It’s obvious that you need to start with quality coffee beans that are roasted by an expert, but a Master Roaster can tell you there’s so much more to getting that rich, steaming cup of joy each and every time you brew it.
This collection of Master Roaster Charles’ best-kept secrets and most valuable tips will help you make every cup of coffee a moment of delicious indulgence.
First things first: you need to start with the best beans. Buying freshly roasted beans like Aladdin’s Mountain Blend is a key to getting the best possible cup of coffee, but there’s more to it than that!
Have you thought about the way you brew your coffee? Most people have a go-to method, but haven’t considered why they make coffee a certain way. That means there might be a better way out there to make your perfect cup of coffee!
Once you’ve mastered making the perfect coffee, it’s time to enjoy it!
We know you deserve the best quality coffee. These tips and tricks are the result of years of experience and knowledge from Aladdin’s own Master Roaster Charles. Follow these guides for a perfect result every time!
This robust blend combines beans from all over the world to make a versatile, vigorous coffee that is a treat for the senses.
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You already know that coffee that is roasted by someone who has experience, knowledge, and passion (like Master Roaster Charles at Aladdin!) tastes better.
But did you also know that how your coffee is grown affects the taste?
The coffee bean is actually the seed of a fruit called a coffee cherry. These grow on coffee trees, which are distantly related to evergreens. Of all the varieties of coffee trees, the most commonly known are Arabica and Robusta, which can grow up to 20-30 feet tall!
Arabica trees grow best at high altitudes. Cooler temperatures, maximum sunlight, and plenty of water extend the growing season so the coffee ripens slowly. These growing conditions produce a lower yield, but the coffee tends to be of a higher-quality.
Robusta trees do best in warm, dry conditions at lower altitudes. The regions that grow Robusta varieties have shorter growing seasons. The plants can produce four to five pounds of coffee (a much higher yield than their Arabica counterparts!), but the quality and taste suffer.
Almost all coffee comes from one of three major coffee growing regions:
Central & South America
East Africa
Southeast Asia
The differences in location affect how the coffee from each region tastes. In order to produce a good harvest of coffee, the trees need consistently warm temperatures, lots of sunlight, water, and rich soil.
Weather conditions, the mineral content of the soil, and how the coffee cherries are processed will influence the bean’s characteristics.
Arabica trees often flower many times during the growing season. This means that each branch will have ripe and unripe cherries present at the same time. If the plantation uses a mechanical method of harvesting, this means that unripe coffee cherries will end up mixed in with the ripe coffee cherries - meaning that the quality of the coffee is compromised.
The best-quality coffee is harvested by hand. It’s a labour-intensive process, with the average worker picking 125 to 200 pounds of cherries a day! After processing, this equates to around 20 to 30 pounds of green coffee beans.
Purchasing fair trade organic coffee means you are supporting coffee plantations that treat their workers well and get a fair price for their coffee. In turn, they can continue producing the high quality coffee you deserve.
This Colombian coffee is hand-picked for quality in the Sierra Nevada. Its moderate acidity and creamy body have notes of caramel, citrus, and sugar cane.
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Considering the big role coffee plays in your life, it should be the highest quality possible, so each sip makes an impression.
The highest quality coffee is coffee that is roasted by an expert.
In this video, meet Master Roaster Charles, and find out why knowledge, passion, and experience work together to bring you the quality coffee you deserve.
This Nicaraguan brew is both bright and sweet. It is Master Roaster Charles' favourite coffee - it has everything any coffee lover could want in their cup and then some!
Buy NowBreakfast in bed doesn’t have to be complicated. Start with their favourites: if they love your cooking, a delicious omelette makes an easy dish to eat in bed. If they’re more of a pastry-lover, pick up a selection of their favourite flaky treats to present on a tray.
Or, if they have a favourite food that isn’t a traditional breakfast item… pick that! Treat them to something they love, even if that means serving a cheeseburger first thing in the morning. The key to a perfect breakfast in bed? Coffee. Make it extra special with a homemade latte or cappuccino featuring Aladdin’s Espresso Barista beans, or brew a perfect pot of Aladdin’s rich and sweet Chocolate Raspberry coffee as a special Valentine’s Day treat. Top it off with some fresh flowers on a perfectly set tray and your Valentine is sure to wake up with a smile!
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Curated by Master Roaster Charles, this gift set includes everything you need to delight your Valentine’s senses. Spoil them with a bag of chocolate raspberry coffee, delicious evening fireside tea, and a decadent chocolate bar.
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The best kind of Valentine’s Day gifts are the ones your Valentine can share with you! You mean just as much to your special someone as they mean to you, so gift them with an experience you can share. This Valentine’s Day gift basket comes with rich coffee, soothing tea, and a deliciously shareable chocolate fondue. Just add your favourite dippable fruit or treats, such as strawberries, bananas, or marshmallows, and you have all you’ll need for a private date night with the person who means most to you.
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Make your Valentine’s Day extra special and impress your significant other with a thoughtful, original gift!
]]>These step by step instructions will help you create your favourite coffee beverages at home!
Choose the best beans: Aladdin’s Espresso Barista is one of Charles’ favourite blends. This medium espresso has a good balance of oil so that you can get the ice-cream-like crema you see in the video.
Make a double espresso: Much like making a single shot of espresso, your cappuccino or latte starts with a double espresso for best results.
From here, decide whether you want a cappuccino or a latte.
Skim milk creates the best foam for a cappuccino. Steam your milk until you’ve filled the milk pitcher with foam. You can test it by scooping some of the foam with a spoon: it should be thick enough not to fall when turned upside down!
Once you have your milk, scoop the foam on top of your double shot of espresso and voila! Your perfect cappuccino is ready to go.
For a rich and delicious latte, choose 3.25% milk. Use a thermometer to steam your milk until it reaches 65-75 degrees Celsius. Rest the steamer just on the surface of the milk and try to make a tornado for best results!
When your milk is the right temperature, take your espresso cup and hold it at an angle. Pour the milk in and try to hit the back of the cup so it curls back up to the top. This way, you can create beautiful latte art right on the top of your beverage!
