By Lisa & Michael Tobin - Five Star Reviews

"The proof is in the cup." This is the tagline used by Island Joe’s Coffee, a small but popular coffee company based in Key West Florida. Is this meant to be a challenge? No, that would go against the laid back and humble attitude of owner Joe Wells, who began brewing his own small-batches of fresh perfection simply because of his own need to drink fresh roasted gourmet coffee everyday. As is so often when one creates a quality product, word spreads and demand grows so today Joe sells his coffee to locals and tourists alike at his own shop on Duval Street in Key West, and online at www.islandjoesgourmetcoffee.com

Joe Wells and family truly enjoy the art of creating a high quality gourmet blend, and like any good artists they have worked hard to infuse their passion into every batch that is produced. No hurry though, these are after all the islands. The laidback, patient island attitude can be credited with helping to create their current blends which are quickly gaining notoriety amongst coffee experts.

Whether it is the smooth creamy texture of Misty Mornings, the soft sweetness of Beemer’s Breakfast Blend, or the dark, chocolately sweetness of Smuggler’s Brew, Island Joe’s offers many quality blends fit for all tastes. These days coffee enthusiasts are much like wine enthusiasts in the ways they taste, rank and discuss the intricacies of a particular blend, and what accompaniments are best suited to maximize the drinking experience. This fact is not lost on Joe Wells, and according to both critics and casual drinkers alike, Island Joe’s has managed to satisfy the most discerning drinker as well as those simply looking for a fresh cup to brighten their day.

How do we know? As avid coffee drinkers born out of both desire and necessity we’ve had the pleasure of sampling a variety of Island Joe’s top blends and I can most assuredly say, "The proof is in the cup"

Recently we had the privilege of speaking directly with Joe Wells in the hopes of learning more about the origins of Island Joe’s Gourmet Coffee Roasting Company, the different types of blends they offer, the brewing process and overall island perfection:



Can you tell us why a brand like Folgers is not something you would recommend to our readers? What makes Island Joe's brand so unique?

Island Joe's Coffee does not try to compete with companies such as Folgers, as we strive to maintain our boutique style of coffee roasting. Each of our orders is custom roasted to insure freshness. You will not get coffee from Island Joe's which has been sitting on a shelf or in a hot warehouse. Our process of roasting and shipping allows us to deliver fresh roasted gourmet coffee each and every time to our customers. Because we do not roast for the masses, we are able to get to know our customers. This relationship allows us to receive wonderful feedback directly from our customers, which then helps us create different gourmet blends for our customers.

What are the common misunderstandings, do you think, that the general consumer has when purchasing coffee?

We feel that if the consumer will go the extra step and demand fresh roasted gourmet coffee, they will learn there is a big difference between fresh roasted gourmet coffee and the coffee roasted for the masses. Many people have never tasted specialty coffee such as ours and assume they are getting fresh roasted at their local market. Honestly, 9 times out of 10 they are not. If they would try our Specialty Coffee; odds are they will never go back to their old style of coffee again.

Can you tell us the difference between a low acidity coffee and a gourmet roast?

First, acidity should be looked upon as the feeling coffee leaves on the back of your palate and around the edges of your tongue. Many people will think of a low acidity coffee as one which does not upset your stomach. Many coffee roasters do not like to use the word acidity when describing their coffee for fear people will not buy their coffee thinking acidity is a bad thing, but you must have certain levels of acidity in your coffee to create the different roast profiles. A coffee with acidity could be compared to a dry wine, such as Kenya AA. At Island Joe's we use the words low acidity to describe our Misty Mornings because some of the different coffees in this blend are a medium roasted Sumatra and Indian Monsoon. Both of these varieties, when roasted to a medium, will produce a low acidity coffee. People will look upon this as being a coffee which is smooth on the stomach. This is both the wrong and right way to describe a coffee, but it works and gets the message to our customers more clearly.

Are there certain times of the day that you would recommend certain flavors to be used as a drink with breakfast, dinner, etc?

