Coffee of India

Coffee of India

Coffee from India is smooth and spicy with rich, full body. The beans have a peculiar yellowish hue. They do not grow this color, but rather are manually manipulated using a technique known as monsooning. Long ago when coffee was transported from India to Europe on sailing ships, it was exposed to high levels of humidity during long trips. Because of this, the coffee would arrive at its destination looking and tasting different; yellow and spicy. When steam ships were invented and passage to Europe was shortened, the problem ceased to occur, but another problem was that Europeans became accustomed to the tweaked flavor and appearance, and demanded it. Monsooning became the solution. During the months of May and June the monsoon rains occur in India. The coffee beans are spread out evenly in special coverings with no walls. They are raked frequently for five days ensuring that all of the beans are exposed to the intense humidity. The beans are then loosely packed in sacks and left to the monsoon winds. Each week, for several weeks, the sacks are repacked and stacked until the noticeable difference in color and taste is prominent. After removing the unaffected beans they are bagged and exported.

Roasted Indian Monsooned Malabar

Green Indian Monsooned Malabar

Coffee of South America

Coffee of South America

The coffees of South America represent about 70% of the world’s coffee trade.  The majority of South American coffees are mass-produced in Brazil and Colombia mainly for commercial marketing.  The climate in South America is not as stable as the Central American regions resulting often in severe conditions during the coffee season, impacting the world’s coffee market.  A history of freezing temperatures throughout the past in this region caused the awareness in the minds of the people to monitor the weather condition during the coffee growing season. In addition to weather conditions, small farming entities and the differences in their methods of coffee processing will lead to inconsistencies in coffee quality.  The majority of coffee beans from this region have different single origin varietals that are acidic, with a bold to medium body.

Brazil boasts the highest coffee production in the world. Most of the coffee growing regions in Brazil are responsible for commercial grade Robusta coffee. The varietal that is of importance to the specialty gourmet coffee market is Santos. Santos is grown mainly in the state of São Paulo, which is one of the four main growing regions. The others harvest mostly Robusta for commercial blends. However, Santos is Arabica coffee that is plucked from an original strain of bourbon trees brought to Brazil in the 18th century from the island of Bourbon.

Colombia is second only to Brazil in coffee production, but it is the largest exporter of washed Arabica beans. Grown among the foothills of the Andes mountain range, Colombian coffee is superbly balanced and said to reflect hints of caramel with a nutty accent. Beans of value are graded as "supremo" or "excelso". Supremo tends to be larger beans and more consistent in quality. Both supremo and excelso are medium-bodied aromatic coffees with good fruit.

Grown on the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains, coffee is the largest agricultural export of Peru.  Peru has become the largest exporter of organic coffee, and is the third largest coffee producing country in South America.  As the sixth largest production in the world, 90% of Peruvian coffee is exported to the U.S., Japan and Germany, which is an indication of its high quality.  The beans are hand picked and sun dried.  Peru's best coffee grows in Chanchamayo, Cuzco and Norte.    Peruviancoffee is well-balanced and works well in blends.

In Venezuela, coffee production is making a comeback since its abandonment during the oil boom. Fincas, or coffee farms, are beginning to revive bourbon and tipica trees as well as planting new trees, laying the foundation of a new export industry.  Most coffees are roasted light to medium for exceptional flavor.  Certain coffees, however, tolerate more heat than others tolerate and excel in darker roast.  Those coffees are exhibited in the Espresso and Dark Roast Category.

Roasted South American Coffee

Green South American Coffee

Who is Mitalena Coffee?

MitalenaCoffee, by United Intertrade, Inc. is a coffee roaster based in Houston, TX that specializes in roasting, blending, flavoring and packaging coffee in bulk or small quantities for wholesale and retail businesses. Since 1987, Mitalena has been providing coffee to some of America’s finest restaurants, coffee shops and boutique coffee retailers.

We deal in all grades and quantities of coffee from show quality premium beans to large quantities of economical varieties. Our broad selection of coffees and flexible production capacity uniquely positions us to be able to meet our customers’ vast array of coffee needs.

