What is a Peaberry Coffee Bean?
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Many experts and coffee gurus debate on whether a Peaberry coffee bean provides a richer taste than other beans? It is my opinion, and many others, that fresh roasted/small batch(micro-roasted), gourmet coffee beans produce a richer, smoother tasting coffee. I also find buying coffee on-line to be a unique and delicious experience. Why don’t we check out the facts about Peaberry together, and see if even the peaberry bean vs a regular bean makes a difference in the taste?
My favorite thing managing our organization is our customers, and meeting new ones every week! Like many of you, when I have a passion for something, I go on a hunt to read & ask in order to learn everything possible. The education and history behind the origin of the gourmet coffee bean came from or why each bean taste different from the next truly enhances the coffee experience. Today I have such an appreciation for true gourmet micro-roasted coffees. And, now, nothing short of that will do for my daily pot of coffee. I would like to share some of what I’ve enjoyed learning, hoping that you find it as interesting. So let’s start with this strange little character called a Peaberry coffee bean.
Who out there is familiar with what a Peaberry is?
If you answered no, do not be concerned, please read on.
Peaberry is an unusual and somewhat rare type of bean. Normally the cherry of the coffee plant contains two seeds (“beans”) that develop with flattened facing sides (which is what most of us are used to seeing in our coffee beans). About 10% of the time only one of the two seeds is fertilized, and the single seed is free to develop alone which is a nicely shaped round coffee bean. This pea-shaped bean is known as a peaberry. Only around 5% of all coffee beans harvested are of this form. Peaberry beans most often occur toward the end of a branch of the coffee tree. So the bean itself is unique and in many cases, this drives a higher cost or price. The “beans” are stripped of the fruit and dried before they become the green beans we use for roasting. These beans are also smaller than other coffee beans (next time you purchase our coffee, check the peaberry bean compared to another coffee bean, have you noticed that before? More often than not peaberries produce a lighter-bodied, slightly more acidy, brighter cup than normal beans.
Every country produce a peaberry. American Serenade selected to sell the peaberry coffee beans from Tanzania, Africa because we feel it produces a great cup of coffee over many others.
The fragrance of this brewed coffee, brings sweet honey like notes to you senses and entices one to enjoy this cup. Many find that their 1st morning cup of our Majesty Tanzania Peaberry always disappears more quickly than they expected or previously experienced. We love these kinds of comments. The enhanced flavor of the peaberry makes the acidity and citrus notes amplified. With it’s bright flavor and creamy body, this coffee will delight a seasoned coffee connoisseur and intrigue our general coffee drinkers as well.
Now the Debate:
There are 2 thoughts as to why Peaberry coffee taste better than other coffees. Are you ready?
1st school of thought: Peaberry’s are said to roast & grind more evenly, because their rounder shape minimizes sharp edges and allows the berries to roll about the roasting chamber more easily, and later the coffee grinder more easily. Also the alleged higher bean density may improve heat transfer in the roasting process.
2nd school of thought: Some experts claim that these effects are minor, and that the major benefit of peaberry beans is that they have been carefully selected, which is essential for optimal quality, regardless of bean shape.
Does the bean produce the better flavor or is it because the beans have to be so carefully selected you get the best of the crop? You decide! My challenge to you, is to taste our Peaberry Coffee (Majesty) compared to one of our other medium roasts and see for yourself if it truly is richer taste and decide which school of thought you fall into?
Bean to Bean
Lisa Mitchell, Founder of American Serenade Coffee, Tea & Wine Society Club
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A Mother’s Day Gift of Time
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Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers from American Serenade! Please enjoy this gift (reminder) of time & spend some Grace time with your families today. Hopefully this brief message will be a nice reminder! Enjoy ‘your’ day!!
Like many of you, I have a true passion for life and a deep pride in the country where we live and a deep commitment to my family. And perhaps like you as well, I thoroughly enjoy wonderful beverages, particularly gourmet coffee, artisan tea & great wine.
A few years-back things suddenly changed for us. My life took a twist that started a journey. And it all began with a wish, a mistake, and a sketch of a young woman named Grace.
After being downsized from a large corporation, this wife and mother of two had an opportunity to learn all over again how to make precious time to spend with my family, friends and neighbors, as it truly is a gift.
It didn’t take long, however, to wonder if this gift of time had always been there even when the available between-work hours were so few. Maybe it was there and I just couldn’t see it?
Around this same time, a relative showed me a beautiful sketch created more than 70 years ago by a young American schoolgirl, Cecelia Dubay.
