Knowing that someone is a coffee or tea lover doesn’t necessarily make them easy to shop for. Chances are they already have everything they need to brew their favorite beverages at home. However, before you decide to go with a gift card, check out this list of gifts we think any true coffee/tea person would love to receive. You might want to add a few to your own letter to Santa (translation: share it with your friends and family on Facebook).

Ajiri Tea

One of the most exciting new additions to our website, Ajiri Tea, is a robust and flavorful Kenyan black tea, available in bags or loose-leaf, and packaged in boxes with beautiful hand-crafted labels. The sale of Ajiri Tea benefits the Ajiri Foundation, which creates business for small-scale farmers and employment opportunities for Kenyan women. 100% of the profits fund educational expenses for orphans of Western Kenya. Read more about the Ajiri Tea Company and the communities they support on their site, ajiritea.com.

The Ekobrew Filter

Stores have been pushing single-serve brewers hard during the holidays. You may have bought one for a friend or received one yourself, only to discover their hidden cost. Not only do pre-packed cups cost an average of $30 per pound of coffee, but the grounds inside have been allowed to “gas-off” (go stale) prior to packaging so that the sealed cups do not explode. The Ekobrew filter saves the day by allowing you to brew any fresh-roasted coffee you like in most single-serve machines, no pre-packed cups required. It’s easy to clean and at $9.95, a bargain that will save lots of money down the road.?You can find more info and a list of compatible brewers here.

Bodum Bean 8-cup French Press

The French Press is the perfect gadget for coffee lovers who enjoy having control over every aspect of brewing―from steeping time to water temperature―to bring out the best in their beans. Simple and elegant, it’s hard to improve upon the original design, but this press has a few fine qualities that make it a standout. Easy to use and dishwasher-safe, the Bean press is well-insulated and completely spill-proof. Perfect for the pre-coffee klutz.

Jasmine Pearls

One of the highest grade teas available at Coffee Bean Direct, Jasmine Pearls make a perfect gift for the tea lover. The pearls are hand-rolled green tea leaves and buds that unfurl upon steeping to release a gorgeous aroma and sweet flavor. Truly a special tea!

Holiday Balls
For some reason this flavor is a tough sell with men. That’s a shame because it’s delicious. Reminiscent of another seasonal favorite, Zombie Cure, it features caramel and popcorn flavors?plus a surprise (don’t worry — it’s chocolate). If you’re uncomfortable giving your Holiday Balls order to the friendly and professional women who answer the phone here, feel free to substitute the word “orbs,” or place your order discreetly on our website.

Bodum Tea for One 12-oz Double-Wall Tea Strainer

Tea lovers know that the best stuff doesn’t come in a teabag. But it can be cumbersome to haul steeping gadgets around with you on your travels. Beautiful to look at, Bodum’s Double-Wall Strainer is made of lightweight thermal glass, and includes a removable fine-mesh filter (which can fit inside most mugs). The silicone lid doubles as a coaster, and the whole thing is dishwasher and microwave-safe.

The Kone

Having?endured the Jersey leg of “Superstorm Sandy’s” East Coast Tour, my romance with fancy modern gadgets took a hit. Without power, the carafe was the only useful part of my coffee maker, and only because I was lucky enough to have a gas stove and clean drinking water. I used a filter-holder and poured hot water over my grounds, hipster-style, and I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed coffee more. The Kone is a well-designed and versatile reusable filter, and makes a delicious pot of pour-over coffee, compatible with just about any coffee pot or carafe.

Hand-Crank Grinder

I never gave any thought to this before Sandy struck. I think it was only day three of the black-out here that I tried to club my coffee beans with a rolling pin (it doesn’t work). An old hand-crank coffee grinder would make a fantastic addition to an emergency kit. Modern technology has certainly improved the grinder (these are a great choice when the lights are on), but a die-hard coffee lover will want one of these stashed next to the D batteries in case of emergency.

