Educational Links
There's a lot of information out there about coffee and home roasting. Just like with any topic on the internet, there can be a lot of fluff that should be ignored, but some can be very useful.
We don't like fluff, and so we won't load our pages with it. There are many excellent informational sites that do a great job of providing an impressive education about coffee.
So, here's a list of several sites that are worthy of checking out. There's a good spectrum of information suited for the beginner as well as the very advanced and we've tried to order the sites from least to most rigorous. Just read the description and watch for the links to take you directly to points of interest. If you have questions about any of the links, you might want to take a look at our External Links Disclaimer.
DETAILED LIST:
CoffeeGeek is a 25,000+ member community of coffee and espresso lovers. It gives people, both consumers and folks in the coffee industry, a place to hang out, read, debate, write, or even ponder the finer aspects of coffee and espresso. The entire site oozes a genuine sense of community that is tough to find elsewhere in the virtual world. There is a huge amount of practical info from fellow "geeks" and everyone (especially newbies) will easily find a cozy fit in the Forums section. There is even a very active forum dedicated to home roasting where you can learn a lot about the why & how to roast your own coffee.
Homeroasters.org is a neat, growing community of people who are into . . . home roasting! There are informative tutorials on different methods for roasting coffee, thoughtful contributions by an increasingly active member community, and a neat forum section dedicated to the science and art of roasting and preparing coffee.
Here's a site that is laid back and refreshing while also very educational and thought provoking. INeedCoffee.com has a mission "to be the most comprehensive gathering of coffee information on the Internet. It is dedicated to providing quality coffee-related information, instruction, and entertainment." Contributors to the site aim to provide a fun, comfortable environment for visitors to learn about and celebrate their favorite beverage. The site is intended to be reflective of the knowledge and tastes of its readership, not just its creators. Readers are encouraged to contribute articles, reviews, stories, and links that enhance their fellow readers' appreciation for coffee. The reader contributions keep the sense of community an integral part of this great place.
You can poke around through the easy to read contributions on a variety of topics. I'd recommend being force-fed via the monthly caffeination information by signing up for the electronic newsletter (advertising-free!).
There's a lot of info at Coffee Universe. To gain a better understanding of the World of Coffee, read about Coffee's Journey Around the World. Be sure to check out Growing Regions, The Bean and Roasting +
Blending. You can also see just how big the coffee universe is getting by scanning through the resources area.
The Coffee Review is edited by coffee expert and author Kenneth Davids. This is a great starting point for learning about the world of coffee and how to roast your own. This reference area is where you can browse many pages of interesting and informative coffee materials adapted from Davids' books (available for purchase here). This is essential reading for the home roaster or for anyone who truly appreciates coffee.
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Coffee Industry Trade Association Sites Coffee is big business for the economies of many countries around the globe, whether on the demand side (like here in the U.S.) or on the supply side (like in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala). These sites are some of the best places to go to find information about coffee in general and to also find specifics related to the important geographic and cultural aspects that arise when you are focusing on the coffee industry within a particular country. . .
The National Coffee Association of USA was founded in 1911, and is one of the earliest trade associations formed in the United States and the first trade association for the U.S. coffee industry. Check out the All About Coffee section for some useful information on topics like:
What is coffee?
The history of coffee
Ten steps to coffee (from the seed to the cup)
How to store coffee
How to brew coffee
A primer on roast levels
Where in the world coffee is grown
Coffee is a big business in Brazil, providing income to over 10 million people. The Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) is the industry's trade group similar to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). BSCA's purpose is to obtain and improve coffee crops and offerings through research and quality control techniques. An excellent example of quality control can be found by taking a look at the process used by Brazil's Daterra growers.
Be sure to check out the educational info - very enlightening and entertaining (even a bit corny!) pictorials on the life of a coffee farmer. Sometimes it's tough to realize that there are real people and real issues to consider in growing, harvesting, and processing coffee. Quality assurance processes are something Americans tend to take for granted but there can be great ramifications of weak quality control when it comes to quality in your cup. Take a look at this other pictorial from the BSCA directed to coffee growers as a kind of rudimentary lesson on the wrong and right ways to harvest and process coffee.
Anacafé - Guatemalan National Coffee Association
Guatemala has some great coffee and has also done a decent job about setting up educational resources on the history of coffee in the country, looking at the different growing regions, and taking a good look (with great pictures) at coffee processing methods. This is a neat site with an interesting layout that takes a bit of getting used to, but it's worth it. Look to the left sidebar for the main topics and to the right sidebar for subtopics.
Colombian Coffee Federation
With most business enterprises, marketing - getting the word out - is a key factor. Juan Valdez is one of the most recognizable brands in the world and the Colombian Coffee Federation (FNC) has done a superb job on the marketing front. The 500,000 farmer-members that make up the FNC don't just export good coffee, they make a good impression with a nice site.
