Be aware that there is no international standard for gourmet coffee. Nevertheless many companies present their brand as a gourmet coffee. In general gourmet coffee is characterized by high quality beans and skillful preparation. In the world of coffee many consider Jamaican Blue Mountain, Kona from Hawaii, select organic coffees from Panama and Arabic coffee from Colombia as being of high gourmet quality. But there is more to the story.

Retaining Freshness

Ideally you want to be waiting at the bottom of the mountain for the picked, processed and dried coffee to arrive. Then you want to take it to the roaster where they will remove the remaining husk and roast to your specifications. And then you will immediately grind your gourmet coffee and brew a cup. In this way you will not lose any of the flavor, aroma and healthy antioxidants that guarantee gourmet quality. Unfortunately if you do not live in the Hawaiian Islands, Jamaica or along the road from Manizales to Cali in the Colombian Cafetero you have to rely on expedited transport of your gourmet quality coffee to retain quality. Your best bet for getting high quality coffee of absolute freshness is to buy wholesale coffee. If you are interested in this approach contact us today.

How Long Does Stored Coffee Last?

Properly stored green coffee beans retain freshness for up to two years. If you roast coffee beans and store them in a cool and dry location, ideally vacuum packed they retain freshness for up to six months. But once you grind your gourmet coffee beans you had better make the coffee because the shelf life of coffee freshness for ground coffee is measured in hours or minutes! If you really want gourmet coffee and not waste the money you spent for high quality beans buy green and roast the beans yourself immediately before making coffee. This, by the way, it the approach used for most coffee house coffee.

Getting the Most for Your Money

In our article, How Much Does Colombian Coffee Cost, we did a brief cost breakdown for the cup of coffee you buy at the coffee shop. There is a baseline cost for each step of producing, processing, storing, shipping, roasting, distributing and selling coffee no matter how high the quality or how ordinary the beans. A high quality Colombian coffee, single origin and organic may be considered fifty times as good as ordinary coffee but the price is probably just two or three times a much because the shipping and handling costs are about the same. However, if you really want your gourmet quality coffee as fast and fresh as possible, consider air freight of a small quantity (10 kg for example). Again if you need help contact us today.

High Quality

If you want gourmet coffee you need to get fresh coffee beans and not store ground coffee. But all that goes for naught if you do not buy high quality coffee to start with and have it shipped promptly to you by a reliable supplier.