Mitalena Coffee Collection

At Mitalena, we carry a wide variety of coffee beans from all over the world. Our coffees range from expensive pedigrees of estate coffees such as Jamaica Blue Mountain and HawaiianKona Fancy, to in-house economical blends of select beans. A few well-known trade names in coffee are Colombian Supremo, Kenya AA, Costa Rican Tarrazu, Guatemalan Antigua, Nicaraguan Matagalpa, and Indonesian Sumatra.

 Mitalena Coffee Processing

The Mitalena coffee roasting process is based on a European roasting system where coffee is slow roasted in single batches and then air cooled. This traditional "Old World Style" roasting process produces coffee of unmatched smoothness and aromatic quality.

The flavor characteristics of coffee are impacted by a variety of factors including the country and region where the coffee was grown. Other important factors impacting coffee’s characteristics are the Roast of the coffee as well as the Grind. Roast and Grind play a significant role in the strength and boldness of a cup of coffee. 

Mitalena Coffee Packaging and Private Labeling Services

In addition to our in-house brands of coffee, at Mitalena we provide third-parties with coffee packaging and private labeling services. Through this service we are able to custom tailor orders to our customers’ specific coffee and packaging needs. We offer a comprehensive list of coffee processing and packaging services such as specialty vacuum packaging and private labeling for consumer and institutional applications

Coffee of Jamaica

Coffee was first introduced into Jamaica from the island of Martinique in 1728. But it wasn't until the abolition of slavery on the British territory in 1838 when former slaves in the Blue Mountain began the cultivation of Jamaican coffee beans. Located at the eastern ends of the island of Jamaica runs a majestic range of hills known as the Blue Mountains. Here the terrain, the soil, the rainfall, and the thick Blue Mountain mist combine to create the perfect conditions for the cultivation of the World's famous, most distinguished and most delicious Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee has become one of the most sought after coffees in the world. Due to the demand for Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, it carries a hefty price tag. In order for Jamaican Coffee Beans to be labeled Blue Mountain, it must have been grown between 3000 and 5500 feet in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. These mountains are the highest in the Caribbean rising to heights of 7500 feet. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is characterized as a mild flavored coffee without bitterness. It is certified by the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica who monitors closely its cultivation. The board was given the authority to restrict the use of the Blue Mountain trademark by the Coffee Industry Regulation Act. Coffee grown above 3000 feet gets the Blue Mountain trademark while coffee grown below 3000 to 1500 feet will be labeled Jamaica High Mountain. The coffee grown below 1500 feet is called Jamaica Low Mountain or Jamaica Supreme. Roasted Jamaican Coffee Green Jamaican Coffee