Cecelia DuBay Johnson’s 1940’s sketch is named Grace. It depicts a beautiful young woman dressed in what would have been normal attire for that era. As I looked in appreciation, a sudden calm and yearning came over me. I couldn’t help but wish for a way to recover those more gentle days.
When I first saw the Grace image I had quickly & mistakenly thought that the young lady looked to be carrying something, maybe a plate of snacks or a tray of beverages for her friends. Of course with my passion for fine beverages, I can easily picture a great cup of coffee almost anywhere.
As I later discovered, Grace was simply folding her hands in an appropriate formal position as young women may have often done back then.
As a result of my “Grace mistake”, a wish became an idea that later blossomed into an organization we call American Serenade.
And with Serenade came a vehicle to share my passion for fine beverages & help inspire others to take advantage of the time we have together because it is a gift & can never be recovered.
Serenade is dedicated to honoring small-business Mom & Pop/Gourmet (might I add , best of the best) shops, American artisans, by proudly presenting their beverage and dinnerware creations along with a kind, gentle reminder from Lady Grace:
‘As you use our products, please remember to take advantage of your gift of time by spending special hours with family, dear friends and wonderful neighbors.’
“Cheers to you, to your family and your friends” and my deepest gratitude to the talented American artisans who create American Serenade beverages, dinnerware and stemware.
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Why artisan, organic, loose leaf tea?
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On March 1st 2013, American Serenade launched their Artisan Tea line. Why artisan, organic loose leaf tea, you may ask? American Serenade wants to change the way you taste your tea. Our American Serenades artisan, organic loose leaf teas are so delicious and smooth, you may not need to add cream and sugar!
However, before we go into details on the Teas themselves, let me give everyone some background as to how we got to this point. I have to start by saying, I knew I wanted a tea line when I started the organization, but I had not always been a fan of tea. Tea, to me was one of those things you drink when you are ill. Typically I have an IV feeding coffee into my system all morning. I could always tell I was getting sick when coffee would not taste good to me and I would get a craving for tea. So after I researched and narrowed down the Tea suppliers I knew I wanted to work with and began actual product testing, I knew I would need even more taste testers than I had used to identify my coffee inventory. During our product testing an amazing transformation occurred, I found I loved tea. Not just any tea, but there was something different about this tea?!? It was smooth tasting and different. I could actually pull the flavors from the tea and I did not need to doctor up the tea with honey and sugar and everything else from my cabinet to make it tolerable. WOW!! My product testers agreed, this was just like the coffee we offer in that the taste finishes so smooth you could almost drink it black. (now do not worry, I still add a touch of cream but I used to enjoy a little coffee with my cream, so that is a huge improvement) 
This reaffirmed my selection in my supplier and it made it easy for my product testers to help choose our initial tea line.
Thanks for digressing with me, now back to more about the Teas.
American Artisan Teas are truly a work of art. Just like all Serenade offerings, we look for American artisans to create the best-of-the-best teas that are hand produced in small batches. Teas that taste amazing and are American-Affordable. The beverages we have chosen are all about the experience and taste!!
Mission Accomplished!
High-quality loose-leaf teas are made from the top-most shoots of the tea-plant. The best tea plants are grown in high mountain regions and in areas of the world where the climate is perfectly balanced for the tea leaf quality and integrity.
The best tea plants are organically grown, hand-cultivated, hand-plucked and hand-processed. And it’s this combination of renowned growing regions, hand plucking and organic processing methods coupled with American artisan genius that turn these fresh leaves into the magical variety of different tea-types we offer you, our members.
So enjoy and ‘To Your Health”.
About our Teas
Why are our teas different from others?:
Like our other beverages, our teas are produced in small batches 5-25lbs vs a mass production line, like many larger tea companies. Also our teas are hand designed by tea artists to bring out the flavor of the leaf vs masking it or altering it from its original state.
Why do we only offer Organic Tea?:
Like all organic products, you generally get a better flavor profile and we offer the highest-flavor, most enjoyable teas in their class.
What is so great about organic?:
While it is certainly true that many teas are produced naturally in an organic fashion and have been for hundreds of years, there are many farms that still use highly toxic pesticides (DDT being one of them). We wanted assurance and a dedicated paper trail back to the farm indicating the true organic status of all our products.
We know our customers care about purity, quality, and the health of the workers and environment, as well as the gorgeous quality of the leaf and the flavor of the tea that is produced. As do we.
Why are our teas currently available only in loose-leaf form?
High quality, loose teas are made from the Camellia sinensis plant’s finest hand-picked buds, whole tea leaves, large pieces of leaves or a combination of these parts.
The time of year and growing conditions greatly affect the quality of tea. When all of these factors are taken into account, much like a fine wine, the tea retains its distinctive flavors and characteristics.
