A complete coffee shop business plan to help you get the planning process started. Facts and figures updated yearly.
Coffee Shop Business Planner

Gourmet flavored coffee – that alone conjures up images of piping hot mugs of freshly brewed coffee being served after dinner at an elite restaurant as you enjoy your crepe suzette. Is it an advertising gimmick to get you to spend more on certain coffees or is there truly a difference. The fact is, gourmet flavored coffees are real and they aren’t for the elite alone. In fact, you can probably find a gourmet flavored coffee in a lot of homes and offices.

The popularity of gourmet flavored coffee has soared. For years the only gourmet flavored coffees were the instant coffees available in your local grocery. Although they are quite flavorful, they aren’t nearly as tasty as a pot of freshly ground gourmet flavored coffee can be.

Coffee roasters realized that people like variety and of course they took notice of those instant flavored coffees and coffee drinks and began working on making the coffee bean flavored. Other coffee roasters didn’t go for exotic flavored coffees; instead they focused on the growing and roasting of the bean itself to make a gourmet flavor.

Beans that are grown in certain regions are considered more desirable than those in other regions. Think back to those Juan Valdez commercials. They were marketing the Columbian bean as being a more flavorful and sought after bean. The Jamaican Blue Forest Bean is one of the most sought after gourmet beans due to its rich taste and enchanting aroma. This bean is proof that gourmet flavor can come from the bean itself, not necessarily as an addition during roasting.

The Bean and the Flavor

Gourmet flavors can be added during the roasting process to enhance or totally alter the flavor of the coffee. There is one central premise that gourmet coffee roasters all follow in order for their coffee to be considered truly gourmet and that is the bean they start with. No matter what additions or flavors they add during roasting, starting off with an inferior bean will create an inferior coffee.

Although there are more than 25 major types of coffee beans in the world, there are two beans that are considered the major players in gourmet flavored coffees, the Arabica bean and the Robusta bean.

The Arabica bean is used in more than 60% of all gourmet coffee production around the world. This bean is very delicate and prone to disease, pest and ailments from the weather. These reasons alone make it a more costly bean. The Arabica bean is used both as a gourmet coffee on its own and as a base for gourmet flavored coffees.  The taste of the Arabica bean depends on where it is grown.

The Robusta bean accounts for about 40% of coffee production in the world. Robusta beans are easier to grow which makes them less expensive. This does not mean that they are any less flavorful than Arabica beans. Robusta, as the name implies, have a stronger, darker flavor than Arabica beans and can be used to give the gourmet flavored coffee a little more punch.

Oftentimes gourmet roasters will use a blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans as the base to their gourmet flavored coffee. Then, during the roasting process they will add enhancements such as chocolate syrups or caramel to flavor the coffee. Flavoring oils can also be used to flavor the coffee as well as chemical compounds that are created to mimic flavors.

Gourmet flavored coffee that presents itself as naturally flavored should have the most robust coffee base as well as a subtle flavoring. Flavored coffees that have been flavored using a chemical process lose some of their natural coffee characteristics during the flavoring process.

Gourmet flavored coffees have come a long way in recent years. From deep, robust coffee that has been dark roasted to those wonderful vanilla bean gourmet flavored coffees, coffee lover’s palettes can be tantalized with a variety of coffee flavors. No longer set aside for the elite, gourmet coffees can be bought at the local grocer or coffee shop by most anyone.
 

Coffee roasters come in all shapes and sizes ranging in price from 30 dollars to nearly a thousand. As with any product, the price you pay for it doesn’t always correlate with the quality. Besides looking for a reliable brand, here are a few tips on what to look for when buying a coffee roaster.

The bottom of the range Roasters are basic stove top models which are just a saucepan with a tight lid and a special handle that contains a crank to allow the beans to stir up the beans during the process. It is essential to keep stirring the beans as they roast to prevent them from burning on the bottom as well as to keep the hot air inside the saucepan circulating evenly. Temperature control is vital for proper roasting so even if you are purchasing a base model be sure to buy one that has a thermometer in the lid.

At the other end of the scale are roasters that do pretty much everything automatically.  All you have to do is put in a measure of green beans, close the lid and walk away for a few minutes. These deluxe models have built-in thermometers which control the heat and air-flow along with control geometry and rotating canisters and of course an all important timer to automatically shut off the device when the beans are done.

The most common types are air roasters that work along the same lines as popcorn makers whereby hot air is circulated through the mixture, while an agitator moves the beans around in the canister. This process produces a well uniformed roast.  

When you are out shopping for a coffee roaster it is important that you remember to look for a product that has the ability to circulate air evenly over the beans to heat them uniformly. Avoid roasters with a heating source only at the bottom because they constrict air flow, which makes for an uneven roast. Drum roasters eliminate this problem, by their rotating drum design that uses gravity to move the beans around rather than relying only on a stirrer fitted to the bottom of the machine.

Most of these machines allow you to monitor the entire process through a see-through glass insert. This feature is a must for those who like to experiment and fine-tune the roast to their liking. One thing to also consider is the greater the quantity of beans you use, the more smoke will be created so be prepared to ventilate well.

Commonly these types of upmarket roasters also have pre-set amounts on the dial so you can set them from light to dark. Some models even filter out the chaff produced as the skins burst from the expansion of the bean.

Today coffee roasters are no longer solely for professional use as good quality home devices are now readily available which have the added benefit of being able to roast quite larger quantities of beans. If you are into catering for dinner parties and other types of home entertaining then certainly I would recommend you look into adding a roaster to your kitchen appliances.

Enjoy!

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