This medium Espresso blend packs an extra kick, with a bright caramel and cocoa finish that will delight any palette..
Buy NowFollow Charles’ tips and tricks to get your own perfect espresso at home:
Want to know more? Find out what else it takes to make a perfect espresso here.
This Italian blend manages to be both rich and deep, and altogether mellow. The gorgeous crema will transport you to Italy with every sip.
Buy NowNo matter what your favourite type of coffee is, chances are it starts the same: with a shot (or two!) of espresso. What you may not know is that you can make a perfect shot of espresso at home, too!
To do that, there are a few fundamental things to understand before attempting to pull the perfect shot of espresso.
The word “espresso” comes from the Italian word espresso, which originated from the Latin verb exprimere; literally, this means “press out.” This refers to how espresso is made: water is pushed through the grounds at a high pressure, “pressing out” the coffee into your cup!
But what’s the difference between espresso and coffee?
All espresso is coffee, but not all coffee is espresso!
Technically, any bean can be used; however, you’ll get better results if you use a blend that’s meant for espresso.
Espresso is used in a variety of coffee drinks or can be enjoyed on its own. The reason for its popularity is that the method of brewing gives a different result than drip coffee.
When making drip coffee, the water acts like a shower, covering the coffee grinds and dripping through the filter where it collects in a carafe or cup. This usually takes a few minutes to do.
Espresso, on the other hand, uses high pressure to force very hot water through the grinds. The water is only in contact with the coffee for 20 to 30 seconds. The use of pressure means that the oils, sugars, and solids in the coffee beans are extracted quickly, creating a thick, rich, and sweet end product that leaves the bitterness behind.
Coffee Beans
Use a roast specifically for espresso for the best results - and make sure the beans are fresh!
The type of machine you are using will determine how fine the beans should be ground. The closer you are to using a commercial espresso machine, the finer the grind must be.
For a single shot of espresso, you will need 7 grams of coffee, and for a double, between 12 and 14 grams.
Water
Coffee is 98% water, so using high quality water is key in getting a delicious final product. But what is high quality water?
Spring water: spring water contains a high amount of calcium. Calcium builds up in the machine which wears it down and provides a lower quality product over time.
Distilled water: while distilled water is great for your coffee maker since the buildup will be minimal, it can also lead to a flat and dull tasting cup of coffee.
The best choice is tap water or filtered water. That’s right, the water that comes from your sink is the best water to use to make coffee.
To make a great espresso, your water will need to be very hot - between 192 and 204 degrees Fahrenheit, or 88 to 95 degrees Celsius.
Pressure
This is what sets espresso apart from other brewing methods. The pump on your espresso machine needs to put out at least 9 bars of pressure. This is how you get such a rich, strong result in such a short amount of time.
After this, pulling a shot of espresso is dependent on how your espresso machine works. Pulling a perfect espresso shot can be done at home, but first, you must start with these fundamental steps!
This Italian blend manages to be both rich and deep, and altogether mellow. The gorgeous crema will transport you to Italy with every sip. .
Buy NowFor those seeking a refined espresso experience at home, the stovetop espresso maker, commonly known as a moka pot, presents an exemplary solution. Adhering to a few straightforward guidelines ensures the creation of a flawless espresso.
Invented by an Italian engineer and Bialetti company founder, the moka pot features a dual-chamber system. Heating the pot generates steam in the lower chamber, building pressure that pushes water through coffee grounds into the upper chamber, ready for serving.
Moka pots come in various sizes. Small ones may be labelled as 3 cups and large ones may be up to 18 cups.
Note that 'cups' in moka pot terminology refer to espresso-sized servings, not large coffee mugs. For instance, a 3 cup moka pot makes three small espressos. Aladdin recommends a 12-18 cup moka pot for more generous servings, allowing you to add more water.
Moka pot coffee is rich and intense, similar to espresso, with the added benefits of portability and customizable brew strength.
Using a moka pot takes a little longer, but the result is well worth it. You will know your coffee is ready when you hear a bubbling or hissing sound coming from the upper chamber of the moka pot.
Use these simple tips to master your moka pot and get a rich, intense coffee experience!
This medium Espresso blend packs an extra kick, with a bright caramel and cocoa finish that will delight any palette.
Buy NowFrench press brewing is not only popular but also a delightful way to make coffee. Picture it: a sunny breakfast table, a newspaper in hand, and your coffee beans brewing in front of you, leading to that perfect, rich cup of coffee.
But is it really that simple?
While using a French Press might be a bit more hands-on than putting ground coffee into a machine and pressing a button, it doesn’t seem especially complicated - and it’s not! However, a few easy tips and tricks will make your French Press brewed coffee even better.
A French Press consists of two main parts: the container (usually made of glass, but sometimes made of stainless steel) and the plunger (usually attached to the lid). A French Press may come in many different sizes. Small ones may be labelled as 3-4 cups, but don’t let the size fool you - that’s 3-4 standard cups, which are much smaller than your average mug. A 3-4 cup size French Press makes coffee for 1-2 people.
The flavor of coffee from a French Press differs significantly from that of pour-over or drip methods. This variance is largely because a French Press allows more of the coffee's natural oils to remain in the brew, unlike paper filters which trap these oils.
When you use a French Press, your coffee is physically filtered by the plunger. You don’t get grounds in your coffee, but the oils remain in your cup.This gives a different - but delicious! - flavour experience.
You can also brew your coffee to your personal preference. Unlike a drip machine, you control how long the coffee grounds steep in the water.
As straightforward as it may seem, you can make your French Press experience even better by following a few simple steps:
Start With Good Quality Water: Water makes up 97% of a cup of coffee. If your tap water tastes good to drink, it’s good to make coffee with. It is best to use cold, freshly poured tap water if you can. If your tap water has a lingering flavour, use natural spring water for best results.
The first thing you’ll need to do is boil the water.
Freshly Ground Beans Are Key: With any method of brewing coffee, it’s always ideal to grind your beans just before brewing. With the French Press method, it’s especially important. The more recently your beans are ground, the better your resulting cup of coffee will be.
