Author: TJ

TJ is the Marketing Director for Camano Island Coffee Roasters. TJ is a wannabe coffee snob, who enjoys writing and photographing coffee, reading books, watching movies with his wife, and hiking with his dogs.
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Coffee Frosting on Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Frosting made a great day of work even better!

This recipe was found on Pinterest and comes from roxanashomebaking.com.  While the coffee frosting topping doesn’t have the same “visual appeal” as hers did (we didn’t have a squeezy thing like she used, I guarantee you that it tasted much better since we substituted the instant coffee her recipe calls for — for the best coffee in the world — organic, Camano Island Coffee.

The coffee frosting contained our decaf espresso coffee beans ground for espresso.  I enjoyed a french press cup of our light roast  Guatemala coffee along with it.

Scroll Past the Picture for the Recipe!

Chocolate Cupcake with Coffee Frosting

Ingredients

  • Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1 3/4 cup (210 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp (8 grams) baking powder
  • 1/4 cup (20 grams) dark cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup (160 ml) almond oil
  • 2/3 cup (160 ml) milk
  • Coffee Frosting
  • 3 tbsp (42 grams) soft butter
  • 6 tbsp (168 grams) soft cream cheese
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp espresso ground Camano Island Coffee ( original recipe calls for instant coffee…. if you’ve not had our coffee before, look below to pick up a pound for free, you’ll be happy you did!)
  • 3 cups (360 grams) powder sugar

Instructions

  1. Chocolate cupcakes
  2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12 cupcake pan with paper liners. Set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Add the sugar also.
  4. Make a well in the middle and stir in the eggs, corn syrup, milk and oil.
  5. Mix until just combined.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes.
  7. Cool completely before frosting them.
  1. Coffee frosting
  2. In a small bowl mix the vanilla extract with the coffee powder.
  3. Add it to a mixing bowl with the butter and the cream cheese. Mix until smooth and creamy.
  4. Scrap the sides of the bowl and slowly add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until all the sugar is incorporated.
  5. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag and frost the cupcakes.

Needless to say… these were REALLY yummy cupcakes.  The mixture of dark chocolate cupcakes and coffee frosting was perfect and it went well with fresh coffee, french pressed.

By Dan Ericson

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Coffee Cookies: Flakey Jake’s Chocolate Mocha Chip

Delicious Coffee Cookies – Perfect for dipping!

Who is Flakey Jake? We may never know. He is known, however, for these amazing coffee cookies!

We enjoyed a batch of these delicious mocha coffee cookies at the roasting facility yesterday (and some of us, at home). Not only are these cookies great on their own, they’re also great when dipped in a cup of coffee. Personally, I french pressed some Ethiopia Coffee and used these coffee cookies for dipping. It was a delicious, mouth-watering experience. I even ate a second but stopped myself short of a third and held off well for about an hour before giving in — again!

Scroll past the picture for the recipe!

Flakey Jake's Chocolate Mocha Coffee Cookies

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cups margarine/butter (I recommend butter!)
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1-2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1, 12oz. chocolate chips
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 Tbsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa
  • 4 Tbsp. rolled oats
  • 1 Tbsp. fine-ground coffee (we used Brazil medium roast)

Instructions:

  1. Cream butter and sugars.
  2. Add eggs and vanilla.
  3. Combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon then add to the above creamed mixture.
  4. Blend in cocoa, oats, and coffee.
  5. Stir in chocolate chips.
  6. Cover and chill.
  7. Once chilled, bake at 375?F for 12-15 minutes (depending on size)

Enjoy – and watch you that you’d don’t get too addicted to a combination of these cookies and our great coffee!

By Dan Ericson

Need Great Coffee To Dip Your Coffee Cookies In? Grab a FREE pound below and never run out of coffee again!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Coffee Statistics – an Infographic

Coffee Statistics – an Infographic

This coffee infographic of coffee statistics was made available by the (unfortunately) now defunct website, coffeemash.com.  It doesn’t have a lot of details but the graphic provides a fun way to present a few coffee statistics on our favorite hot beverage.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

The Best Way to Store Coffee: The Coffee Drip

The Best Way to Store Coffee: The Coffee Drip

Coffee storage is easy when you know exactly how to store it for optimal flavor. Unfortunately, many people live with the misconception that the best way to store coffee is in the refrigerator or freezer. While that is kind of true if you’re storing coffee for long periods of time (6 months or more), it’s not the best way to store coffee that is fresh and will be consumed within a couple months.