Coffee Bean Direct Coffee/Tea Lovers Gift Baskets and Sampler Packs

Between our Sampler Packs and Gift Baskets, we have the perfect gift for every coffee and tea drinker. Our Assorted Coffee Sampler includes a variety of flavors and roast levels―a great gift for two (or more) people with different tastes, or for the person who likes a little variety in their cup. If you’re after something more specific, check out our Gift Baskets. You can choose premium coffee only, decaffeinated or flavored coffees, green, herbal, or traditional black teas.

Bodum Thermal Vacuum 15-oz Travel Mug?

If you’re a Coffee Bean Direct customer, chances are you are no longer able to enjoy the coffee available at that pit stop on your way to work. Until we infiltrate gas stations nationwide, you’ll have to brew a pot at home and take it to go. Since you care about how your coffee tastes, you already know that your drinking vessel matters and a good travel mug is hard to find. This one scores high on heat retention and ease of use. Stainless steel, with a tight fitting, closeable lid, it fits easily in any cup holder and is dishwasher safe.

• 

Angie Anderson, Vice President, Canine Relations?

A little about Angie…

Age: 9

Preferred snacks:?red bell peppers and dog cookies.

Favorite past-times:?walks, enjoying the great outdoors, fetching anything, vocalizing.

Virtues: loyalty and patience with her little sister Hayley, who likes to use her as a pillow.

Namesake: Angie Harmon, for her brunette beauty.

What she loves about CBD:?the fantastic company and the crumbs on the office floor.

• 

As you may have heard, Halloween was postponed by Executive Order in New Jersey this year by Governor Chris Christie until Monday, November 5th. Monday was our first day back after the storm however, and we were very busy roasting, shipping, and getting our phone system back in working order. Halloween slipped our minds. Of course, we appreciate all our 5-lb bag contest submissions and will announce a winner tomorrow, when we here at Coffee Bean Direct finally get a chance to celebrate Halloween! Here are a few of our favorite bag costume submissions:

• 

First and foremost, our thoughts are with everyone who was impacted by Hurricane Sandy. As a New Jersey based company, those affected by the storm are quite literally our friends and neighbors. Together, we will all get through this. If you want to help, we encourage you to donate to appropriate charities to assist those who need the most help.

The entire staff at Coffee Bean Direct would like to thank our customers and fans for their understanding and support during the past week. ?We are all safe and some of us even have electricity again! ?Since we have been closed all week, we are getting anxious and can’t wait to get back to work filling orders.

Speaking of which, as of November 2nd, our warehouse is still awaiting restoration of power. ?Fortunately, the building itself is undamaged, and our coffee & tea supplies have stayed perfectly safe and dry. ?That means that the moment the power comes back on, we will be working overtime to get all outstanding orders roasted and shipped ASAP. ?We have the best assortment of employees in our company history, so there is no doubt things will be back on track in no time. ?We have not been given a timeline as to when power will be restored, but it is looking like we could be up and running as soon as today or over the weekend.

In the meantime, we ask you to please continue to be patient with us as we get through this. ?You can keep in touch with us via our Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as our official blog. ?We will continue to post updates as time goes on, and you can bet we will announce when we are back to roasting!

Sincerely,

Coffee Bean Direct Staff

• 

Remember those awesome paper-bag puppets you made in kindergarten, perhaps during a lesson on recycling? That’s what cyclops frankenstein reminds me of.?If you’ve been secretly longing for an excuse to spend a peaceful hour with a glue stick and some glitter, here it is: our Halloween bag-decorating contest! Details here.

I should mention that our contest is open to all ages. If you’re drinking coffee by the?5-lb?bag, we figure you’re probably an adult. Send us a photo of your finished bag-monster (if you don’t have a 5-lb bag handy at home, you’re welcome to download and decorate our bag photo. See the contest details page). The artist behind our favorite submission will receive a free 1-lb bag of our coffee or tea to fuel their creativity, as well fame and glory.

Photo: Allen County Public Library

• 

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind there are few.”?―?Shunryu Suzuki

As you may have heard, Coffee Bean Direct is searching for beta-testers to sample and review our coffees and teas. Enthusiasm is the only requirement.

