Take full advantage of
a rapidly evolving coffee
and tea market.
By Kristin Boyd

We are long past the days when coffee came in only two forms: regular and decaf. But that doesn’t mean that most of us are all that well-versed on what exactly is available, a fact that becomes all too obvious the moment the barista or roaster starts rattling off drip-brewed options in a break-neck shorthand.
In an effort to crack the code once and for all, I sought guidance from two of the region’s most formidable experts on the subject. Here, they serve up a coffee bean (and tea leaf) cheat sheet that will have you brimming with caffeine confidence in no time.

Learn the basics. Teas are available in various blends, but the most common types include red, green, white, black and herbal, says Leopold Ntab, who co-owns Lynn Coffee Bean & Teas in Newtown with his wife, Rebecca. Coffees, on the other hand, are generally evaluated on the same terms used in wine tasting, including aroma, fragrance, acidity, mouth feel, sweetness, aftertaste and consistency, according to J. David Waldman, the owner of Rojo’s Roastery in Lambertville, NJ.

Take a taste test. Experimenting with various coffee beans and teas is the only way you’ll determine the flavors you enjoy most. For example, Waldman says, coffee beans from Central and South America range from delicate to medium body and tend to have a fruity flavor, which taste citrusy (lighter roasts) or nutty and chocolaty (darker roasts), while beans from Indonesia tend to be full-bodied and range in flavor from earthy to semi-sweet.
“What I drink doesn’t mean you’re going to like it,” Ntab adds. “Are you an espresso person? Or are you a medium roast person? Or are you a dark roast? Are you into drip or French press? You have to find your own taste.”
Scope out the details. “Never buy beans that are dark and/or oily,” Waldman says. “Visible oil is a telltale sign of two problems: burnt beans and stale beans.” In addition, “look closely at the surface of the bean,” he says. “The color should not be dark (and) the surface should not be smooth. Look for fine lines and wrinkles on the surface; this is a good sign of potential intrinsic bean flavor.”

Be a savvy shopper. When shopping, look for the name of the producer, the type of bean and the altitude, as higher-elevation beans generally taste better, Waldman says.
Also, purchase beans with a clear roast date, avoid best-if-used-by dates and never buy beans from an open dispenser such as a barrel or plastic gravity-fed bin because “they will generally be stale, will potentially house foreign objects and will be at risk for having other beans inadvertently commingled within,” Waldman says.
As for teas, which should be served in small cups, not large mugs, Ntab suggests skipping the $5 supersize box in the supermarket because those tend to be “broken” teas, which reduce quality.

Master the machinery. Fancy machines are unnecessary to properly brew coffee or tea, Ntab says. “They just decorate the kitchen,” he says. “You can get a 10-to-12-cup coffee maker for $20 or a one-cup maker for $6.99. Or just use a regular pot.”
And, don’t discount coffee’s other ingredient. Waldman advises using quality filtered water when brewing, not distilled or reverse osmosis water, which will leave coffee and tea tasting “flat and horrible.” He also suggests using a gold filter “for a much better extraction,” instead of paper filters, which “impart their own flavor.”

The best of both worlds

Gourmet coffees and teas come with more perks than great taste. Both also have health benefits that can aid in digestion, relaxation, appetite and sleep.
One to three cups of coffee per day, particularly caffeinated coffee, “appears to assist in the reduction of headaches, improve mood, reduce Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer and diabetes,” according to Kimberly Leonowitz, RD, LDN, the clinical nutrition manager at Abington Memorial Hospital.
As for tea, “it can help with both mental health and physical health,” says Leopold Ntab, who owns Lynn Coffee Bean & Teas in Newtown. “By drinking a cup of tea every day, it helps your body flush out all of the stuff that is not good for you. It helps you digest, and it curbs obesity. It also calms you down.”
Freshly brewed teas, rather than the bottled or instant kind, appear to contain many antioxidants — including polyphenols, catechins and flavenoids — that protect the body from damage done by free radicals, Leonowitz says. In some studies, she says, tea has also been shown to delay Alzheimer’s disease onset and to reduce blood pressure.
So, drink up. —KB