I thought I knew about coffee. Yeah, it comes from a plant and then it’s roasted. Not rocket science. Definitely not interesting. That is, because I didn’t really know anything about coffee. I had no clue about how it was really made. I had no clue where the coffee that I drank came from. Until this event (which was really educational considering the tasty samples the Gimme Coffee speakers brought).
The process was amazing- it all starts with collecting the coffee from a small farmer in Colombia. I had no clue that this company focused on providing only organic coffee. This farmer took much care to make sure that his coffee was hand picked for the best flavor while still being organic. Then there was a procedure to prepare the coffee from consumption.
Here at Cornell, I drink the Hazelnut and French Vanilla flavors. Little did I know that these flavors were completely artificial and usually consisted of a much lower quality of coffee – usually not Arabica coffee. At Gimme Coffee, their coffee is 100% Arabica. There were so many natural flavors embedded in each coffee sample – choclatey and berry were my favorite. These flavors were conceived naturally by letting the plant ferment with the fruit for a longer period of time.
From now on I have a new appreciation for coffee – it is not easy to come across some quality coffee. It seems that Gimme Coffee knows just how to do that.
Hazelnut also happens to be one of my favorite Cornell coffee flavors. I am slowly becoming a coffee addict myself, so this has given me a new perspective on the coffee I will choose to drink.
Wish I could’ve gone to this event. I had no idea that a lot of artificially-flavored coffees are of lower quality. I don’t drink coffee that much, but this post definitely makes me want to go to Gates tomorrow and visit Gimme Coffee.
Bummed that I missed this one! That sounds really interesting. I didn’t realize flavored coffees were typically made with lower quality beans, but I guess it makes sense. Also, on the topic of natural coffee flavors, there’s a coffee shop down in Ithaca by the commons called The Shop. They make great coffee and there’s this really cool pie chart on the wall by the door that shows you the flavor categories and subcategories of coffee – and there are dozens! Not the kind of words you’d usually use to describe flavors (I’m not sure what over half of them are supposed to taste like) but it’s really fun to check out!
I didn’t realize the incredible amount of work that goes into brewing specific types of coffee. Many people have told me that Gimme Coffee has the best coffee on campus but I never understood why. I will definitely go there soon. Knowing that the coffee is 100% Arabica, do you think that you will start going to Gimme Coffee more often?