We recently moved our roastery to Tucson, AZ and we still have connections to California. We still ship all over the world and we are better equipped to make more and better coffee for you!
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How coffee loves us back
Health benefits a recurring theme in Harvard research September 28, 2015 By Alvin Powell, Harvard Staff Writer Coffee, said the Napoleon-era French diplomat Talleyrand, should be hot as hell, black as the devil, pure as an angel, sweet as love. Bach wrote a cantata in its honor, writers rely on it, and, according to legend, a pope blessed it. Lady Astor once reportedly remarked that if she were Winston Churchill’s wife, she’d poison his coffee, to which Churchill acerbically replied: “If I were married to you, I’d drink it.” Coffee is everywhere, through history and across the world. And increasingly, science is demonstrating that its popularity is a good thing. Harvard scientists have for years put coffee under the microscope. Last year, researchers announced they had discovered six new human genes related to coffee and reconfirmed the existence of two others. The long-running Nurses’ Health Study has found that coffee protects against type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Researchers are continuing to follow up on 2001 findings that it protects against Parkinson’s disease. The work at Harvard is just part of an emerging picture of coffee as a potentially powerful elixir against a range of ailments, from cancer to cavities. Sanjiv Chopra, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has been so impressed he’s become something of a coffee evangelist. The author of several books, Chopra included a chapter on coffee in his 2010 book, “Live Better, Live Longer.” Chopra first became aware of the potentially powerful protective effects of coffee when a study revealed that consumption lowers levels of liver enzymes and protects the liver against cancer and cirrhosis. He began asking students, residents, and fellows on the liver unit to quiz patients about their coffee habits, finding repeatedly that none of the patients with liver ailments drank coffee. Chopra himself makes sure to have several cups a day, and encourages others to do the same. Though other researchers are less bold in their dietary recommendations, they’re convinced enough to continue investigations into the benefits. Alberto Ascherio, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a professor of medicine at HMS, has been studying the potential anti-Parkinson’s effects first suggested in the 2001 findings. That study showed that four or five cups of coffee daily cut disease risk nearly in half compared with little or no caffeine. Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology and Professor of Medicine Frank Hu, who leads the diabetes section of the long-running Nurses’ Health Study, has become interested in whether coffee drinking affects total mortality. “I’m not a huge coffee drinker, two to three cups a day,” Hu said. “[But] I like it and, thinking about the extra benefits, that’s comforting.” Last year, a Harvard team led by then-research associate Marilyn Cornelis — today an assistant professor at Northwestern University — traced coffee’s fingerprints to the human genome, discovering six new genes related to coffee consumption and reconfirming two others found earlier. The six genes included two related to metabolism, two related to coffee’s psychoactive effects, and two whose exact purpose in coffee consumption is unclear, but which are related to lipid and glucose metabolism. Daniel Chasman, an associate professor of medicine at HMS and associate geneticist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who worked with Cornelis on the study, said caffeine consumption habits are highly heritable and that the genes they found appear to explain about 7 percent of the heritability. That’s a significant amount, he said, considering how strong an influence culture also plays on coffee consumption. Though the links between coffee and better health have become considerably clearer, what exactly confers the benefit remains murky. Caffeine alone does not explain the effects. For starters, some of the benefits are seen even with decaf, which has prompted researchers to turn their attention to the many other active compounds — including antioxidants such as chlorogenic acid — in your morning cup. “Coffee is a complex beverage. It’s very difficult to pinpoint which component of coffee is responsible for the benefit,” Hu said. “There are numerous bioactive compounds.” Other highlights from Harvard research include:
At Porcella Coffee Roasters we enjoy creating special custom orders for our customers. To celebrate one of our valued clients we were asked to prepare a special roasted coffee and packaging for our his 40th birthday. Feel free to order whatever your heart desires and we will do our best to fill it!
We moved our business to Southern California in the San Diego region. We have more space, we have better sources, we have more time, to bring you the best coffee from around the world in small hand made batches.
I took this photo myself in Hangzhou, China July 2014, outside the Jinling green teas fields of the National Tea Museum. It was an incredible sight to see all these precious green tea leaves in a huge field.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how coffee (for me) is about social sculpture. I like the way coffee makes you feel and how it can change the way you feel. For me, coffee is a positive feeling I get of motivation and mental stimulation. I get more things done when I drink coffee. I have more of a sense of purpose about the day and being productive. I also think coffee can help us talk to each other and that is a big reason I started this business of roasting coffee.