The Story of Mitalena Coffee by Coffee Bob

Coffee is a beverage that induces different desires among people. Some people drink coffee for pleasure, others for socialization, and many because of addiction. The caffeine substance in coffee is among the very few drugs without legal restrictions. During the late 1980s an alarming number of fatal accidents were attributed to driving while intoxicated (DWI). Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) initiated a movement against irresponsible alcohol consumption, and was directed toward after work Happy Hour businesses. As a result, the increased number of fatal accidents from DWI, the proliferation of white crosses on the sides of street corners, and the massive pressure from MADD, altogether made the legislators to pick up on the gravity of this phenomenon and helped to issued laws and decrees to comb DWI drivers and the sources of their consumed alcohol. In the early 1990s an influx of new generation of educated, affluent, and young people (Yuppie) traveled oversees and experienced the pleasure of gourmet coffee in a different setting called side walk café. This Yuppie generation along with expatriate employees of the global American companies started to distinguish the taste between gourmet Arabica coffee and regular Folgers and Maxwell House coffee. Bob and Misako Ajouz started a coffee processing business in Houston Texas in the mid 1980s under the name United Intertrade, Inc. (UNICO). Having multi cultural backgrounds, they realized in the early 1990s, the new trend and the generational change of outlook toward coffee and established a new gourmet coffee brand under the name Meridian Coffee. On July 1998 the daily grind article in Houston Business Journal attracted the attention of the newly growing Starbucks and brought a challenge to the Ajouz new gourmet coffee brand of Meridians. Facing a crippling law suite by the giant Starbucks, Ajouz decided to create a new brand name from his children’s’ initials and came up with Mitalena Coffee to accommodate a segment of the new coffee trend.. The entire idea of coffee as a morning wake up call has been transformed into a social and gets together drink instead of bear and wine relaxation time. In fact, the parent’s brand of coffee was not good enough for those youngsters flush with disposable income and memories of their European vacations, where they experienced the coffee culture of those countries first hand. That group of people started to demand higher quality coffee; that means new gourmet coffee which requires different attention to the details of coffee beans, to their place of origin, to the ways and means of storing them, and to the method of roasting, blending and packaging. Ajouz compares coffee to wine and said that a good master coffee roaster always looks in coffee for bitterness, sourness, acidity, aroma and flavor in order to determine and to achieve the required coffee blend. As a result, regular coffee brokers and suppliers in New York are no longer good enough for the quality of coffee they need. The special attention to coffee farms, and the peculiar cultivation of coffee berries vary from country to country and from region to region within each country. Because of this peculiarity, the characteristics that differentiate the quality of the coffee beans can vary among these countries and regions. In addition to coffee farming, the methods of green coffee processing between wet – process and dry- process, and also, the special attention to the fermentation of coffee during these processes can dramatically influence the degree of quality in coffee. In addition, the method of roasting and the degree of roast on one hand ,and the understanding the compatibility of coffee in blending, altogether, can contribute to the quality and distinct characteristics of different coffee beans. In order to help you discern the taste, aroma and other characteristics that is unique to each different coffee bean: an understanding of commonly used terms in coffee will help you choose the coffee to your liking. Mitalena Coffee: Roasted Coffee Mitalena Coffee: Gourmet Green Coffee

Coffee of Central America

The coffees of Central America are known to possess a lively acidity, a fine body, and also have consistency in quality and color. These coffees are grown along the narrow mountainous stretch between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, from southern Mexico through Central America leading to Panama. Some of the best-known coffee producing countries in this region are Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. The land in this region is mountainous and hilly offering rich, volcanic soil and plenty of rainfall to sustain coffee farming. Coffee production in this region is mostly organized by farming groups being capitalized by banking systems that fund the sophisticated technology and marketing. Unlike the sun drying coffee methods of the Asian and African regions, the Central American coffee growers depend on a machine drying process. In Costa Rica they take coffee-growing seriously as it is illegal to grow Robusta coffee. Costa Rica produces exceptionally clean and balanced coffee, which is sometimes criticized as being too perfect. The best crop comes out of a growing region named Tarrazu, which is just south of the capital, San José. This region’s volcanic soil produces a perfect balance of acidity and body with a silky texture. Because of the high altitude of more than 5,000 ft. above sea level, the night air temperatures drops, thus causing trees to grow more slowly. Ultimately this alternate change in temperature allows more time for the beans to develop excellent flavor. The Guatemalan coffee to look for is grown in the region of Antigua which is near Guatemala City. Guatemalan Antigua coffee is of exceptional quality and distinctive flavor. Bourbon coffee trees are offspring of Arabica and produces high quality coffee beans. The quality of Bourbon trees coupled with nitrogen rich soil and tropical climates; the combination of this agricultural environment produces another unmatched quality of Arabica coffee in the world. This high quality coffee is known to acquire sharp acidity, smoky flavor, and a hinting chocolate aftertaste that you may have found your true love. Mexico is the fourth largest producer of coffee in the world. Organic coffee is not hard to find in Mexico, because farmers can not afford the fertilizers and pesticides commonly assisting coffee production. A common phenomenon coming from Mexico is the elephant bean or “maragogype” which is a jumbo sized bean. It was discovered growing near the town of Maragogype in Brazil. Some say it is the “finest coffee known”. Of course you will need to form your own opinion. The higher grown coffee will be labeled “Altura”. Growing regions include Oaxaca, Orizaba, Huatusco, and from Vera Cruz comes Coatapec. Coffee from Mexico is generally light and delicate with a dry and acidy snap. Coffee arrived in Honduras from El Salvador where it also produces good quality coffee. Most of it is privately exported to the U.S. and Germany. Nicaragua has made a comeback in coffee production since 1979, when a revolution forced plantation owners to flee to Miami. The government had seized the land, including coffee farms, and was considering redistribution. Coffee production went from over one million bags in 1970's to under 600,000 in 1990. Today the government has turned marketing over to private companies. The best Nicaraguan coffee comes from Matagalpa, Jinotego and Nuevo Segovia. Most coffees are roasted light to medium for exceptional flavor. Certain coffees, however, tolerate more heat than others and excel in darker roast. Those coffees are exhibited in the Espresso and Dark Roast coffee Category. Roasted coffee of Central America Green coffee of Central America