It's essential to use coarsely ground coffee to ensure smooth operation of your plunger. Fine grinds can clog the plunger, making it hard to clean and resulting in a cloudy cup of coffee.
Add your freshly ground beans to the French Press. After boiling the water, it's crucial to let it cool for 30 seconds. This step ensures the water is at the ideal temperature for optimal flavor extraction from the beans.
At Aladdin, we’re all about brewing perfection. For the best taste, our experts recommend a specific ratio: precisely 55 grams, or 11 tablespoons, of coffee per liter of water. This ratio has been meticulously tested to ensure a balanced and enjoyable cup every time. If your taste buds crave something stronger, feel free to up the coffee quantity for that extra kick.
Watch It Bloom: When hot water meets coffee grounds, CO2 escapes and expands. This creates a “bloom.” Once this is complete, the coffee grounds are much more receptive to absorbing water, which results in a better extraction of flavours.
In simple terms, mixing coffee with hot water creates the perfect environment for all those delicious, nuanced flavours to develop.
Once your coffee has bloomed, give it a good stir.
Wait: The ideal amount of time for the coffee to brew is four minutes. This is the perfect time to flip casually through your newspaper as you relax and anticipate the amazing cup of coffee you’ll have in just a few minutes’ time.
Plunge Gently: Once the four minutes is up, gently press the plunger down and serve immediately. Don’t let the coffee sit in the French Press for longer; doing so means the coffee will continue to brew and may over-extract, which causes bitterness.
Following these simple steps will give you a delicious cup of coffee every time!
Aladdin’s Roaster’s Choice 2/3 Dark is a blend of snappy, crisp, citrusy, sweet and full-bodied beans that make a delicious, balanced cup of coffee. This perfect morning coffee is bursting with flavours that are sure to please a crowd.
Buy NowSuch a special day calls for a special coffee.
Freshly baked cinnamon buns, a Christmas morning egg-and-ham casserole, or a flaky, buttery pastry… whatever your traditional Christmas breakfast is, our French Breakfast Half-Dark Blend will perfectly compliment your meal. This crowd-pleasing blend has fruity notes along with a hint of caramel and vanilla.
The list of coffee-based holiday drinks is endless, but the employees from your nearest coffee shop are probably home enjoying their own Christmas morning traditions. It’s deceptively simple to make your own specialty drinks at home.
Try a peppermint mocha for your Christmas morning brew:
If a fancy specialty mocha isn’t your style, you can still enjoy a delicious new flavour of coffee. Aladdin’s Crème Brulée flavoured coffee has the instantly-recognizable flavours of custard and vanilla topped with carmelized sugar. What better way to enjoy your Christmas celebrations than with a Christmas-pudding inspired brew?
You deserve a festive flavour on Christmas morning!
]]>Can you imagine buying coffee beans in the 1700s? If you pictured a process similar to how you buy them today but dressed in period clothing, you may be surprised to know that roasted coffees were not readily available at local stores.
Instead, people purchased the green coffee beans and roasted their own coffee at home.
It was around this time that it was discovered the coffee beans roasted best when they were in motion. People quickly discovered that if the beans were not stirred or moved, the coffee would take on a burnt taste. You can still roast coffee the same way they did at that time.
Using a Skillet
To do this at home, use a metal skillet - not a non-stick pan - and roast the coffee on top of the stove with medium heat. The beans must constantly be in motion; much like making stovetop popcorn, you will need to move the pan back and forth to keep the beans moving and prevent them from sticking. Alternatively, you can stir the coffee beans constantly.
Using the Oven
Another way to “cook” the green coffee beans would be to roast them. To do this, spread the green coffee beans evenly on a cookie sheet and place in the oven at 375°F - 400°F. Doing this still requires the beans to be stirred every 5 minutes.
Commercial roasters work on the same principals, but at a much larger scale.
There are three types of coffee roasters:
At Aladdin, we use the drum roaster in our facilities.
Drum roasters come in many different sizes and can roast anywhere from 5 to 150 pounds of coffee per batch. Roasting is controlled by the master roaster, who samples batches with a tinge (a spoon-like device built into the roaster). The master roaster must watch the colour of the roast carefully - this is where the mastery of roasting really comes into play!
When the coffee has reached the desired color, the heat is turned off and the beans are poured into a cooling tray. Cold air is drawn through them and they are stirred so they cool evenly. If the beans are not immediately cooled, they will continue to roast, which would spoil the taste profile the roaster was aiming to achieve.
Once the roasted coffee beans have reached room temperature, they are moved to holding containers where they are stored until purchase.
You walk into a coffee shop and ask to buy some Colombian coffee.This roast may be a medium-brown colour, but if you walk down the street and purchase the same style Colombian roast from another shop, it may be very dark brown instead and taste completely different. This is because each coffee roaster has their own style of roasting, but is there a correct way?
The short answer is no, there is generally no right or wrong way to roast coffee. It is mostly a matter of preference by the coffee roaster.
Think of roasting coffee like cooking a steak.
Perhaps you prefer grilling your steak, or maybe you use a frying pan. There are many different ways to cook the steak, and each of those ways use different heat. At the same time, there is an ideal temperature for cooking steak. Too little heat, and it will take forever to cook.Too much, and it will burn on the outside before the inside is cooked.
The same goes for coffee.
Too little heat and the beans will never fully develop, while too much heat will yield a burnt flavor. Ideally, coffee beans should be roasted where heat is applied at an even rate so the internal temperature of the coffee beans is gradually increased to 400°F for a period of 7 to 9 minutes. During this time, moisture is driven out of the coffee bean, which will gradually turn from green to yellow, then tan, and finally to a light brown colour. At this point, the beans “pop” and crackle and can now be considered ready for brewing.
Like steak, the length of time coffee beans are “cooked” affects the flavour.
Cooking a rare steak will take less time than cooking a medium steak, and both ways have different flavour profiles - one of which you might prefer over another. The longer the coffee beans are roasted the darker they become.
In general, these are the different types of roasts most coffee lovers will find:
Many coffee roasters have found that by mixing two or more types or roasts together they were able to enhance and develop the best flavors in the coffees. By mixing the coffees they also mellowed out any undesirable flavors, which produced a fully balanced coffee with new flavors and tastes. Many of these blends are proprietary to each coffee roaster - sort of like a trade secret!
