Many customers email us, plus many more who visit our roasting shop in old town Key West, Florida ask us, often, which is your favorite cup of gourmet coffee, which your family roast. Well, they is a very difficult question, as our response 9 out of 100 times is it depends on the time of day or night, as like wine, we brew the type of coffee to suit our mood, which we advise to our customers, as the world of gourmet coffee is vast and varied.

If I am a little under the weather, Misty Mornings comes to mind, as the gourmet coffee blend is low acidic, but has a full body, so the full body is present, as my palette enjoys, yet this cup of coffee is mild on my stomach. Noting because it is a medium roast and there is enough caffeine to give me a little boost. Another example is Brandon’s Beemer’s Breakfast Blend, which rated 91 out of 100 by Kenneth Davids at coffee review.com. Here is the full review

Delicate aroma with softly pungent cedar and sweet tomato notes. In the cup gently and crisply acidy, with distinct floral notes and coffee fruit that reads as a tart, chocolate-toned cherry. A simple but very pure coffee expression. Who should drink it: A soft, sweetly fruit-and-floral-toned version of the classic American breakfast cup - Now for me this is a un hurried cup of coffee to enjoy, with its aroma and sweet, but mild acidity, almost like enjoying a cigar, where one needs time to fully relax to enjoy this cup at your own pace.

Island Joes Deep Blue French Roast is by far one of the most complimented gourmet coffee blends my family has created - it just touches all the right spots on your palette, then all the way down without leaving any bitter or bad aftertaste, creating the desire for another sip. Here I enjoy this cup of gourmet coffee perhaps if I am not getting to go to lunch or mid afternoon, if the hunger factor begins to come forth.

So here it is Sunday night in old town Key West. The clocks where rolled back an hour today, thus it is darker early and the Super Boat Races are on the island, which I had forgot about until they started trailing by the shop - wow those are some big boats - I stopped roasting for a few minutes to watch those million dollar plus machines being hauled toward the docks. It was cool. So what am I in the mood for, as again, I forgot about the boat racing, which keeps me at the shop tonight for the hotels and restaurants will be full and everyone wants a little extra coffee for their guests. My fuel this evening is 90 Miles Stretch Espresso. Get my point, we enjoy coffee for our mood.

When our guests stop by the shop for a cup of coffee or a shot of espresso, we watch how they prepare their drink, realizing everyone has unique satisfaction points on their palette, but this feedback helps us a great deal with our creations. Example - My sons will not laugh about this, but if someone orders a shot of espresso, then adds 6 sugars and 5 creamers, when the customer leaves the store, my sons begin backing up and shaking their heads no in my direction, but I explain, we have to know what our customers enjoy no matter if we like it or not, it just comes with the territory. Not saying we are right or wrong, nor the customer, it is just a different palette. I guess the old saying different strokes for different folks could be used here.

Now on to the subject of using a French Press with our Smuggler’s Brew, which my oldest son Trey created. For the last month or so, I have been using a French Press at home with some of our different gourmet coffee blends. Normally around 5 a.m. in the morning, when it is quite, before my other two begin to stir and complain about going to school - anyone one else have this problem?

First some thoughts on using a French Press.

1) You want to, if possible, grind your beans into a coarse grind, just before putting them in to the French Press. You just want everything a fresh as possible. The coarse grind will also help keep you from getting a mouth full of coffee grinds - Yes I have made coffee in the dark with a French Press, but only to realize I used a espresso grind - Not pretty.

2) Water - You temperature should be 90.5-96.1 degrees C or 195-205 degrees F, but again keep in mind, all is according to what taste good to you.

3) So now you have put your coarse ground coffee in the French Press. Now add the water and stir with a spoon, slowly and smoothly. Remember preparation of coffee in many walks of life is a ritual. I am not suggesting you have to go this far, but enjoy the whole experience, as this will certainly heighten the awareness of your taste buds.

4) Here you must let your coffee simmer. I go for about 3 minutes, some I know go 4, so I suggest somewhere between 2.5 and 3.75 minutes, again, it is your palette.

5) Now place the top on your French Press and push down slowly, making sure to keep your screen level.

6) Now pour slowly and enjoy a cup of gourmet coffee.

Why I like Smuggler’s Brew in my French Press - First the Smugglers Brew, which rated 88 out of 100 by CoffeeReview.com, is Guatemalan Antigua based, which naturally has soft semi-sweet chocolate undertones from the soil composition in Guatemala , plus this is a double roast profile, which really offers a cup of coffee with a greater depth than most, then we have added just a touch of coffee from Ethiopia to make sure the body stays full. One last word here, we use an Antigua in this blend, perhaps we could use a less expensive coffee from Guatemala, but the rich would not be as present as we like it in our cup of coffee.

Now when after experimenting to find all the right touches I.e. the right amount of water and its temperature, the right grind, the right coffee to water ratio, I end up with a cup of gourmet coffee with its aroma filling my home. I get a rich fluffy top, which looks similar as a crema on a properly pulled espresso, which like a crema protects the coffee from air, thus the wonderful aroma comes out slowly and the rich taste last longer.

So, now when you ask, I will tell your in a French Press - Smuggler’s Brew has my vote.

Enjoy

Island Joe

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