Coffee of Asia

The coffees of Asia are considered some of the most renowned coffees of the world. Among the major coffee producing countries of Asia are Indonesia, India and Yemen Arab Republic.   In the Indonesian Archipelago there are three islands that are known to produce world class coffee. These single origin coffees are distinctively spicy, lightly acidic, with deep tones which produces a vivacious, earthy, and rich flavor. Asian coffee growing business was strongly correlated with the spice trade of India. Arabian traders from Yemen during the 1600’s introduced the coffee bean to Indonesia, and after that, the Dutch colonials started coffee plantations and included coffee business alongside their spice trade with Europe. The Island of Java is where the Dutch first began production and trade in the mid 17th Century resulting in a universal name for coffee. The phrase “cup of java” is used for any coffee varietals. The other two coffee producing islands are Sumatra and Sulawesi, or Celebes which was the former name. Celebes Kalossi is an excellent quality gourmet coffee because of its elegance which is set apart from other Indonesian coffee. Sumatra has two major growing regions: Mandheling and Lintong. Sumatran beans are very powerful and particularly the coffee beans that are originated from Mandheling, which are said by connoisseurs, to be the world's most full bodied coffee. Like India, Indonesia is expected to produce a lighter colored bean with a spicy flavor. This, of course, is because of the same climatic conditions. The topography and the climate conditions in the Asian pacific are a perfect picture of green volcanic mountains engulfed with rain and humid environment, which are ideal elements for growing fine coffee. These ideal elements of growing coffee will further enhance the quality of coffee when stored together with spices in a high humidity warehousing that produces cross contamination and providing spicy flavor with low acidity coffee. These storage areas are designed to be covered from direct rain but side open to allow monsoon winds carrying moisture to mingle flavor of spice with coffee and give coffee the flavor which is famous for. Until lately, the government of Indonesia used to store the coffee beans for aging process in open warehouses for more than a year. This storing method resulted in less sought after flavors in coffee. As a result, popularity for the unique, aged flavor dropped, although it is still produced. Aged coffee is labeled “Old Government”, “Old Brown”, or “Old Java”. Coffee loses acidity and gains body with age, depending on the manner in which it was stored. Most coffees are roasted light to medium for exceptional flavor. Certain coffees, however, tolerate more heat than others and some coffee beans excel in dark roast. These types of coffee are exhibited in the quality of Espresso and Dark Roast Category. Check out our roasted coffees of Asia and green coffees of Asia at www.mitalenacoffee.com