Roasting is both an art and a science, and requires experience and skill to master.
Vienna-style roasting creates a medium roast that has the refined profile of a darker bean at a lighter roast. Beans from Central and South America come together to create this smooth and delicately nuanced coffee.
Buy NowWhere coffee is grown can have a significant effect on the eventual taste of the brew. But no matter where the coffee is grown - it has to be picked!
Coffee beans are actually seeds that grow in a coffee “cherry”. When the coffee cherry is ripe, it turns a bright, deep red. Inside the ripe cherry is a green coffee bean. Picking the coffee cherry can be done by hand or by machine. While picking coffee cherries by machine is efficient, picking by hand generally results in a better-quality coffee. When cherries are hand-harvested, the picker can evaluate the ripeness of each cherry, and pick only cherries that are perfectly ripened. Machines don’t possess this level of judgement, so all cherries are taken at once, regardless of how ripe they are.
After harvesting, coffee beans enter the crucial phase of processing for roasting. This process varies, often based on the geographical location and the plantation owner's preference, and primarily involves two dominant methods.
Dry Process
The dry process is relatively simple and is used in areas where water and energy are precious, such as Africa.
The coffee cherries are spread evenly on huge patios and dried naturally under the sun. The cherries are stirred every 4-6 hours for a consistent, even drying. If electrical power is readily available, then huge driers may be used.
During the drying process, the fruit of the cherries will naturally begin to ferment. This fermentation imparts floral or fruit flavors to the beans. However, the coffee must be processed quickly! If not, the cherries can spoil, which will give the beans a sour taste.
Wet Process
The wet process method is used where water is abundant, such as Central and South America.
A system is set up using pipes, tubes, extractors and tanks. First, the cherries are sorted by weight in water tubes. Lighter cherries will float and darker ones will sink. After this, the fruit is mechanically stripped off and the coffee bean is sent to the holding tanks.
The holding tanks is where the fermentation process begins to break down the mucilage - a thick substance that surrounds the coffee seeds.This usually takes between 36-48 hours. During this time the vat of beans is carefully observed. If the beans sit too long in the tank, they will spoil and have a sour taste.
Once the beans are ready, they are washed, re-milled to remove any leftover bits, and washed again. They are then sent to huge rotating driers where they are dried and polished. Because the entire system is strictly controlled, the wet method produces consistently high quality coffee beans.
After the beans have been processed and dried, they are sorted and graded. Sorting and grading can be done many different ways, from using sizing screens, shaker tables, or high-tech photo lasers.
Top grade coffee beans are certified to have the best quality with the fewest defects. At Aladdin, we purchase only the top 1% of the highest quality, green coffee beans available, so you will always get the best quality coffee with any of our roasts.
Next week, we will continue our journey through the coffee roasting process. Make sure you are signed up for our mailing list to find out what happens after the coffee beans are graded!
Our Colombian Half-Dark Blend comes from beans that are handpicked on the shaded mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, then expertly roasted and blended to create a deliciously balanced coffee.
Buy NowThe comforting aroma that fills your nose with warmth, the delicious, decadent flavour of the first sip, the satisfying swirl of crema that brushes your lips...coffee is great, and those traditional robust aromas and well-known scents and flavours? Those are especially characteristic of dark roast coffees.
You may already know the difference between light, medium, and dark roast coffees, but there is more to the story when it comes to those delicious dark roasts.
A dark roast coffee simply refers to a coffee that has been toasted longer and at a higher temperature.
As the beans are browned, the Maillard reaction begins to occur, meaning the natural sugars in the coffee beans begin to react to the heat and create that distinctive brown colour. Coffee roasters will see something called the first crack, which means the beans are starting to expand as they lose moisture. It is called this because the beans make an audible cracking noise!
If the beans are left to roast longer, they will experience a second crack. This sound is slightly softer than the first crack and occurs when the oils in the coffee begin to move to the outside - which is when dark roasts get their tell-tale sheen. At Aladdin, we remove our dark roast beans just after the second crack to maximize the toasty flavour of the roast.
Dark roast coffees are where you truly see the mastery of the coffee roaster. It is easy for a dark roast to take on burnt flavours, but a good coffee roaster won’t let that happen. Instead, you can expect rich, robust flavours, often with smoky notes of cocoa and nuts. Dark roasts are known for their strength and intensity, making them a perfect choice for coffee lovers who really love their coffee.
Adding cream and sugar to your coffee is a good way to mask flavours that cheaper, lower quality roasts pick up. With the high quality coffees we roast at Aladdin, you don’t need any of those add-ins to enjoy your coffee. The key to enjoying black coffee is to pick freshly roasted, high quality beans that you grind yourself just before brewing. This allows the flavours to truly shine in your cup.
With dark roasts, that means you are enjoying flavours that have been developed by the roaster. While the beans will always be affected by where they are grown and how they are processed, with dark roast coffees, you will get a truly exemplary experience since the roaster is adding their own unique touch to the coffee.
Our French Roast redefines what a dark roast can be. This strong and smoky coffee is perfect for coffee lovers who want to fill every sip with intensity.
Buy NowMuch like wine, different coffees pair well with different types of food. You may be surprised to know that coffee can be enjoyed with more than just your usual breakfast! Here are some of our favourite coffee pairings.
An almost-unexpected pairing, coffee and fruit pair together in a unique and memorable way. The best coffees to pair with fruit are from Africa, and Aladdin’s Ethiopian Light Certified Fairtrade Organic Coffee is no exception. The roast may be light, but the intense and bold notes of dark chocolate, almonds, and cinnamon make this a natural choice to enjoy with everything from fresh fruit salads to flaky fruit-filled pastries.
Too full for dessert? A cup of coffee is the perfect solution. For meals that are heavy on the meat dishes, the perfect after-dinner coffee is a dark blend. Our Sumatra Dark Certified Fairtrade Organic Coffee has a subtle aroma of tobacco reminiscent of an after-dinner cigar, with earthy, chocolatey flavours that compliment, rather than cover, the savoury flavours you’ve just enjoyed.
