just give you a cup to go but this place offers a relaxing, open environment that allows you to communicate to others and to enjoy your cup of coffee. You can also come here and use your computer. Its like another home from home. The baristas, who are people who prepares the coffee, came out and greeted the guests and asked if they needed anything else.

In this photo you can see the variety of coffee beans they sell. Most of their coffee beans are source and grown from East Africa, South America, Central America and Sumatra. Of course they have many more locations where the beans are grown, these so happen to be there more popular providers. We asked our tour guide what was his favorite coffee and he immediately said Ethiopian Yrigachaffe. He said the reasons why was because it was light, sweet and fruity. On the menu, they offered something called a Redeye, which I felt was such a cool name and I looked it up, it’s a cup of brewed coffee with expresso. We also learned how the coffee beans were grown and picked. They are usually grown in high elevation, mountainous areas and the harvesters pick the coffee cherries by hand. They usually wait till the cherries are ripe until they pluck them off the plant.

In the shop we saw this big machine. Later on we asked what did this do? The tour guide told us this was the machine that roasts the coffee beans. They buy the beans themselves and roast them on spot. They also have more machines in the navy yard, where they roast the beans and bring it over to this location to break down and sell. “The personnel also said that they use Chemex, which is an hour glass shaped filter that is to believe to make the coffee sweeter and a better balance cup of coffee. They offered cups of Dark Roast and light Roast, which is how long they roast the beans until the oils are removed. They also do this process called Extraction, which is used to draw flavor from the coffee grounds. Its used to make your coffee sweet because underextracted may taste sour and bitter. I also heard from the tour that he spoke about a siphon, a coffee making device that uses a vacuum pressure and a series of vessels to produce a much fruity and brighter cup of coffee”. -Zecuppa.com

In the Photo you see a piece of paper. On the paper it lists the “cast of characters” of different countries and type of coffee beans. It tells you the origin of where the beans are grown and picked, how high the beans were grown at, how they were dried, if it was a light or dark roast, “notes” how the beans will or should taste, and there certification, if they were fair trade organic. “coffee usually gets a bad rep because its high in caffeine and people associate coffee with being bad and only good to boost energy. coffee is much more then a morning drink, it also helps lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart attack (not to much coffee) and lowers the chance of strokes.” -http://www.health.harvard.edu

Lastly there’s a photo or me! I had an amazing experience learning about how coffee was made and how they were grown. The tour was very educational and insightful and the workers/personnel were very patient and willing to answer all my questions. They were nice and took the time to fill me with knowledge. Some additional information was that the owner of the coffee roasters used to work in the Brooklyn brewery. Also that there price point for the coffee was fair and not overly priced. I want to thank everyone who helped me with this assignment, giving me an understanding of coffee and the process of making and for giving me a wonderful tour of the facility!

REFERENCES

https://www.nytimes.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Zecuppa.com

http://www.health.harvard.edu