Positively Coffee is part of the Positive Communication program of the International Coffee Organization (ICO). There is significant authoritative scientific information available to support the fact that drinking coffee in moderation has many positive effects on our health and well being. Getting right into the Topics section will highlight some of these benefits. Select a topic of interest for further information:
The Coffee Science Information Centre is based in the U.K. and was set up to work with scientists "to develop factual overviews of the large, and often conflicting, volume of data concerning coffee and its effects on health." Poke around via the sidebar to see topics covering background info on coffee (history and production), a background on caffeine, findings on caffeine's affect on a variety of behaviors (alertness, anxiety, mental performance, sleep, physical performance, habit forming effects), and coffee's impact on a more than a dozen health-related issues.
This is a great place to quickly learn more than enough information to impress your friends and family. You can start with the history of coffee and how it came to be one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world, get coffee-specific botany and ecology lessons, read up on some interesting caffeine facts, learn about processing methods like wet- and dry-processing, and learn how to more accurately describe your cup with the vocabulary of coffee.
If you are academically minded and take pride in being a true coffee geek, this site may be for you. The Association for Science and Information on Coffee (ASIC) was founded in 1966 and exists as a scientific organization with a stated mission to assess existing scientific and technical knowledge on coffee, to encourage further coffee research in all relevant scientific areas in the mutual interest of coffee producers, traders, processors and consumers. There is some heavy stuff here - academic research presented at ASIC conferences can be found under the Proceedings section, with abstracts (the summaries) you can view to see what kind of research is going on in the world of coffee research. There are research updates under the Science Alerts section, and a great list of additional research-focused sites under the Links section.
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DETAILED LIST:
®/TM are trademarks of Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Co. Inc.
Increasingly, coffee consumers are moving toward decaffeinated varieties. By far, the most popular method of decaffeination uses chemical solvents (it's cheap!) but we feel this isn't the most appropriate method. Preserving the characteristics of a bean origin is difficult with chemical decaffeination processes, and there can be certain unwanted tastes as well. We feel that a more natural, appropriate method for decaffeinating coffee is the SWISS WATER® Process. "The 100% chemical free, unique and patented SWISS WATER® decaffeination process maintains the coffees' distinct origin characteristics. As one of the only decaffeination processes in the world with organic certification, the SWISS WATER® Process signifies health, great taste, and quality."
For discerning coffee drinkers, we feel this should be the preferred method of decaffeinating coffee. It's not as cheap as the chemical method (it's only about 5˘ more per cup!) but it's the way it should be. The SWISS WATER® site has some great info on the different decaf methods, complete with concise text, pretty pictures, and entertaining educational videos. Be sure to look over the different topics listed under About Decaffeination along the left side of the page, too. Great info!
Coffee Industry Trade Association Sites Coffee is big business for the economies of many countries around the globe, whether on the demand side (like here in the U.S.) or on the supply side (like in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala). These sites are some of the best places to go to find information about coffee in general and to also find specifics related to the important geographic and cultural aspects that arise when you are focusing on the coffee industry within a particular country. . .
The history of coffee
Ten steps to coffee (from the seed to the cup)
How to store coffee
How to brew coffee
A primer on roast levels
Where in the world coffee is grown
Guatemala has some great coffee and has also done a decent job about setting up educational resources on the history of coffee in the country, looking at the different growing regions, and taking a good look (with great pictures) at coffee processing methods. This is a neat site with an interesting layout that takes a bit of getting used to, but it's worth it. Look to the left sidebar for the main topics and to the right sidebar for subtopics.
With most business enterprises, marketing - getting the word out - is a key factor. Juan Valdez is one of the most recognizable brands in the world and the Colombian Coffee Federation (FNC) has done a superb job on the marketing front. The 500,000 farmer-members that make up the FNC don't just export good coffee, they make a good impression with a nice site.
Mental Performance
Coffee in the Workplace
Antioxidants
Liver Function
Exercise Performance
Diabetes
Surprising Health Findings
Safer Driving
They also have a nice looking e-newsletter that you can sign up for.
The Coffee Science Information Centre is based in the U.K. and was set up to work with scientists "to develop factual overviews of the large, and often conflicting, volume of data concerning coffee and its effects on health." Poke around via the sidebar to see topics covering background info on coffee (history and production), a background on caffeine, findings on caffeine's affect on a variety of behaviors (alertness, anxiety, mental performance, sleep, physical performance, habit forming effects), and coffee's impact on a more than a dozen health-related issues.
- This site is awesome (not in the corny 80's kind of way - it's truly amazing and inspiring). Here's a good description from the site itself:
This web site was developed to be an educational source for coffee enthusiasts. Since many introductory coffee sites are available, this site will focus on some of the more advanced topics in coffee. Our audience ranges from passionate consumers to coffee professionals and the tone of the site is appropriate for both. Within this site, you will find over 300 pages about coffee describing coffee growing, harvesting, exportation, roasting, brewing, consumption, health, and more.
Behind the scenes at the Coffee Research Institute we are pursuing a scientific understanding of coffee so that we can provide the general consumer and coffee professional with useful information and tips. Some of the content may have a scientific edge, but it is this edge that sets us apart. Our scientific background is then fused with a deep rooted passion for coffee. It is our love for coffee that drives our pursuit for knowledge and our pursuit to improve coffee quality.
You can click on these words to get you to the main sections of the site that have their own sub-topics on the sidebar on the upper right: Coffee, Espresso, Agriculture, Science, Politics, Market.
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