Erin's Breakfast Blend

Furnace Hills Coffee out of Westminster, MD roasts great coffee, with equally important business and humanitarian philosophies. Dave Baldwin and his team purchase organically grown coffee from altitudes above 3,000 feet. That means they don’t buy coffee from low areas which rely on anti-fungus chemicals, pesticides and excessive amounts of artificial fertilizers.

I also admired that they operate with a singular middle buyer per transaction allowing higher purchase proceeds going directly to the bean farmers. Furnace Hills has a focus to seek out partners who embody their philosophies, fair trade practices, and exercise respect for all involved in the coffee chain.

Stateside, a vision of Furnace Hills Coffee Company is to employ developmentally disabled people in Carroll County with the objective of contributing financially and relationally to other organizations in developing countries that work with the developmentally disabled. One dollar of every pound sold is donated to an organization that works with the developmentally disabled in Ukraine or for community development in Southeast Asia.

On the company objectives alone, I was motivated to try their coffee. So let’s get to it. Out of their product line I decided to give Erin’s Breakfast Blend a try. This coffee is a combination of 1/3 Brazilian Cerrado Mineiro and 2/3 Ethiopian Harrar coffees. It arrived in a labeled pastry-type bag, white paper, plastic lined, with a see-through window. It smelled very fresh, and was probably roasted within the last 2-3 days from when it was ordered. My only concern was that this great freshness would escape quickly since it was not packaged into a one-way nitro-valve sealed bag. That being said, the window made for a great presentation for viewing the product before opening.

When I first smelled the beans, I experienced a great dark chocolate and cumin scent. The beans have a milk chocolate appearance, with slight oil sheen. I found them smaller in size at about 4mm x 3mm; and they were much easier to grind than some large bean varieties.

The real magic came about when the water was added to the ground coffee. The gases expanded to an amazing 3 ½ inches. Most store bought coffee will expand around one inch due to the commercial roasting process, coupled with sitting on store shelves for an extended amount of time. The extreme release of carbon dioxide from the Furnace Hills Coffee shows a testament to small batch roasting. The immediate shipping to the consumer allows a great fresh coffee experience. While it was brewing, the coffee also gave off smoked meat aromas, luscious and juicy without the salt that truly made me salivate like a Pavlovian dog.

After 4 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) I finally tasted the end product. Because of the two coffee blends, it exhibits dual traits. I found it slightly murky with a medium chocolate coloring. It has a full flavor, without being bitter or overpowering. It provided a wonderful relaxing partner to a Saturday afternoon.

Coffees products are $10 per pound, which is reasonable for the quality. For payment they accept credit cards and PayPal, while offering combined shipping. Try it out for yourself.

I found it easy to become a fan of both the coffee and the company.

Website
www.furnacehillscoffee.com

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