Loose leaf teas simply offer the best variety, quality, and freshness. While the tea bag is convenient and some very good tea can be found in tea bags in Europe, it is most often blended highly and goes stale much more quickly than loose tea. Why? Because it is often “cut and sifted” to make it easy to bag.
The smallest leaf particles and grades such as “fannings” and “dust” are used in traditional off-the-shelf tea bags allowing the tea to brew quickly and strongly, but also making it difficult to keep fresh.
Making a great cup of loose leaf tea at home is no more difficult than brewing coffee. Brew the recommended time and separate the leaves from the infusion by pouring off into your cup, another pot, or carafe. We offer the Teaze Infuser which makes the steep and pour process very easy and an extremely enjoyable experience.
What is the difference between Regular and Herbal tea?
When people refer to tea, they typically mean white, green, oolong or black made from the leaf of the plant. Herbal teas, typically called “herbal tisanes” are brewed from the roots, stems, leaves, barks or flowers of other plants. Many of which taste extremely good and have many reported health benefits. Most modern medicines are distilled from herbal plants.
What teas do we offer?
Do teas provide any health benefits?
They absolutely do and we will cover that in another blog post to come at a later date!
Want to try American Serenade teas? Visit our website or email us: orders@americanserenade.com to place an order.
Bean to Bean (or Leaf to Leaf )
Lisa
Founder, American Serenade Coffee, Tea & Wine Society
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Desert Coffee Drinks
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Desert Coffee drinks are something I love to treat myself to quite often. With just a few key items from American Serenade and your home, you can build your own coffee-house in your house and treat yourself whenever the mood strikes.
Key items:
- Your favorite American Serenade Coffees
- Your favorite coffee mug
- Spices from your cabinets (cinnamon, nutmeg, whatever you like)
- American Serenade’s Whipped cream maker & Heavy Whipping Cream
#1. HARVEST SPICE DELIGHT!
I have a strong sweet tooth especially when it comes to my desert coffee drinks. I was very particular when selecting the flavored coffees to include in my coffee line. Amber Waves, which is our Harvest Spice, has just enough hints of nutmeg and cinnamon to tease your sweet palate. I love home-made whipped cream vs the store-bought packages, its healthier yet taste so rich and smooth and not overly sweet. It is so easy to make.
American Serenade Whipped Cream Maker (easy to use and delicious)
-Our Whipped Cream makers come in 1/2 pt or 1pt size in a few different colors
-Our whipped cream charges (come in packs of 25, 1 per use)
-Purchase Heavy Whipping cream, add powdered sugar or flavored syrup and shake.
The process takes about 1 min to make and it will stay fresh in your refrigerator for 12 days or until it’s empty! My kids love it on their hot chocolates or ice cream sundaes, and we use it on pies for family gatherings.
Winter is a great time to snuggle up with a hot cup of micro-roasted coffee. I could smell it while it was brewing and it smelled fantastic! Wow is this good!!
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#2. COOKIE IN A CUP!!
A crowd favorite is our Union Coffee, which is Snickerdoodle! Our customers state it really taste like a Snickerdoodle cookie. I then added a touch of cream, home-made whipped cream, & sprinkled with my home-made cinnamon and sugar mixture. I love having multiple options depending on what mood I am in for my coffee choices and even better I love to be able to do it so simply in my home and not have to pile up the kids or jump in the car and leave the house in the winter!
American Serenades 15oz logo Coffee Mug (below)
We have a few other favorites that make great adult beverages and we will post those at another time. Remember, you only need a few simple things to keep on hand to make your house an American Serenade Coffee House.
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American Serenade Grace Sighting – Robin
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Robin was introduced to our coffees during a Tasting Party in late November 2012 with her boyfriend. She really enjoyed the coffee and loved the demo of the Chemex coffee machine. Robin’s boyfriend bought her the Chemex as a Christmas present, and one of her favorite American Serenade coffees, Amber Waves. Amber Waves is a flavored coffee, Cinnamon Hazelnut.
Robin wrote, “I drink it every morning, using Chemex each time. My boyfriend, Derek, is not much of a coffee drinker and I usually do not come into contact with anyone until after I have had at least some caffeine, haha. The friends I have shared the coffee with, agreed about how good the coffee is from American Serenade.
Thanks Robin! We love to see the pictures of our customers and how they are enjoying our products and spending their Grace time!!
Bean to Bean,
Lisa, Founder American Serenade
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About Us
To engage beverage lovers to discover the affordable pleasures of high quality, American products; micro-roasted specialty coffees , artisan teas & unique wines.
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