Coffee’s flavor is defeated by 3 things: Light, Oxygen, and Temperature

When coffee is roasted, it’s roasted with the knowledge that those beans will be ground, added to a coffee maker, and will have near-boiling water poured over them. That is the next – and last – time that your coffee should see a drastic temperature change if you want to enjoy the absolute optimal flavor possible. Constant exposure to light actually “fades” the beans and their flavor “fades” (for lack of a better word) with them too.

Finally, Oxygen is the biggest thing to watch out for if you want to store your coffee. Many people go to the extreme of vacum-packing the coffee with one of those devices that suck the air out while they seal it shut. That works great but if you’re like most people, you want a quick and easy way to keep your coffee fresh. We recommend that you leave the coffee in it’s original package and roll down the top while squeezing out the air. After that, tape down the top. If you’d still like further measures to ensure freshness, a ziplock freezer bag works great!

If you ask us, the best way to store coffee is in a sealed bag or container up in a cupboard that you don’t access very often – but is near your coffee maker.  Only open the package to get what you need out of it and immediately seal the package when you’re finished.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Perfect Espresso Shots – Make Great Espresso At Home [Coffee Brewing Guide] – Part2

Espresso is a touchy subject in the coffee industry. You can learn “the only correct way” from a ton of different sources and somehow, they always seem to differ. The honest answer is that there is no one way to make espresso that is universal and works for every espresso machine. Espresso machines are touchy and each one has a “best practices” list in order that you can make great espresso. “Make a Great Espresso at Home” – the second part of our “Coffee Brewing Guide” we’ll look at some of that important factors to help you make great espresso at home. In part 2, we’ll explore how you can extract perfect espresso shots at home.

Make Great Espresso At Home – Part 2 – Extract Perfect Espresso Shots

Make Great Espresso for Home!

At the end of Part 2, we mentioned a company that our barista’s use to perfect their espresso techniques. NewBarista.com is actually very affordable at $10 a month for access to industry leading espresso training. You may want to check out the free trial and see if it works for you. Ultimately, whether you have a home espresso maker or a giant, 3-group, industrial machine… the basic principles of great espresso are the same.

The 5 most important factors to pulling perfect espresso shots are: Water Pressure, Extraction Time, Water Temperature, Grind Consistency, and Tamping. If any one of these are off, your shots will lose a lot of flavor and you won’t enjoy your end espresso drink. For perfect espresso shots, all of these need to be set exactly right. Some of these are out of your control, however. The goal is to strive for perfection in all of these things and get as close as you can – or, if you can justify it, find a new machine that will allow you to achieve that perfection.

Continue reading Perfect Espresso Shots – Make Great Espresso At Home [Coffee Brewing Guide] – Part2

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Make Great Espresso At Home [Coffee Brewing Guide] – Part1

Espresso is a touchy subject in the coffee industry. You can learn “the only correct way” from a ton of different sources and somehow, they always seem to differ. The honest answer is that there is no one way to make espresso that is universal and works for every espresso machine. Espresso machines are touchy and each one has a “best practices” list in order that you can make great espresso. “Make a Great Espresso at Home” – the second part of our “Coffee Brewing Guide” we’ll look at some of that important factors to help you make great espresso at home.

Make Great Espresso for Home!

Make Great Espresso At Home – Part 1 – Foundations

First off, if you have an espresso machine, you’re one of three kinds of people:

  1. 1.) a coffee connoisseur that wants the ability to enjoy espresso made from the beans of their choice at home, on demand
  2. 2.) a person that enjoys tinkering with gadgets and loves coffee and figured that this was the way to go
  3. 3.) someone that didn’t realize the first two kinds of people are the prime candidates for an espresso machine and purchased theirs for money savings or was given the one they have.

Continue reading Make Great Espresso At Home [Coffee Brewing Guide] – Part1

Posted on by — 2 Comments

The Best Coffee Grind

Getting the best coffee grind from your grinder is easy when you know how to do it.  Here is a really fast breakdown of how to get the best coffee grind for your coffee maker.

Burr Grinder (recommended) – A burr ginder (or even better, conical burr grinder) provides the best, most consistant grind for your beans.  This will lead to a consistently better cup than standard blade grinders will provide.

  1. #1 (finest) – Turkish
  2. #2 – Fine Espresso
  3. #3 – Standard Espresso
  4. #4 – Cone Filter Drip
  5. #5 (middle grind) – Universal Drip
  6. #6 – Flat/Basket Filter Drip
  7. #7 – Percolator
  8. #8 – Stovetop Percolator
  9. #9 (coarsest) – French Press

Blade Grinder – make sure to keep the grinder upright on the counter.  A common mistake is made in twisting and turn the grinder to “assist” in the grinding process.  This actually only hurts the grinder as the circular motion of the blades causes the force necessary to properly grind the beans.