Picture a thick slice of dark, rich chocolate cake. Can you see the gentle swirls of decadent icing just begging to be on your fork? Dessert is arguably one of the best parts of any meal, and you can enhance it even further by adding a steaming, aromatic cup of coffee to sip on while you savor every last bite.
Light Roast: Chocolate lovers can feel confident in picking our Peru Light Certified Fairtrade Organic beans. Delicious notes of molasses and cocoa make this a natural pairing for desserts, while the vibrant floral aroma adds a mouth-watering freshness to your cup.
Medium Roast: Our Viennese Medium Certified Fairtrade Organic Beans make a perfect pairing for desserts. This medium roast blends Central and South American beans and has the rich flavours of a darker bean at a lower roast. This is achieved by using a unique style of coffee roasting that first began in Vienna and dates back to 1683! The mellow and delicately nuanced flavours pair wonderfully with sweet foods.
Dark Roast: Grown in the volcanic soils of Nicaragua, our Nicaraguan Dark Certified Fairtrade Organic Coffee has a natural hint of caramel and chocolate to it. Its brightness and sweetness makes it a natural pairing for dessert. In addition, this roast is master roaster Charles’ favourite coffee, so you know you are getting a high quality cup of coffee!
Our Coffee Sampler Gift Set comes with three different roasts, plus a gift card to buy a bag of your new favourite (making it an excellent gift idea, too!)
Buy NowTraditionally opened first thing in the morning or on Christmas Eve, these great options will likely be enjoyed right away.
For the easy-to-please gift: Coffee Beans
You can’t go wrong with one of our delicious roasts. Our collection of certified fair trade organic coffees are sure to please everyone on your list!
For the mug collector: Aladdin Coffee Mug
Help them show off their excellent taste in coffee with a quality Aladdin mug they can enjoy their favourite roast in.
For the snacker: Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
Don’t be upset if they won’t share these decadent, delicious snacks with you; that’s how you know you gave them a winning gift!
From co-workers to friends, family to partners, and everyone in between, the coffee lovers in your life are going to love these amazing gift sets.
For the mug collector: Beans and Mug Gift Set
Freshly roasted coffee and the mug to enjoy it in make this an easy and thoughtful gift.
For the lover of light and dark: Light and Dark Roast Set with Travel Bottle
If they’re always on the go or love coffee of all kinds, this gift set is the perfect solution.
For when you don’t know their favourite coffee but you want to give them something more personal than a gift card: Coffee Sampler Gift Set
Three of Aladdin’s most popular roasts accompany this gift card so they can try something new and get a bag of their favourite beans!
These are the gifts for the true coffee fanatics in your life. If you’re aiming to be the person whose gift is talked about all the way until the next holiday season, these are the options you’re looking for!
For the true connoisseur: Deluxe Aladdin Gift Set
Four bags of beans, two mugs, two travel bottles, a coffee container, and delicious chocolatey snacks make this the ultimate gift for the coffee lover in your life.
For a personalized experience they’ll never forget: Coffee Tasting for Two
Your coffee-loving giftee will be astounded by this special gift… maybe even enough to take you along with them! Join master roaster Charles for a private tour, tasting, and more… including roasting your own coffee!
]]>Aladdin coffee lovers know this is one of the first questions master roaster Charles will ask you when you walk into our store. That’s why we start with this question online, too. Whether you love supple light roasts, rich medium roasts, robust dark roasts, or complex blends, we have curated collections of each type ready for you to browse.
In our store, you can tell us how you brew your coffee and get the perfect grind for each method. Online, it’s even easier! Select whole beans or tell us how you make coffee and we will grind it perfectly for you. Have an espresso machine? Tell us the name of the machine and we’ll grind your coffee to match!
Once you’ve picked your products, you can pay right online. Have your coffee shipped (we ship Canada-wide!), or pick up in as little as four hours at our store location.
Discovering a new coffee that matches your taste is now effortless. With detailed tasting notes and aromas, find a brew similar to your favorite with ease.
Just like in our store, you will find the details and stories behind your beans on every listing. Whether you want to know what country your beans came from, what tasting notes and aromas you can expect, or what makes this coffee so special, you’ll find that information on each type of brew we provide. Plus, check out master roaster Charles’ thoughts on what makes each coffee great!
This Nicaraguan brew is Master Roaster Charles' favourite coffee. It's a well balanced coffee with a little extra oomph in it.
Buy NowA French press is a device used to make coffee that features a plunger. Water is poured over the coffee grinds and the plunger is pressed down, pushing the used grinds to the bottom and separating it from the coffee.
Pros:
Cons:
Verdict: The French Press makes a great cup of coffee, but there are a few key steps to take in order to get your perfect cup.
A stovetop espresso maker, also known as a moka pot, is similar to a French press in that you only need the moka pot itself rather than a machine. Unlike the French press, where you need to boil the water first, stovetop espresso boils the water in the same vessel as the coffee, passing the hot water through the grounds directly.
Pros:
Cons:
Verdict: Making stovetop espresso can be tricky, but the results are delicious and highly caffeinated.
Filtered coffee is one of the most common ways of making coffee and can be one of the best, as long as you have the right machine!
Pros:
Cons:
Verdict: Taking a bit of time to find a good-quality coffee maker makes all the difference for filtered coffee. A drip machine that has a coffee reservoir in the back is ideal so the water is heated to the correct temperature. Overall, this one of the best ways to brew coffee; it’s easy but also provides a great final product.
Espresso machines can be manual or automatic. It brews coffee by forcing pressurized water through the coffee handle (manual espresso machine) or threw the integrated coffee grinder (automatic espresso machine).
Pros:
Cons:
Verdict: Using an espresso machine with a handle is one of the best ways to get a great cup of coffee. Instead of getting a built in grinder, keep your coffee grinder separate. Alternatively, you can ask us at Aladdin to grind your coffee for you! We know all the settings, so you will get a perfect grind every time.
This coffee is known for its smooth, slightly sweet taste and rich aroma. Order online and pick your perfect grind.