Mitalena Coffee: Coffee of Asia

Coffee of Africa

Introduced to the world in the 17th century, African coffees offer some of the most distinctive coffee varieties available. Most African coffee is grown in the Eastern and Southern parts of the continent. The high altitude of the old volcanic mountains, the shortage of water, and the dry environment contribute to the major characteristics of African coffees. The high quality Arabica beans are characterized by a hard beans type of coffee, with sharp acidity, and floral fruit notes that offer an intense flavor. Most African coffees are roasted light to medium for exceptional flavor. Certain coffees, however, excel in darker roasts. The coffee trees discovered in African regions, were growing wild on the high plains of Yemen and Ethiopia which are neighbor yet each country is located on the edges of different continents, the first is located in Asia while the second is located in Africa. The magical ripe red berries on its small branches gave early consumers a feeling of invincibility. After boiling these berries and drinking that mystical drink, they felt that they would never be tired again (until the effects of the caffeine wore off). Soon thereafter and during the early days of the Ottoman Empire that the seeds were removed from the cherries, and new ways to prepare them were invented through roasting and brewing for ingestion and human consumption. the seeds are called coffee beans, and named after the Arabic word”Kahwah”. Kahwah is the name for the drink and the name “Bunn” for the coffee bean. The Turkish Ottoman government kept close security on this coffee commodity, not allowing any fertile plant to leave the country's borders. Needless to say their efforts failed, and we now have coffee growing all over the globe. The Port of ”Mokha" or Mocha in Yemen where the coffee plants were first smuggled and transported by Spanish and portuguese traders over the narrow passage of the Red Sea of Arabia to their colonies in Central and South America . Currently, coffee in Ethiopia is grown on plantations such as, Harrar, Yirgacheffe and Djimmah. Yemen Coffee, however, is higher in quality but lower in quantity which considered rare and sold exclusively in the oil rich Saudi Arabia and the other Arabian Gulf States such as Emirates, Kuwait , Qatar and others. Ethiopian Harrar is cultivated on very high altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. The naturally processed, sun dried beans of Harrar produce the most winey flavored cup in the world. They don't look too appealing because of the way they are processed, but the most unusual and mysterious coffees come from the motherland. Indeed, one cannot claim to be a well rounded coffee connoisseur until he or she have experienced the wildness of Ethiopian coffee. Only a few hundred miles south of Ethiopia and Yemen, Kenya grows coffea Arabica on 5,000 ft. above sea level in the foothills of Mount Kenya. Beans are washed and sorted with a precision matched only in a few other government supported countries. Kenyan coffee is of the finest available. Beans are ranked by size using a scale of ten grades. The best grade you will readily find is AA. While there are two grades higher than AA, they are so rare you never see them. Kenyan coffee shares the winey aftertaste of Ethiopia, but it is not as intense. It carries a fuller body than both Ethiopia and Yemen. Malawi is the smallest African country to grow coffee. Even though coffee has been produced for over a century, these varietals are fairly new to U.S. markets. The majority is exported to Britain. Malawi Mapanga is processed and graded meticulously and the production is limited. It is wonderfully fragrant with mellow body and crisp acidity. It is one of the world's most exotic coffees. Most Tanzanian coffees are Arabica type and are grown near the Kenyan border on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. Evidently they share the characteristically sharp, winey acidity with other African and Arabian coffees. Tanzania is known for its abundance of peaberries. A peaberry is a single round bean within the coffee fruit rather than the normal adjacent halves. Sometimes you will see "caracole" on a label. This is another word for peaberry. There are diversified opinions about peaberries. Some say they taste better, others say not. You will have to try it for yourself. Coffee arrived in Zambia from Kenya and Tanzania in the early 20th Century. It is similar although lighter than Kenyan coffee. On the other hand, Zimbabwe which is formerly known as Rhodesia, exports a superb coffee to the U.S. market resembling the Kenyan washed coffee that portrays an acidic, winey tone. In fact, the coffee of Zimbabwe is comparable to the finest Kenyan coffee. The beans are grown on plantations and washed. There is a variety of African roasted coffee and African green coffee available from www.mitalenacoffee.com

Mitalena Coffee: Coffee of Africa

With Coffee, the Price of Individualism Can Be High

Mitalena Coffee offers high quality coffee for affordable prices. The article below explains how expensive convenience can be.

