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Certification History of Organic Coffee

Ethical business practices and quality products have defined the third wave coffee movement since the term was first used in the late 1990’s. Whereas the first two waves represented a popularization of the drink and an incremental improvement in its quality, it’s in this current wave that the industry has been set on the path of chasing the greatest possible quality of both coffee cup and source. With this renewed focus on ethical sourcing and production methods has come the increasing use of certifications seeking to validate the provenance of a particular product. But when you see these certifications on the side of a bag, what do they really mean?

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Brewing + Water Composition

When you gaze into the beautiful brown liquid a coffee mug contains, it’s easy to think that most of what you’re looking at is matter extracted from ground coffee beans in the brewing process; brewed coffee maintains the color, aroma, and delicious flavor of coffee beans after all. Surprisingly, on average, a cup of coffee contains only 1.5% coffee solids. The other 98.5% is Water. Here, we explain why the water you use to brew coffee matters, as well as some suggestions on how to improve your brewing water at home.

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WCR Coffee Varieties

It is extremely important that databases of information exist to inform the industry and public about the varietals currently out there and encourage future development of new cross breeds. The World Coffee Research Organization (WCR) has started this needed movement.

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Cupping and Scoring Coffee

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that one of our recurring goals is to demystify coffee and discuss our work behind the scenes. We’ll continue that quest today by discussing coffee cupping and scoring, a brewing method and system of evaluating that brewing method, respectively. By outlining how we use these processes at Clean Foods, we hope to shine a little more light on how we ensure that the coffee in your cup is as delicious as possible.

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Coffee and Antioxidants

Some of the most important and interesting health improvements associating with coffee drinking, however, only start to reveal themselves over a longer period. The long-term effects, from degenerative disease risk reduction to blood pressure improvements are thanks, largely, to the antioxidants found in coffee beans.

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The Roasting Phases of Coffee

Coffee roasting is something of an arcane process; little discussed, oft misunderstood, and necessary to transform green coffee into the brown liquid we all know and love. Since most people don’t know what a coffee roaster looks like, let alone how coffee is roasted, in this blog post, we are going to detail our coffee roasting methodology.

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Chris Shepherd Interview: Ojai Roots

This piece is the first in a series of transcriptions from an interview with Clean Foods’ founder, Chris Shepherd. Our conversation begins with Café Altura’s origins in Ojai, CA.

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Why Use a Scale to Measure Coffee?

Imagine your perfect morning. If you’re anything like us, and the fact that you’re here reading this post is a pretty good indication you might be, it’s probably going to involve making coffee. When you wake up wanting to start your day this way, you want the result of your brew to match up with that ideal picture you have in your head. A perfect cup of delicious coffee, showing off each aspect of the roast’s flavor profile, every time.

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Coffee Processing Techniques

Coffee processing is a crucially important factor in the flavors which end up in your cup. We detail a few of the major methods of processing coffee, and shed some light on why your morning cup tastes the way it does.