Buy NowYou may be moving one of these common mistakes that keep you from enjoying your coffee to the fullest. These simple tips will help make sure your cup of coffee is the best it can be.
When buying coffee beans, treat them like fresh fruits and vegetables rather than canned goods. Most people would agree that a can of beans is far inferior to a handful of fresh, in-season beans bought from a farmside stand. Yes, the canned beans will last longer on your shelf, but the fresh beans are far more satisfying and delicious. Much like you would buy produce in smaller quantities more often, you should be buying your coffee regularly.
Solution: At Aladdin, we roast our coffee fresh every week. An easy way to make sure you are getting the freshest coffee beans is to place your online order the same day you get your groceries every week.
Serving a weak cup of coffee is a crime. But contrary to popular opinion, it often has nothing to do with the quality of the beans or the method of brewing. Making sure the grind of your coffee matches your preferred method of brewing is the difference between a watery cup of coffee and a delicious, rich, warm cup of joy. If you are using a drip coffee maker, for example, you would use a different grind than if you have a home espresso machine. Even if you are using the best beans in the world, the wrong grind can ruin a cup of coffee.
Solution: If you grind your coffee beans yourself, make sure you are not over or under grinding the beans. Alternately, when you order coffee with Aladdin, you can select the type of machine or method you use and we will make sure it is perfectly ground for you.
This is the biggest mistake when it comes to coffee. When you purchase a bag of high quality, perfectly roasted coffee, you shouldn’t need to add cream or sugar. Of course, making a latte with deliciously steamed milk is different than pouring a cold splash of cream into your coffee. The subtle flavour notes and mouth-watering aromas of your coffee get lost under the sweetness of sugar. Enjoying a cup of coffee without any add-ins is the best way to appreciate your coffee.
Solution: Buy the best quality coffee you can so you don’t need to add cream or sugar. At Aladdin, we only roast the highest grades of coffee beans, so you know you are getting the best possible quality!
Enjoy the mild and sweet taste of this well-rounded coffee from Peru with notes of plum, caramel, hazelnut, and chocolate.
Buy NowThe fine layer of froth on the top of your coffee is crema. It’s formed when the hot water and high pressure hit the coffee grounds inside an espresso machine. This combination causes the oils to release tiny bubbles that rapidly multiply to create the foamy layer of crema.
The crema itself doesn’t make or break the taste of the espresso, but its presence is a good indication of the espresso’s quality. It helps leave a lasting aftertaste, a pleasant mouthfeel, and a fuller flavour.
Superficially, crema looks good. It helps a barista make impressive latte art and it makes your espresso look even more delicious. But crema also has a bigger purpose.
The perfect cup of espresso has many steps. Espresso cups are often stored on top of the machine, or doused with hot water before being filled. This is to help maintain the temperature of the espresso. Storing it above the machine or filling it with hot water will warm the cup up so the brewed espresso doesn’t cool as quickly.
The cup itself is also designed to keep your espresso at the perfect temperature longer. Double walled espresso cups help maintain the heat.
After all this work to help keep the espresso nice and hot, there’s one place left for the heat to escape: the top of the cup. This is where crema comes in: this layer of foam helps insulate the espresso, just like a hat.
Plenty of things affect the creation of crema, from the way it is processed at the plantation to the roast date to the type of machine used to make the espresso. A lack of crema doesn’t mean you have a bad cup of espresso, but it does generally add to the enjoyment of the cup.
Freshly roasted beans have more crema because the coffee bean oils are still producing gas from the roasting process. However, the darker the roast, the less crema it will naturally create because darker roasts generally have less oils. This is why there are special “espresso roasts” - this will have a good balance of oil to get the perfect crema and flavour.
Not having a layer of crema also may mean that the grind used in the machine is too coarse or that the grounds were not tapped enough in the handle, meaning the water came out of the machine too fast.
This roast has a beautiful, deep crema with a blend of beans that yield a rich and satisfying brew.
Buy NowCooler temperatures mean the coffee takes longer to ripen. Think of a pot of soup: the more time it simmers, the more opportunity the flavours have to develop and mingle into a delicious final product. Coffee beans grown at higher elevations spend more time on the tree, meaning they have more time to develop the complex sugars that give coffee its sweetness.
At lower altitudes, the coffee plant is subjected to harsher growing conditions. Higher temperatures means the coffee beans mature more quickly, so flavours don’t have as long to develop.
Coffee plants are delicate. Frost can easily destroy a crop’s yield, soil conditions can affect the bean’s density, and too much water can give a diluted, muddy-taste to your coffee.
Growing coffee on a mountain means that the plants don’t sit in water: they get the ideal amount of water before it flows away naturally. This means that the flavour of the coffee is more concentrated and the bean gets harder, which makes for a better roast.
At lower altitudes, coffee plants may sit in pooled water after a rainfall. This gives the beans a more earthy, bland flavour, and the bean itself is softer. These beans tolerate heat less, meaning they won’t handle a dark roast.
Water levels affect the strength of your coffee long before they get into your coffee maker!
Volcanic red soil is arguably the best soil to grow coffee in. This soil is fertile, carrying lots of nutrients the coffee plant will benefit from, and has an ideal structure and texture to support the plants.
It’s no surprise that the best-known coffee growing regions are in areas that have a lot of volcano activity!
When coffee is grown at lower altitudes in grassland areas, the coffee cherries (which contain the coffee bean) can be easily picked by a machine. This machine goes along the rows of coffee plants, shaking the trees to knock the coffee cherries loose. It’s fast and efficient, but it means that all the coffee cherries are picked at once… not just the ripe ones.
These machines can’t get up a mountain, so at higher altitudes the coffee cherries must be picked by hand. This means that the person picking the cherries can pick only the ripe cherries. This means you are getting perfectly ripened coffee beans every time.
Mountain Blend Certified Fairtrade Organic is perfect blend of snappy, bright and citrusy Central American beans and sweet, full-bodied and rich Indonesian beans.