I am interested in the people I meet just as much as the coffee itself. Every order is a chance to relate to each other in a deep and meaningful way. Technology helps bring us together but it can not replace one on one communication. When people order coffee from me I think of it as an artist would and I make and prepare the coffee the same way I make my art - through meticulous attention to detail. So, when I send coffee out it is just like sending an art piece to a collector, but instead of just enjoying what it looks like, the customer can actually consume it and feel the art go through their body. I am not the first one to think about food in this way. My mentors Joseph Beuys and Rirkrit Tiravanija will help us to understand that conversation and food can bring people together and the real art happens when we converse. To me, there is not much difference between standing in front of a painting and discussing it with someone and interacting over coffee. Photo is courtesy of Carl Gillen's brother who lives in Ohio. He writes to us and says that our coffee is wonderful. Here is a photo of our medium dark roast Abominable Snowman on his kitchen counter in Ohio. Carl Gillen is also a customer of Porcella Coffee and he is one of our biggest supporters. When Carl orders a big shipment of coffee from us we usually throw in some extra beans that I call Carl's Blend. Thanks Carl!!!
Here at Porcella Coffee we make everything by hand. From our custom hand crafted labels to the roasted beans themselves we love the hand made. Most of, if not all, the coffee roasting companies use a high priced roasting unit where the coffee is out of view and the roaster pushes a button to roast the beans. We feel it is much more important to hand roast the coffee so the roaster can have an intimate idea of what the beans are doing throughout the whole roast. This creates a much better product for the consumer because the beans are roasted in a way that is harmonious with coffee's instincts. Just wanted to brag and say that since we opened our business in November of 2012, we have had a steady stream of customers and clients from all over the world order coffee from us on a consistent basis. We can never make enough roasted coffee it seems to fill the demand for our special coffee. We are working hard here at Porcella Coffee to try and meet the increasing demand for our hand made products. We pride ourselves on developing relationships with our customers that will last a lifetime. Thanks for your interest in our hand roasted coffee.
Don Porcella, Owner http://www.bkmag.com/BKFood/archives/2013/01/03/small-batch-coffee-roasting-in-brooklyn It’s not often I get to write about my immediate neighborhood of Bath Beach, especially since there’s not a whole lot to say on the local/artisanal food front. (Big news was a Dunkin’ Donuts opening up next to the laundromat, and the fact that one of the few restaurants making an effort, the since shuttered Jamie Lynn’s Kitchen, recently got replaced by the Cisco Systems-dependent Paco’s Tacos). Hooray! That’s why it was a truly happy surprise to discover that a nearby neighbor, local artist Don Porcella, had built himself a tiny oasis of sorts in the middle of the foodie desert; sourcing his own fair trade, single origin coffee beans from Crop to Cup and self-roasting them in a cast iron pan, all from his little kitchen in the boonies of South Brooklyn. “They say the people that have the most success with the basic skillet method are ones that can let color determine when the roast is done,” said Don. “And as an artist, color is my thing. So I actually think that makes me pretty exceptional at this.” So far, his Facebook friends (and his caffeine-deprived neighbors) seem to agree, placing mail orders for $15 bags of his light (referred to as Synaptic Transmitter) medium (7 Seas Blend) or dark (Black River) roasts, each made from a variety of Burundi, Buginyanya and Kapchorwa beans sourced from individual farmer groups in Uganda. Even better (for those within biking distance), is an impromptu tasting session, conducted in the privacy of your own home. For anyone jonesing for a hit of the good stuff, it smacks deliciously of a drug-deal, with Porcella surreptitiously removing a number of bags from his duffel, lining them up for inspection on the table, and expounding on the nuances and merits of each. You’ll take a sniff, get a taste, money will undoubtedly exchange hands, and he’ll ride off into the sunset, leaving a new customer determined to never skulk home from the grocery with a half-concealed tin of Chock Full O’ Nuts again. For more info on Porcella Coffee Roasters, visit www.porcellacoffee.com Patrick Dintino - San Francisco, CA