Yes, yes and yes. This is where you begin to open your palate up to the true world of gourmet coffee. Choose your coffee like wine. If I’m not feeling too good, I might drink our Misty Mornings, because it offers a low acidity and smooth finish, which will not upset your stomach. Sometimes in the middle of the day and I have not had time to stop for lunch, I will pour a cup of Deep Blue, which is our full bodied French Roast. Deep Blue is smooth, rich and has no bad or bitter aftertaste, plus it seems to fill me up.

One of our highest rated coffee blends is Beemer's Breakfast Blend (91 out of 100 by coffeereview.com) Here we offer 100% Papua New Guinea roasted to a medium roast profile, which gives you a bright cup of coffee. Then we roast some Papua N.G. to French Roast, the act of blending in just a little French Roast keeps the coffee bright and alive, while the French Roasted part gives this cup of coffee a nice depth. It is worth noting that Papua N.G. coffee plants can trace their origins back to the famed Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.

One of my favorites for after diner is our Smuggler's Brew (88 out of 100 by coffeereview.com). This brew contains some Guatemalan coffee, both in a medium and French roast profile, which offers sweet floral notes in its aroma and a semi sweet chocolate finish. It is simply a great dessert coffee!

For espresso drinkers, we offer several choices i.e. Villa Espresso, a Northern Italian Blend (rich, smooth, light and a little sweet). This is a typical espresso blend found in the local coffee shops in Northern Italy. Also two of our espressos, which are both rated 90 out of 100 by coffeereview.com, are our Black Flag Espresso and 90 Mile Stretch. The Black Flag, which we use as the foundation of our Specialty Drinks at our shop in old town Key West is on the dark roast profile side of life and was created to withstand the punishment of milk, sugar and flavor…plus it is very good as a straight shot, if you like a stout espresso. Then we created our 90 Mile Stretch, which is also roasted on the dark side, but is sweeter than our Black Flag and works great any way you pull your espresso shot. CoffeeReview.com noted this espresso as:

"Very sweet-toned aroma with floral hints. In the small cup medium-bodied and slightly lean in mouth feel, crisp, cedary, with raisiny, licorice-toned fruit. Slightly heavy finish but excellent flavor persistence, with the fruit turning toward chocolate. Comes into its own in milk, where it is balanced and roundly rich, with deep semi-sweet chocolate character"

We have many Cuban friends in the Florida Keys. For this reason we created our Shark Bite Espresso, which is our Cuban Style Espresso with a twist as we used some Monsoon coffee to increase the thickness of the crema to give this espresso a slight creamy texture in your mouth. So to answer the question…Yes, yes and yes one should not just drink one style of coffee all the time, but instead should explore the world of gourmet blends and espresso, drinking them depending you what you are doing, eating and how you feel.

Tell us the process from harvesting beans to packaging - what prides you the most about your process of making coffee?

This is a whole story by itself and room does not allow me to expand fully here, but in general it takes about 3 years for a coffee plant to produce a seed which can be processed, with wet or dry, which can be roasted into what most know as a coffee bean. Different countries use different styles of processing, which greatly affects the way the coffee tastes, the way it will roast and the way you should roast it. Most coffee is processed by small farmers and their family, which is why Island Joe's offers a nice range of Fair Trade Coffee. Also, we are also a member of CoffeeKids.com. Both of these organizations help the farmer get more money for their product, which in turn offers them a better way of life.

It seems to most people that coffees come from exotic countries - you have the 100 percent Kona, Columbian, etc. How would one decide which coffee is best for them and what does 100 percent Kona mean exactly?

Most coffees which say they have Kona in them, will only have about 10% or so of actual Kona, so you are paying for the name on the label and not for the actual Kona Coffee. In my opinion this is not right. If you are going to drink Kona, then it is important to make sure that you are buying 100% Kona. This way you may enjoy the taste of Kona and you are not just paying for the name on the label. Incidentally, Island Joe's does offer 100% Kona at affordable prices.

If you were to buy espresso from Island Joe's, would one need a particular espresso machine to make it?