Buy Now
Light roast coffee beans are lightly coloured and light-bodied. These beans are roasted for a short time, so they don’t experience the same intensity of heat as a darker roast does. Because of this, there is more moisture left inside the bean. Light roast coffees have the most complex tasting notes because they retain more of the original flavour of the bean. You can expect a supple, delicate, sweet coffee with subtle hints of citrus and chocolate. Light roast coffees have more acidity, but that doesn’t mean that the coffees taste acidic. Acidity simply gives the coffee brightness. Featured Brew: Peru Light Certified Fairtrade Organic |
Medium roast coffees build on the flavours of the light roast, but add more caramel and cocoa notes. The key word with medium roast coffees is “balance”. You can expect a medium roast coffee to have a slight acidity and more body than a light roast, with more complex flavours than a dark roast. Medium roast coffees are an approachable way to enjoy a richer cup of coffee that still maintains the natural flavour from the bean. Featured Brew: Espresso Medium Certified Fairtrade Organic |
Dark roast coffees are dark brown in colour and have a slight shine as the oil of the coffee bean begins to collect on the surface. This is where the skill and experience of the person roasting your coffee comes into play! Dark roast coffees get most of their flavour from the roasting process, meaning they have a richness and fullness that is hard to match. Dark roast coffee is more single-note in flavour, but the flavour is generally more robust. Featured Brew: Nicaraguan Dark Certified Fairtrade Organic |
This is a blend of light and dark roasted coffees. Half dark blends bring in the best of both worlds: the sweet effervescence of a light roast melds with the richness of a dark roast to create a balanced celebration of flavour in your cup. Featured Brew: French Breakfast Half-Dark Certified Fairtrade Organic |
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How you store your coffee makes all the difference in maintaining freshness and quality so you get that just-roasted scent for longer.
The bag your coffee comes in isn’t the best option for long term storage. Instead, use two air-tight containers: one for the beans you’re using regularly, and one for the beans you’ll use later. Using two containers means you are opening them less frequently. This helps keep your coffee fresher, longer.
Coffee beans stored in a clear jar makes for a beautiful kitchen decor accent, but it isn’t the best way to maintain freshness. Too much light will make your beans go stale faster. Use a dark or opaque air-tight container to store your beans, and keep them off the counter.
Contrary to popular belief, storing your coffee beans in the freezer is one of the worst things you can do for its flavour! Freezing your beans affects the humidity.Thawing then creates a damp environment that will change the taste of your coffee.
Storing your beans in the refrigerator is another no-go. Coffee beans are porous, meaning they easily absorb smells. The scent of all those leftovers in your fridge doesn’t belong in your brew.
The best place to store your coffee is in a dark pantry or cupboard, ideally one that is room-temperature or slightly cooler.
Buying your coffee in small quantities means you will get fresher roasts. At Aladdin, we roast our coffee twice a week, so you always get the freshest beans possible.
Can’t make it to the store to buy fresh beans that often? We offer all our products online. Save time and get fresh, high quality coffee delivered right to your door.
A perfect blend of light and dark, this is a mix of crisp and citrusy Central American beans and sweet, rich Indonesian beans.
Buy NowBut do these so-called benefits actually hold up?
Not really.
Ground coffee can be just as convenient, is far less expensive, and boasts a staggering variety of tastes.
While coffee pods offer convenience, this translates to disposability, leading to a major environmental concern. The reality is stark: billions of these single-use pods are discarded into landfills annually.
In fact, if you took all the pods produced by all the different single-use pod companies over the years and lined them up, they’d circle the globe over two dozen times!
Even the recycling programs offered by some companies have a high environmental impact. Coffee pods use more materials, and recycling them takes time, effort, and energy.
Ground coffee, on the other hand, is biodegradable. You can compost coffee grounds or even use them as a natural fertilizer, pesticide, and mulch for your garden!
Each coffee capsule holds about 11 grams of coffee, suitable for a small 6-8 oz cup. If you prefer a larger 12-16 oz cup, you'll need two pods. Considering the lowest sale price of $0.50 per pod, a cup of coffee will cost you around $1.
A cup of Aladdin specialty grade coffee brewed at home, on the other hand, costs approximately $0.25!
Despite slick marketing campaigns and luxurious packaging, the quality of single-use pod coffee simply does not measure up to ground coffee.
The machines themselves are not built to produce great tasting coffee.
For a rich and full-bodied flavor, coffee grounds need to steep in hot water for about five minutes, ensuring thorough extraction. Pod machines, designed for speed, brew coffee in just seconds, which often results in a weaker, less nuanced coffee experience due to insufficient extraction time.
By the time a coffee pod reaches you, it's far from its peak freshness. This staleness is the result of a long journey: the coffee is roasted, packaged, stored in warehouses, shipped, and finally sits on a grocery store shelf. This is in sharp contrast to fresh, organic, fair-trade, specialty-grade coffee, which retains its superior quality and flavor, often at a price lower than that of a standard coffee pod.
When you can get a fresh, organic, fair-trade, specialty-grade coffee for less than a pod, why wouldn’t you?
Coffees from this region are appreciated for their robust body and their smooth and earthy flavours. They are considered among the best of the world.
Buy NowNot just any coffee lover can assign a grade! Coffee beans are graded by the SCA Coffee Beans Classification. This method takes into account all sorts of different variables based on a 300 gram sample. Things like the number of defects, bean size, unripe beans, and flavours all affect the grade.
The process begins with sorting hulled green beans using various sized screens. Next, they are evaluated for defects, weighed, and undergo roasting and cupping. The culmination of these steps is a final grade, reflecting a multitude of variables.
In coffee bean quality assessment, a defect refers to any imperfection, ranging from unwanted organic matter to the presence of cracked or broken beans, compromising the sample's perfection.
These defects are split into primary and secondary categories.
Primary defects include:
Secondary defects include:
Specialty Grade: No primary defects and only 0-3 defects. Beans must have a consistent size.
Premium Grade: The same as Specialty Grade, but may have 0-8 defects
Exchange Grade: 9-23 full defects, more variety in bean size
Standard Grade: 24-86 full defects
Off-Grade: More than 86 full defects
A defect in coffee beans can be diverse, from unwanted organic matter, like twigs or leaves, to physical irregularities like cracks, chips, or completely broken beans, each impacting the overall quality of the coffee sample.
