Coffee Bean Traveler Part 2 of 3

(scroll down for Part 1)

This month we continue the story of our coffee bean's life and times. Previously we took you through the early stages of a bean's processing all the way through sorting. Our journey continues with exporting.

Exporting: Inside a large jute bag you and your similar sized friends wait. However, you don't mind because you are inside of a large comfortably cool and dry warehouse. You feel yourself being moved around but can't tell where you are because of the darkness. At one point you think you are on a boat because of the constant rocking motion. After months of waiting, your bag is selected and placed on a small truck.

Roasting: The jute bag has been cut open and you can see where you are. You hear people speaking a language you've never heard before. You've traveled thousands of miles to end up in a small coffee roasting shop somewhere in America. The roastmaster scoops you up and pours you into his roaster. You find it shockingly hot at first, but it soon feels good to you because you are a green coffee bean and it is your destiny to be roasted. The high heat begins your transformation. You feel the moisture turning to steam and crackling inside of you. Right down to your core your color slowly changes from a light olive green to a grassy yellow to a light brown. At your dark brown stage you feel more deep changes taking place as your sugars begin to caramelize and oils seep to the surface of your skin. Suddenly, you feel a rush of cool air and you are spilled out onto a tray where you quickly cool to the room temperature. Looking around, you find yourself surrounded by dark glistening roasted coffee beans, and you are
proud to be there.

Grinding: You've been allowed to rest for a day after your dramatic transformation from a chewy green bean to a crunchy brown roasted bean. As you rest and catch your breath and relax, you enjoy the wonderful roasted aromatics that are slowly released from all the beans crowded around you. Early the next morning you are once again scooped up, but this time you are placed into a small tin hopper. Immediately you hear a horrible grinding noise, and you are sure this is the end. Before you know it, you are being crushed between burrs of a grinder and reduced to hundreds of small fragments. Every ground around you is in shock from this brutal crushing. In the panic the grounds release even more aromatics filling the air with intense aromas of fresh coffee. You believe this is it, you've found your destiny, crushed with your friends.

To be continued......C.B. Miller, BetterBeans.Com

BetterBeans.Com: Our Reason for Be'an
Small coffee roasters are perking up all over the country, recreating styles and blends which were nearly impossible to find just a few years ago. The quality of these blends remains unparalleled by those of the giant coffee companies. However, it is difficult to experience these wonderfully fresh roasted coffees because the roasters are scattered all over the country. That is until now! BetterBeans.Com is committed to finding the best coffee roasters in the nation and delivering their coffees fresh to your door each month. Visit our site at www.BetterBeans.Com to learn more about our coffee adventure.