There is a methodology in place for tasting and reviewing coffee and tea, but you do not need to have experience with that. It’s referred to as cupping, a term that makes me slightly uncomfortable. Caf?s, roasters, and independent organizations often host cupping events open to the public (so far, we cup privately here at CBD). For a beginner, they can be a great opportunity to learn what you like and how to find it.

Here are some notes I came across recently using a sophisticated smiley face scoring system. This is my preferred style of note-taking.

Notes courtesy of Michael Allen Smith, ineedcoffee.com

Unfortunately someone “reading” these would have trouble learning anything other than what I enjoy. Writing a review that’s not purely subjective takes some practice. You might want to read a few reviews online to see what kind of language you find useful. The cupping notes of experienced reviewers are fun to read for their imaginative descriptions alone. For example, here are some notes I came across for one of our coffees on http://www.coffeereview.com:

“A very light-roasted, naturally sweet coffee that stays just on the rich side of raw. Low-toned but intense aroma: nut notes (raw cashew?) with hints of flowers and butter. In the cup soft acidity with a shimmer of wine, substantial body, continued sweet raw nut notes with hints of butter, chocolate and flowers. Rich, long, slightly heavy finish.”

After reading a few of those, you might start to wonder if your oafish palette is up to the task of reviewing anything. Don’t be intimidated. While noticing what you taste and learning how to talk about it is important, a fresh, unbiased perspective is a valuable one. Also, we’re more interested in how our coffees and teas taste to you as you would normally prepare and drink them than slurped black from a spoon. So instead of going into the nuances of proper cupping technique, I’ll just relay a few things that helped me to move beyond “tastes like coffee”:

• Acids, sugars, and bitters are the principle components of flavor. Sugars are easy to identify. Acids create tartness or tanginess (think lemon). Bitterness is more difficult to describe, but it is commonly associated with a negative harshness (unsweetened chocolate), as opposed to acidity, which can be pleasant and desirable.

• A light roast is not necessarily less flavorful than a dark roast. A light vs dark roast level can highlight different flavors in the same bean. A light batch might be more complex, while a dark batch might have fewer, bolder flavors.

• Strong or weak coffee can be made at any roast level. Strength refers to the ratio of coffee solids to water in a cup of brewed coffee. A dark roast or a flavorful cup is not the same as strong, or concentrated, coffee.

• Body refers to the way the coffee feels, and is independent of flavor. Oils present play a large part in determining whether a coffee feels heavy or more viscous in body, or light/smooth. The more oil present, the heavier the body.

When describing flavor, I recommend using terms that seem accurate and have real meaning for you. They don’t need to be part of the popular cupping lexicon to be useful to readers. For instance, “tastes like night-blooming flowers” sounds lovely, but has little meaning for me. Tell me it tastes like fruity pebbles, and I’ve got a handle on it. If you need a place to start, check out my Pinterest collection of various charts and wheels used to identify coffee and tea flavors and aromas. Don’t be afraid to expand upon them, ignore them, or invent your own!

• 

We’re fully embracing fall here at Coffee Bean Direct with the return of pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin chai tea, and all of our favorite fall flavors. We even did some pumpkin carving, including this masterful rendering of our tree logo:

That ?fine orange residue blanketing Greg’s face is pure pumpkin spray.

Aside from warming up a fair complexion, it turns out melon flesh does wonders for the skin. It’s loaded with vitamins, zinc, and exfoliating fruit acids. Greg looks great.

If you’re on a budget, skip the pricey spa treatments and dremel a gourd in the comfort of your home or office. Eye protection is recommended. Happy fall!

• 

I recently made an important discovery, thanks to my new slow cooker: I’m a better cook and more cheerful dining companion when I do all the work many hours before eating. According to the people I feed, the outcome is better than my usual efforts, and it’s nice not having ?to lie to my sweaty face. It’s hard to set food on fire in a slow cooker―that could be the main reason for my improvement―but I also think I’m less sloppy about prep work when I’m not starving. Half a day later, all that work is a distant memory and a delicious meal is ready as if by magic.