So if you want a high quality cup of coffee, you’ll want to stick with premium or specialty grade beans.
At Aladdin, we only order Specialty Grade or Premium Grade beans. We order a 350g sample from the farmer or a broker (since ordering direct means ordering an entire container, which is roughly 250 bags of coffee… and that’s a lot of coffee!)
The sample is roasted and tested before we choose whether or not to buy the beans. This careful process of only choosing the highest grades of beans and testing them thoroughly is why our coffee is the best.
Characterized by flavour clarity, this Ethiopian coffee makes a clean-tasting cup that showcases bright, complex notes.
Buy NowExactly what it sounds like! Coffee is considered decaffeinated or “decaf” when 97% or more of its caffeine is removed. An average cup of regular coffee contains between 70 and 140 mg of caffeine, while an average cup of decaf contains 0 to 7 mg of caffeine.
So while decaf coffee isn’t caffeine free, it has much less caffeine than its regular counterpart.
Among coffee drinkers, the afternoon cup poses a dilemma. The caffeine, though a welcome boost earlier in the day, can significantly disrupt nighttime sleep patterns. Furthermore, there is a growing number of people for whom reducing caffeine is not just a preference but a health necessity, dictated by various medical or wellness concerns.
Drinking decaf means you can still enjoy a delicious cup of coffee without worrying about the effects of caffeine. In fact, since coffee beans are decaffeinated before they are roasted and ground, decaf coffee has the same nutritional value and delicious taste as regular coffee - you really are not missing out!
Because caffeine dissolves in water, producers use water-based methods for its removal. The solvent method involves immersing coffee beans in a chemical solution, often with extra chemicals to hasten the process, while the Swiss Water method represents an alternative approach.
The Swiss Water method uses natural green coffee extract, a carbon filter, and time to remove the caffeine. This helps keep more of the flavour, is more environmentally friendly, and does not use chemicals on the coffee beans.
Try our Swiss Water Decaf!. This coffee has a rich flavour of caramel and chocolate. The velvety, semi-sweet flavours are satisfying and full.
Buy NowSo, who is right?
]]>Some coffee drinkers swear that they get an extra jolt from dark roast. Light roast drinkers swear that only their preferred roast gives the coveted energy boost.
So, who is right?
Well, that depends.
The roasting process itself does not affect the caffeine content of the beans.
Research shows that caffeine is very stable. Whether a bean is roasted lightly or darkly, the original caffeine content of the bean remains the same.
As coffee beans are roasted, the water within them starts to evaporate, leading to a weight loss of about 12-25%. The extent of this weight loss correlates with the roast duration; the longer the beans are roasted, particularly in darker roasts, the more moisture they lose and hence, the more weight they shed.
What does that have to do with caffeine?
If you measure your coffee by scoop or spoon:
If you measure your coffee by scoop before brewing, a light roast will yield more caffeine. The light roast beans themselves are denser, so each scoop will contain more coffee than a dark roast.
Since caffeine level is unaffected by the amount of roasting, more beans = more caffeine.
If you measure your coffee by weight using a scale:
Weighing coffee pre-brewing reveals that dark roast, due to its lighter weight, requires more beans to reach a desired weight than light roast, thereby increasing the caffeine content in the brew.
If you want to maximize your caffeine intake in each cup of brewed coffee:
It's essential to understand the dynamics of coffee roasting and grinding. Imagine a freshly roasted coffee bean as a new car. Just as the car begins to depreciate in value the moment it's driven off the dealership lot, the coffee bean starts to lose its freshness and aromatic qualities as soon as it's roasted.
Because exposure to air results in a gradual oxidation of the aromatic compounds that give coffee its distinct smell and flavour profile. The more exposure to air, the blander the flavour becomes.
When coffee is ground, the amount of air exposure exponentially increases, simply because there is more for the air to touch. It does not take long for the oxygen to soak in and start the oxidation process.
In fact, when whole beans are ground, they lose 60% of their innate aroma within a mere 15 minutes.
Exposure to moisture in the air can also start to dilute the wonderful oils that contribute so much to the coffee’s flavour.
Whole beans retain their freshness for up to three weeks, while ground beans remain fresh for roughly one week. The degradation in taste for whole beans is notable after three weeks, whereas ground beans lose much of their flavor and aroma more rapidly, despite being stored in tightly sealed bags.
Just as the best cookies are those straight from the oven, grinding whole beans immediately before brewing is the key to capturing their utmost freshness and flavor. Over time, like cookies losing their chewiness and scent, coffee's richness diminishes.
We recommend purchasing a small home grinder and ordering freshly roasted whole bean coffee.
Coffee at Aladdin Roastery is freshly roasted on site every single week, to ensure maximum freshness.
Grind exactly the amount you need, right before brewing to get the smoothest, best tasting cup possible.
Try our delicious 100% Colombian coffee. With a rich body, a persistent and clean cup and a hint of hazelnut taste, this coffee is perfect for new home grinders.
Buy NowJamaican Blue Mountain (JBM) coffee is known for both its deliciously smooth taste, and its expensive price point.
There is no doubt that it is excellent coffee. It is smooth, clean, and mild without being bland, and boasts a flavour profile with a delicate balance of bitterness and sweetness.
Simple supply and demand economics.
This coffee is grown in the beautiful Blue Mountains of Jamaica. But simply being grown in those mountains is not enough to warrant the JMB status. It must also be grown between 3-,5000 feet above sea level in one of four specific parishes: Saint Andrew, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, or Portland.
The limited topographical range of production, and the strict regulatory requirements, means that very little coffee can be grown.
For context, the full volume of coffee exported from Jamaica every year is less than 0.04% of what is exported from Brazil.
And of the small amount that can be produced, 80% is exported directly to Japan. That leaves a paltry 20% for the rest of the world.
The extremely limited supply, coupled with the high demand, results in a high price point.
Image of Blue Mountain by Photo by Yves Alarie on Unsplash. Image of coffee beans by Marc Babin on Unsplash.
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