Black River is my favorite because I like dark roast, and this unique flavor has a hint of dark chocolate with the sweet bitterness that I love. I requested Don roast an extra dark batch for me and when I have it every morning in my cappuccino, it reminds me of the delicious darkness I tasted for the first time in Italy many years ago. It is so hard to find an espresso roast in the US like this, but Don has perfected it to an art with his hand-crafted magic touch. I'm already looking forward to my morning cap the night before. The Seven Seas is also an excellent mellower roast with a carmel flavor and I will sometimes have a cup of this mid day. The Synaptic Transmitter is perfect if you like to have a pot on all day while you work, with its delicate smoky accent, and is full of flavor for a light roast but not overpowering. Don brings his artist sensibilities to his roasting skill and you can really tell the care he takes with every sip you take. I'm almost out of the four pounds I ordered already, time to order another shipment! My friend Patrick Dintino, an artist from the SF Bay Area, and I are serious coffee drinkers. Back in the late 1990's we drank only dark roasts and we used to make drip and espresso coffee that we affectionately called Black River. We loved this coffee so much that back in 1999, we had a New Year's Eve Party that ended at the New Day Cafe (our one day cafe for the party) where we scrawled and drew the entire story (we made up) of Black River. Mr. Bean, Kareem, Mr. Tree and the Black River were all part of this story. Fast forward 12 years to now and I believe I have finally found the perfect coffee bean to make Black River myself. I have sent this roast to Patrick and he has confirmed the taste and flavor as distinctly Black River. It is from the Buginyanya region of Uganda, Africa and it is grown above 5000 feet elevation and on a small farm. It has a chocolate overtone that is subtle but rich. Starbucks has announced that it is now offering a cup of coffee that costs $7. It’s a Costa Rica Finca Palmilera coffee which runs $40 for a half-pound bag of beans, made from a “rare, difficult-to-grow varietal” called Geisha.
For now, it’s only available at 46 locations in Seattle and Portland. But it seemed like a good time to compare that $7 Starbucks coffee to the Bay Area’s top coffee shops. As it turns out, a quick survey reveals that just about none of the fancy coffee shops in town even approach that Starbucks pricetag. In fact, two of San Francisco’s top restaurants –Michael Mina and four-star Benu — offer custom coffee blends for lesser or equal prices (according to their online menu); and you’re sitting in a fine dining restaurant with fine plateware and top notch servers. As opposed to a mega chain with paper cups and sticky floors. As you can see in the gallery survey and the captions above, there was only one local coffee shop with a similar luxury offering as the Geisha: Philz Coffee has one coffee that sells for $7 for a small and $10 for a large. Most of the new wave coffee shops top out around $4, with most offerings in the $2-$3 range. Meanwhile, the world’s most expensive cup of coffee is in Thailand. It runs $68 per serving and is apparently made from beans picked out of elephant poop. I just stayed at a nice hotel and their coffee is terrible. It is offered as a high end coffee but it is absolutely terrible to drink. I used to not know the difference, but since I started roasting my own coffee, I have educated my palette so now I know the difference between good coffee and bad coffee. Part of the problem is that these big roasters cut corners and buy cheap beans and the other problem is the delivery method. In my hotel room there is a Wolfgang Puck coffee and you have to use this one cup coffee maker with the coffee bag. It is a convenient way to make coffee but it tastes terrible because of the paper filter and plastic coffee maker. There must be a better way to deliver good coffee to these people. Let me think about this....
Thanks for visiting my website and blog for my new coffee roasting business Porcella Coffee Roasters. I grew up in Modesto California and moved to New York right before 9/11. Boy, talk about an awakening. It was an amazing experience to see so many people pull together in the wake of such an enormous tragedy. I was reminded of this when I witnessed first hand the devastation of Hurricane Sandy when she hit our shores of South Brooklyn this month. Again, I was blown away by the way New Yorkers pulled together to help their fellow citizens. It is with this spirit in mind that I seek to serve all of you who order coffee from me. I am here to serve you!!! Please let me know how I can make your coffee experience the best it has ever been. I myself have gone through a bit of a rebirth with coffee when I started roasting my own beans. My palette has expanded with each new bean and each new roast. I will never say that I have learned everything there is to know about coffee because this industry is limitless in what you can learn and know about each bean, each farm, each region, each roast and each customer. Please join me on this journey to all reaches of the world. |
AuthorDon Porcella writes all the blog entries Archives
November 2017
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