  1. 20 seconds (finest) – Turkish
  2. 16 seconds – Fine Espresso
  3. 14 seconds – Standard Espresso
  4. 12 seconds – Cone Filter Drip
  5. 11 seconds (middle grind) – Universal Drip
  6. 10 seconds – Flat/Basket Filter Drip
  7. 9 seconds – Percolator
  8. 8 seconds – Stovetop Percolator
  9. 6 seconds (coarsest) – French Press

Questions or Comments?  Need a good grinder recommendation?  Please post below!

Posted on by — 2 Comments

How to Brew Coffee in a Drip Maker [Coffee Brewing Guide]

Thermal Carafe Coffee MakerOne of the questions we are asked most often at Camano Island Coffee Roasters is: “How do I brew the best coffee in my coffee maker?”. This series is designed to assist you in brewing the perfect cup of coffee at home.  When you know the optimal way of how to brew coffee at home and couple that with the top 1% of the world’s coffee, you’ll have a coffee experience akin to no other!

How to Brew Coffee in a Drip Maker

For many, brewing drip coffee at home is the only way to enjoy their morning beverage.  A drip coffee maker offers many conveniences such as ease of use, ease of cleaning, automated brewing, and a holding container for the coffee when it’s finished brewing.  There are many ways to brew your coffee and a lot of them can negatively affect the flavor of the coffee itself.  Our goal is to help you know exactly how to make the best coffee at home.

Continue reading How to Brew Coffee in a Drip Maker [Coffee Brewing Guide]

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The 4 Best Gifts This Holiday Season (and why they matter)

The 4 Best Gifts This Holiday Season (and why they matter)

With each Holiday season that approaches, I find it increasingly hard to figure out that perfect gift for the people that mean the most in my life (my wife, my mother, my family…). Professionally, there are many I do business with and I want these people to know how much I appreciate them too. So, this year, I built a list of the things that matter most to me when giving a gift to my loved ones. I thought you might be able to use this list for your gift-giving too.

1. Give Something That’s Good for Them

When someone gives me a gift of scrumptious junk food, my reaction is almost polarizing. On one hand, that chocolate, peppermint bark tastes amazing and I thoroughly enjoy it (typically eating it all on the same day I receive it). On the other hand, I know that with each bite of that sugary delight, I’m putting something in my body that may not be healthy to consume. When I give a gift, I want to make sure that it is both delicious and perfectly healthy for the person that will receive it.

2. Give Something That Actually Works

Of course, with each Holiday, I want to make sure my gift is the best possible quality. When I purchase that special necklace for my wife only to find out it broke a month later because the chain was low quality, I am embarrassed and feel like I failed her. I want my gift to show there is more than a passing thought; I want it to be perfect!

3. Give Something This Is Enjoyable AND Makes a Difference

Often times, members of my family will purchase a ‘donation’ in the name of a family member. I think I’ve given a group of goats to someone at least once and a few cans of worms. The problem is that the gift – although meaningful and necessary – can be easily forgotten. For me, the perfect gift would be a combination of changing the world and something for your loved one to enjoy.

4. Give Something That Will Last Past the Holidays

This may be something many don’t think about. Why should we spend a lot of money up front on that friend or family member and then forget about them through the rest of the year? I’d rather send a gift that continues to give my love throughout the year. Giving a subscription will remind that loved one of how much they mean to you year-round.

At Camano Island Coffee, it’s imperative that your gift is perfect because honestly, it’s important to us too. We hand package the top 1% of the world’s available coffee and ship it JUST after roasting to ensure your loved one is receiving fresh coffee beans that make the best coffee in the world. Our USDA certified organic coffee guarantees healthy coffee that’s also full of antioxidants. With the Coffee Lover’s Club you can also give back because, with every shipment, our company donates a dollar back to the farmers who cultivate our coffee. This helps to create sustainability while breaking the generational bonds of poverty. On top of all of that, a gift of our Coffee Lover’s Club coffee subscription will continue to shower that important person in your life with love long after the Holidays have ended.

I honestly believe our Coffee Lover’s Club will be the best gift your loved one has ever received as it combines all four of the aspects of perfect gifts above into one amazingly great package.  This is why I say that our Coffee Lover’s Club is the 4 best gifts this holiday season… all in one package.

We have two options available for Coffee Lover’s Club gift orders:

1 – Set up a normal coffee lover’s club order by signing up for a club and adding your friend or family member as the recipient – https://camanoislandcoffee.com/cicr/coffee-box/

2 – Purchase a pre-determined gift subscription in increments of 3, 6, 9, and 12 shipments.

Thank you for your time and Merry Christmas!

Dan Ericson

Head Roaster – Camano Island Coffee