With Coffee, the Price of Individualism Can Be High
By OLIVER STRAND

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/single-serve-coffee-brewers-make-convenience-costly.html?_r=1

SOMETIMES it’s hard
to tell how much coffee
costs, even if you know what you spent. At least that’s the case with many of
the single-serve brewing machines that are soaring in popularity.
For example, the
Nespresso Arpeggio costs $5.70 for 10 espresso capsules, while the Folgers Black
Silk blend for a K-Cup brewed-coffee machine is $10.69 for 12 pods. But that Nespresso capsule
contains 5 grams of coffee, so it costs about $51 a pound. And the Folgers, with
8 grams per capsule, works out to more than $50 a pound.
That’s even more
expensive than all but the priciest coffees sold by artisanal roasters, the
stuff of coffee snobs.
An exclusive
single-origin espresso like the Ethiopia, Gedeo Single Origin Espresso from
Sightglass Coffee costs $19 for a 12-ounce bag, or about $25 a pound. La Cima
beans for brewed coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, a Grand Cru selection
grown at Finca el Injerto, a renowned farm in Guatemala, is $28.50 for a
12-ounce bag, or $38 a pound.
In fact, most
high-end coffees cost less than $20 a pound, and the coffees you find on
supermarket shelves are substantially cheaper. A bag of Dark Espresso Roast
beans at Starbucks is $12.95 a pound, and a bag of Eight O’Clock beans for
brewed coffee at the Food Emporium is $10.72 a pound.
How much of that
coffee goes into a cup varies according to who (or what) controls the machine.
For instance, a Lavazza Gran Crema espresso capsule has 7 grams of coffee, the
standard for most chain coffee stores. But independent coffee shops regularly
pack 14 to 22 grams into an espresso shot.
When it comes to
single-serve systems, you’re not just paying for coffee, you’re paying for
convenience and the technology that makes it possible to brew a single cup in
seconds. Pop in the pod, push the button: it’s a sure thing every time.
Supermarkets and specialty stores are filled with items that make it easier on
you, and it’s up to the shopper to determine if it’s worth it.
Some decisions are
easy (rendered pork fat, fresh pasta); others are a toss-up depending on who’s
in the kitchen (chicken stock, salad
dressing). Where single-serve coffee falls on that spectrum depends on whether
you regard coffee as something you make or something you drink.
“Americans under the
age of 40 are thinking about coffee pricing in cups,” said Ric Rhinehart,
executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. “If you
asked my mother how much coffee cost, she would have told you that the red can
was $5.25 a pound and the blue can was $4.25. If you ask people in their 20s and
30s, they’ll say coffee is $1.75 to $3.75 a cup.”
This generational
shift helps explain why single-serve coffee is the fastest-growing sector of the
home market. According to a study from the National Coffee
Association, single-serve coffee is now the second most popular method of
preparation after conventional drip brewers, by far the dominant method. In
2011, 7 percent of the cups of coffee consumed in the United States were made
with a single-serve brewer, up from 4 percent in 2010.
The premium that
single-serve coffee commands makes it especially lucrative. Julian Liew, a
spokesman for Nespresso, said single-serve coffee is 8 percent of the global
market, but accounts for 25 percent of its value. It’s likely that the number
will continue to climb.
According to Keurig,
4 million of the company’s K-Cup brewers, for regular drip coffee, were sold in
the 13-week run-up to Christmas 2011. During that same period, Green Mountain
Coffee Roasters sold more than $715 million in K-Cup packs. The pods and brewers
are now front and center at stores like Bed Bath & Beyond and Staples.
Keurig licenses its technology to other companies, and last year, Dunkin’ Donuts
and Starbucks started making K-Cup pods. Keurig even sells a refillable filter
that you can pack with your own coffee.
Nespresso has sold
more than 27 billion capsules worldwide since it was introduced in 1986. Later
this year Ethical Coffee Company plans to sell Nespresso-compatible capsules for
around 20 percent less on Amazon.com. So the United States might see
something novel for single-serve coffee: a price war.