Coffee 101
A Closer Look at PCC
Coffee 101
As you can imagine, we get a lot of questions about coffee. Believe it or not, there are even people who have never tried a sip. Overcoming our outrage, we have compiled a list of “entry level” questions and answers.
- What is coffee?
- First, coffee is a fruit, not too much different than a grape. once ripe, the berry is picked, processed, and roasted. In most cases, the roasted bean is the only interaction most individuals have with coffee.
- Where did coffee originate?
- Turkey. no wait, ethiopia. the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Coffee is believed to have been discovered by a goat farmer who noticed his herd was somewhat “energized” after eating these “berries”.It didn’t take long before processing methods began to develop to extract this substance we call “caffiene”.
- Which coffee has the most caffeine?
- Think cooking. the longer something is exposed to heat, the less flavor and distiquishable attributes it yields. Coffee is no different. Lighter coffee has both more caffiene and more flavor. darker roasts will have less caffeine and taste much “simpler”.
- What is the number one secret to making a quality cup of coffee?
- Filtered or spring water (not distilled) and, of course, using Phoenix Community Coffee.
- What is the best way to brew coffee?
- To maximize flavor, a French Press
is a great “brew-tool” that allows the water more contact with the grounds. - What does shade grown or cloud grown mean to the taste and quality of the coffee itself?
- The longer the berry remains on the plant during the growing season, the more indigenous flavor it draws from the soil, the richer the flavor, and the more distinguishable it is from other coffee. Therefore the slower it grows the better.Shade, combined with high elevations and quality plants, allow the coffee to stay moist and cool. these conditions are optimal for great coffee.
a closer look
You might be wondering about phoenix community coffee and what makes it so special. we hope these questions allow you a closer look at who we are and what we are about.
- Where is the coffee grown?
- Currently our coffee is imported from a number of different countries.
- Where is the coffee roasted?
- In Duluth, GA at The Phoenix Community Coffee Roastery.
- Is the coffee “fair trade?”
- Fair trade has become a nebulous term full of bureaucratic red tape. if you are asking, “is the coffee purchased at an ethical price, and are the farmers and migrant pickers cared for and known by our partners?” then the answer is yes. we work directly with each of our international coffee partners ensuring quality working conditions and appropriate payment. this is why we consider our coffee “ethically traded” rather than fair trade.
- Is the coffee “shade grown?”
- It is shade grown (meaning there are banana trees planted throughout the fields creating a canopy over the coffee plants), and it has recently been branded “cloud grown” which is given to coffee that receives shorter amounts of sun due to the canopy and the clouds in the higher elevations in this region of the world.
- How old is the average bag of coffee in the grocery store?
- It depends. At it oldest, it can be anywhere from 4 months to a year old. Fresh coffee needs room to “breath”. if the bag, or can, is sealed with no air valve, the coffee was most likely pretty old when it was bagged. Factoring in distribution and time on the shelf, who really knows.
- How fresh will my coffee be?
- The average pound of coffee purchased during the week will be no more than 2 weeks old upon delivery.
- Can I brew Phoenix Community Coffee with a K-Cup?
- K-Cups are great for convenience, but the quality of the coffee just doesn’t measure up to Phoenix Community Coffee. They also produce an enormous amount of waste per cup, and can cost up to $30 per pound of coffee!
Instead, we recommend you purchase a refillable cup
for your single brewer or try filling your Keurig brewer
with Phoenix Community Coffee.
- What makes Phoenix Community Coffee a great fundraising idea?
- In addition to the global missional good that we represent, coffee is the second highest traded commodity in the world. In other words, people in the First Baptist Church Douglasville community are drinking coffee every day. Now, people from First Baptist Church Douglasville
direct those same consumer dollars towards something worth while. - Is there a minimum order?
- There is a minimum order of 2lbs to purchase Phoenix Community Coffee in support of First Baptist Church Douglasville. However, since shipping is a flat rate, the $7 cost is most economical when you purchase 6lbs.
- Can I refund my order?
- In the event that your order needs to be canceled and your purchase refunded, you will receive the purchase amount, minus transactional fees. Orders cannot be refunded once they have shipped.