Brewing coffee is hardly as labor intensive as cooking a meal, but it would be nice to brew up a big batch and drink it any time I feel like it without it burning or spoiling. So, when a customer mentioned making coffee from homemade cold concentrate, I thought I’d give it a try. Cold-brewing has many passionate fans for whom it is the only way to brew coffee. Cold-brewed coffee is said to be sweeter and less acidic, with a flavor more closely resembling the roasted beans.

For my experiment, I used a simple recipe I found in Bon Appetit?for iced coffee concentrate because it required nothing in the way of equipment other than a big container and a strainer. It couldn’t be any simpler.

I used one full pound of our?iced coffee blend. I’m sure any rich, flavorful coffee with a delicious aroma would work. Coarser grounds brew up just fine and are easier to filter out. I ground mine for French Press.

There are some cold-brew appliances out there (Toddy makes a popular and affordable one, Northwest Glass Designs‘ version is a work of art), but for those of you short on counter-space, the above will work just fine.

Step 1: dump the full pound of coffee into the bowl. You probably don’t need a visual to handle that, but there it is anyway.

Step 2: put the bowl up to your face and breathe in.

Step 3: measure 7 cups of water.

Step 4: add the water slowly.

Step 5: give it a good stir to submerge the grounds. Make sure everybody’s in the pool. Then leave the bowl covered at room temperature for 15 hours or so.

Step 6: place a mesh strainer in your container of choice (a pitcher perhaps, or giant-sized measuring cup like mine if you have one with a lid). Place a coffee filter or cheesecloth inside the strainer for even more filtration action.

Step 7: pour the contents of the bowl into the strainer slowly, a little at a time. It can take up to an hour or so for all the concentrated goodness to filter through. Replacing the filter a few times will speed things along. In the end you should have about five cups of concentrate which will keep for about two weeks refrigerated in an air-tight container.

Warning: consumed straight this stuff will put hair on your chest. Even if you like your coffee strong, I recommend diluting it at a ratio of about 1:1, coffee to water (hot or cold) to start. Cold-brewed concentrate is indeed smoother and more mellow than coffee from a conventional drip brewer, though I still like drip coffee just fine. It’s great to have in the fridge for those mornings when scooping grounds, pushing a button, and waiting is just too much. It’s also great to cook with and improves many things including:

• Gingerbread
• White Russians
• Popsicles
• Barbecue
• Beer

Are you a cold-brew fan? Share your tips and recipes below! Thank you to our customer Karen for the inspiration!

• 

Editor’s note: Our reviewers are independent guinea pigs who receive no bribes of any kind, unless you count complimentary coffee or tea and our thanks!?Thank you to Liz G. for sharing your experience with us!

How would you characterize your relationship with coffee, on a scale from casual to dependent?

Extremely dependent! I am not functional until my first cup of coffee has been consumed.

What kind of coffee do you usually drink?

I usually drink Dunkin Donuts coffee at home.

How would you describe a really good cup of coffee?

Strong but not too dark, makes me slightly sweaty and tingly and excited to be alive. The world is full of endless possibilities.

What are you drinking today, and how did you brew it?

I drank Chocolate Whiskey, freshly ground and brewed in a Cuisinart coffee maker at home.

What else is in your cup? Cream? Sugar? Details, please:

My coffee is mixed with two sugars and fat-free half and half.

In your own words, describe the aroma & flavor:

Robust, subtly flavored, rich, nutty and scrumptious.

In your opinion, what would this coffee pair well with?

I was actually surprised that the flavor was not so strong that it would be more of an after dinner coffee. It is delicious with a breakfast pastry or something sweet.

Would you enjoy drinking this again?

I plan on drinking it every day! It is versatile, rich, bold and not too dark or light. It got the job done and was very pleasurable. My taste buds and my caffeine dependent body were dually satisfied.

Interested in reviewing our coffee/tea or beta testing something new? Leave a comment!

•