Issue #004

Coffee For A Quarantined World

Welcome to the fourth issue of the Java Jolt Newsletter! Java Jolt is a publication of Sustainable Java which brings you a carefully curated round-up of the best articles and most interesting news stories we find from around the world of coffee. Our focus is sustainability so we'll point you to lots of resources on that. But we're passionate about the coffee industry as a whole, so anything related is fair game.

Starting this week Java Jolt Newsletter is donning a respiratory mask before going out into the world, and will do so for the foreseeable future. Please keep six feet between yourself and the newsletter as you read.

We're all mostly staying home right now, and great coffee is something that can be a bright spot in the midst of everything going on. While your favorite shop may be partially or fully closed down for a while, plenty of shops are still doing online sales or curbside pick-up service. These smaller, independent shops need our business to stay afloat through this storm.

So this week in addition to news articles, I'm going to start a list of roasters you can order from and ship fresh beans right to your door. One of these happens to be the Coffee of the Week, as I ordered a couple pounds last week.

On to the news...

This article from Daily Coffee News gives a nice picture of some of things roasters are doing to drive online sales while their retail operations are curtailed.

Roasters Get Creative With Online Sales

Caffe Lusso is an excellent roaster in the Redmond, WA area that came on my radar thanks to a recommendation from a friend. I looked them up and found that they have quite an interesting history. In addition, they are a great example of the kind of company we want to highlight at Sustainable Java. I got two bags of beans and a really nice porcelain cupping bowl. As impressed as I am with their coffee, I know I'll be ordering more soon! As you'll see below, one of these coffees is our Coffee of the Week!

Caffe Lusso Online Shop

Deeper Roots Coffee is a Cincinnati-based roaster who have been featured on our blog in the past. They offer a number of great selections in their online store.

Deeper Roots Coffee Online Shop

Really interesting article on some recent research which has found that all coffee plants were birthed from a single plant between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. Read on to find out why this, though fascinating, could be bad for the coffee industry.

A Single 'Super Parent' Plant Birthed All of Arabica, Research Finds

What?! There is another variety of coffee besides arabica and robusta? Where does it come from? What does it taste like? You learn something new everyday!

The Forgotten Species: Specialty Liberica Takes Root In Borneo

Though this is a publication dedicated to coffee, let's not forget about our beloved cousin/brother-from-another-mother, the wondrous "Camellia sinensis", the tea plant! Especially good to drink during these times where we all need to be boosting our immune systems. Whether you prefer black, green, white, red, or herbal, do yourself a favor and steep a nice cup of tea with honey, fresh ginger, and lemon juice added in.

Sprudge is a leading coffee industry publication, but is also a leading tea publication, and has recently launched a Sprudge Wine site to cover that field. This article is a nice introduction to some of their tea resources.

You Could Use A Nice Cup of Tea

Rounding out our news section is one more addition to the list of coffee shops to support: Carabello Coffee in Newport, KY just across the river from Cincinnati. If you've spent time on our site, you've probably seen our posts on Carabello.

They are still open for business with a walk-up window and online ordering. Thanks to their dedicated customers they have shipped coffee to nearly all 50 states in the last couple of weeks! So if you're in need of some coffee, show them some love and order up a bag or two. They have some truly great offerings.

Carabello Homepage

Coffee of the Week

This week's pick for Coffee of the Week goes to Caffe Lusso's Gran Miscela Carmo Espresso Blend. This is a medium body coffee with notes of chocolate, caramel, and roasted nuts. It's not super dark as some espresso blends are, so it works great as brewed coffee or in a latte. I've been mostly brewing it on drip and V60 pour over. Both methods have produced very flavorful cups.

Caffe Lusso Coffee Roasters

What's Happening on Sust. Java?

Our "Coffee Companies We Love" page is an ever expanding list of great roasters. Any of those are great options to purchase coffee from while you're stuck at home. And remember, shop local if you can! Your local roasters might still have carryout service, and most certainly are selling their beans online. Order often and help keep them afloat during this time when they are missing out on their usual business.

Coffee Companies We Love

Cafe Conversation

(Cafe is only open for carry-out or delivery for the foreseeable future, so we'll have to brew our coffee (or tea) at home and chat via FaceTime.)

This week I've been watching a lot of Alton Brown's new episodes of Good Eats. It's probably my favorite food-related show of all, and these new episodes pick up right where they left off a few years ago. In addition, Good Eats Reloaded is a season of remastered episodes with brand new content added to update them.

Also check out Alton Brown's YouTube channel. He's been live-streaming he and his wife making dinner in their home kitchen. These live-streams are spontaneous, fun, and informative. They even take questions from the audience during the stream.

This week's episode was especially funny, as there was an unexpected accident just as they were getting started.

Check it out for yourself below:

Quarantine Quitchen With The Browns

Ask the Editor

A reader wrote in to ask:

"Who is your favorite Star Trek captain?"

Captain Picard without a doubt! Though I like them all Picard stands out as my favorite. I would love to have a cup of "Earl Grey, hot" with him on the Enterprise.

Fun Fact: There is an episode where he drinks coffee instead of tea. As he and Wesley Crusher are travelling together on a shuttle, Captain Picard and Ensign Crusher enjoy sandwiches and coffee from a French press.

Thanks for the questions. Keep them coming!

Until Next Time...

Thank you for reading! Stay safe everyone, and we'll see you next time!

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