"Coffee Lovers Appreciate The Difference..."
A little less than a month ago I purchased a
Groupon for $8 that gave me $20 worth of locally roasted Fair-Trade coffee (and more!) from
Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company. I really wish that Monterey had Groupons, but I'm glad that Santa Cruz started featuring daily deals!
Today I got a chance to drive to San Jose and I figured why not take Highway 1, the coastal route, through Santa Cruz to pick up my coffee? The drive is a lot prettier than Highway 101 and it takes only about 10 minutes longer (because the cars go no faster than 65 mph)
The Groupon could be applied to any of their three locations:
1330 Pacific Ave. (
Coffee Learning Center location)
Santa Cruz, California 95060
19 Rancho Del Mar, # A
Aptos, California 95003
920 Pacific Ave. (Brew Bar location)
Santa Cruz, California 95060
The Groupon writers are brilliant at summing up what SCCRC does best so here you go, straight from the source:
Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company provides caffeine devotees with bulk portions and single-serving sips of delicious, locally roasted beans. Its signature BrewBar allows the baristas to brew a single cup of made-to-order coffee according to drinkers’ discerning taste buds for $1.85. (You can also get a fast cup for $1.65 if the brew bar is too slow.)
SCCRC sells bluk beans, about $9.95/lb. They have an array of other products too:
Triple chocolate truffles ($2 each) or cinnamon rolls ($2 each) help jittery stomachs absorb caffeine kicks like a delicious bulletproof vest. Customers who are handcuffed to their computers in a wacky romantic-comedy scenario can go online to order beans to their door, including the two-roast-toned BluesBreaker ($9.95 per pound) and the insomnia-enkindling Zooom Brew ($9.95 per pound).
Groupon continues:
The staff at Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company has focused on bringing its customers fair-trade, singularly tasty java since the Reagan administration assumed control of Jimmy Carter’s White House and demolished his prized Oval Office ball pit. Offering everything from inventive organic and classic blends, single origins, and flavored coffees to the accessories needed to grind and brew them into a steaming, screaming cup, Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company is the perfect pit stop for persons in need of boldly roasted human fuel.
I ordered 1 pound of Brazilian Hazelnut (I LOVE HAZELNUT EVERYTHING) and a half pound of Sumatra Dark, which I might just roast and incorporate into an adventure-inspired cupcake.... hmm....
I also got a cup of their drip coffee. I chose the
Santa Cruz Full City, which is described by SCCRC as a cup with
fragrance notes of sweet vanilla-nut and warm spices [that] unfold in this blend of South American and high-grown Central American coffees from rich volcanic soils. Flavors reminiscent of chocolate and oranges emerge in the cup. Roasted to the point where the first delicate oils burst to the surface, this coffee has bright acidity, rich mouthfeel, and a fruity finish.
To round out my $20 Groupon I also grabbed a Peanut Butter Fudge Collision cookie which actually looked better than it tasted. I mean, of course it was good, but I was hoping to bite into a cookie that tasted more like a peanut butter cup.
Do you want to know how to brew the perfect cup of coffee? Here are some of Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company's tips:
- Use fresh, cold natural water (coffee is 98 - 99% water ya know)
- Do NOT use distilled water
- Use 1 tablespoon of coffee to 5 ouces of water
- Do not brew coffee with water that reaches a temperature greater than 205 degrees F! It will damage the flavor.
- Do not brew coffee with water that has a temperature less than 195 degrees F... it won't extract the coffee flavors properly
