Coffee is often seen wrongly. Lots of people see coffee as something that helps you to stay awake, to make you warm, etc… But for me coffee is so much more, I see it as a harmonization of smells and tastes. And just like wine or beer it is the master blender who puts all his love and knowledge in the making the perfect coffee for all of us to enjoy.

This is also why I was more than happy to accept the invitation from Douwe Egberts to learn more about the magic and especially craftsmanship that is behind the making of Coffee.  For those who don’t know Douwe Egberts, it is a major Coffee brand that was founded in 1753 (YES, 1753), so if there would be somebody knowing how to make coffee, I’m sure they are having all the experience. Eventhough Douwe Egberts is a very large company, they still succeed of keeping the quality of their product! Which to me is one of the most important things (besides keeping is simple).

Something important to know about coffee is actually that 99% of ALL coffees produced in the world, are either ‘Arabica’ or ‘Robusta’. The big difference between both would be that if you like a strong coffee with a kick, you would be going for a Robusta (I would go for this coffee). Like I said coffee is all about the flavor and smell, the first thing that influences the smell and taste might seem normal. Depending on where the coffee bean comes from it will be having a different taste (normal I would say). For example a Colombian bean will give your coffee a more lemony flavor.

Anther very crucial part of preparing the perfect coffee or ‘blend’ is the burning of the beans. Depending on how long you let the beans burn, you will be getting a different taste.

My favorite part of making the coffee (before drinking it) is the grinding of the coffee… the smell that comes free at that moment is just soooooo wonderful. I’m sure people driving on the Ring in Brussels will have already had the pleasure of smelling the freshly grind coffee from Douwe Egberts (so you know I’m not lying). You just can’t ignore it as it smells so good. It always makes me so happy and actually crave for some coffee 🙂 . Did you know that depending on which coffee maker you use, the coffee beans should be grind differently!? If you are for example using a fresh coffee maker  the beans have to be grind  rougher, whereas for when making an Italian coffee with a Bialetti coffee maker the beans have to grind more finely.

Of course, making coffee really needs the hand of the master blender like André Hoinkis to make the perfect blend of coffee. Although for some of you this might seem like a very easy job, I can assure you that it takes a lot of experience and research to find the perfect combination of beans and the time it should be burning. If not a balanced well you will get one crappy coffee 🙂

You might have already seen the new commercials on TV or in magazines about the new types of coffee Douwe Egberts has launged. What André Hoinkis together with the other master blenders  they have tried to create 4 types of coffee, these 4 types should cover and please all the types of coffee drinkers. These 4 all have their own character, going from very strong and complex (Black) , a normal milder tasting coffee (Delicate) to a very balanced blend (Original).

The fact that I could drink all these coffees without sugar, really means they are good, otherwise I would have added so much sugar you could straighten your spoon in it . Now it is up to you guys to see what kind of fruits, nuts, etc… you taste or smell in these coffees. You will be  surprised what you will find.

The last thing I really want to share with you is actually how Decaf coffee is made.  Something Important to know about decaf, is that it is never 100% decaf :-), there is always still 0,1% of caffeine in it as it would be impossible to take it all out. The taking out of the caffeine already happens with the Green bean (so almost immediately after picking it and removing its holster). As this way they can take the caffeine out and still keep most of the flavor. There are 2 ways that are mostly used. The first is the water-carbon method (H2O/C)  where water will stream over the green beans for as long it takes to dissolve the caffeine in the water (they reuse the water, so nothing gets wasted). The second way would be the dichloromethane method (DCM). Here they will be using dichloromethane to dissolve the caffeine.

I know this might seem very technical, but I really needed to share this with you guys!

I really would like to thank Douwe Egberts and André Hoinkis for revealing some the secrets of making the perfect blend of coffee!