With the advancement of technology, the prices of really nice home espresso machines are becoming more affordable almost everyday. This is great, as now more people are ordering whole bean coffee from us, which in turn provides them with a better coffee experience all around. The aroma of fresh ground coffee beans in the morning is a major part of the overall coffee experience. If you purchase an espresso machine, make sure to read the manufacturers advice on what type of beans you may use and make sure to pay close attention to how you must clean your machines. This is important because if you use darker roasted espresso oils will tend to build up in the machine and could damage it. Most places selling espresso machines offer small tablets which will help to keep your grinder clean, thus offering you a better tasting espresso and adding to the life of your espresso machine.

How did you get into this business and what are your favorite flavors?

Island Joe's Motto is "Born out of Necessity and Crafted with Passion" What does this mean? Well, living in the Florida Keys, hence an island way of life, one learns to do most things for oneself as resources are limited here. There are not large shopping malls on the corner where you may purchase most anything, so my two sons (Trey and Brandon), along with my daughter (AJ) decided if we wanted a cup for fresh roasted gourmet coffee everyday, then we should learn how to roast it ourselves…so we did. We started at our Shell Station in Marathon Florida, and soon our customers and friends began asking for samples. Then, people began wanting to purchase our gourmet coffee to take back up north with them during the summer months, so we put up our website: http://www.islandjoesgourmetcoffee.com allowing them to order online. We have many customers all over the world who enjoy our coffee everyday. After that we went one step further and asked the coffee experts, who rate companies such as Starbucks, Green Mountain Roasters and more, what they thought of our gourmet blends. This year alone we have had 3 of our blends (Beemer's Breakfast Blend, Black Flag Espresso and 90 Mile Stretch Espresso) rated at 90 points or higher and we are told only about 5% of all coffees rated reach this level. So to recap, Island Joe's Coffee was started so I could have a fresher roasted cup of coffee or espresso with my dessert, then we shared our blends with friends, and after many requests we were talked into selling our coffee and setting up a local coffee roasting company in old town Key West. Today, Key West Florida and many parts of the Florida Keys are powered by Island Joe's Coffee. Just ask the locals.

As for my favorite flavors - This is where the art of blending different coffee together to create different tastes and styles comes into play. We do not use artificial flavors on our roasted coffee beans. This is not to say we do not enjoy one of our Specialty Drinks. Such as AJ's Coco Delight, which features Ghirardelli Chocolate and splash of Banana Syrup topped of with Vanilla Whipped Cream and sprinkles of Coco -- and of course the foundation is our Black Flag Espresso. What we are saying is that Mother Nature has provided us with many of her masterpieces for us to work with to create our gourmet blends, each offering a distinct flavor. For example, Trey, my oldest son and creator of

Smuggler's Brew, likes to use Guatemalan Coffee as he likes the natural chocolate flavors you can get from properly roasted Guatemalan Coffee. The there are Latin American Coffees (Brazil, etc…) which offer a lively acidity with a clean taste. Central American Coffees (Colombian, etc…) offer full bodies and intense flavors. Coffee from Ethiopia will tend to have a wine-like taste. So the art is master each coffee type by itself, then blend the many different coffee types together to create a unique gourmet blend.

How long of a process is it to make your coffees?

Once Mother Nature has done her job we receive the coffee beans green, then we spend months roasting each bean (Colombian, Costa Rican, Guatemalan etc…) to different roast profiles (medium, dark, French, etc…), then we spend many hours blending beans together at different ratios. Once this is complete we program our roaster so we may roast each blend the exact way each and every time, which is very important. Once we are happy with a roast profile, it normally takes 14 to 17 min. to recreate the exact roast each and every time. So from the time Mother Nature goes to work and we have done our homework, it could take years to for the perfect cup to be born.

You can learn more about Island Joe’s, read interesting facts about coffee & Key West, or more importantly buy your own coffee at www.islanjoesgourmetcoffee.com Along with their specialty blends, you can also purchase the many raw varieties themselves from places such as Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, Ethiopia etc…most available in various levels of grinding and roasting