What is so great about Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee?

The sweet flavors and aromas of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee are its strongest asset along with a medium to light body.

Overall the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee is very spicy and fragrant, often with a slightly chocolaty or nutty quality. Subtleties include notes of citrus or tangerine (which is why it is often preferred for iced coffee).

There are many other fine things about Yirgacheffe coffee. Read on.

Wet Processing Common Among Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee

The wet processing of coffee beans involves first washing off the coffee fruit (coffee cherry) in order to remove and fleshy or fruity material on the fruit. This is done right after harvest while the fruit is still moist.

This is done to remove the pulp from the Ethiopian Yirgacheffee coffee fruit and then the next step is to remove the mucilage through the process known as fermentation.

Typically the coffee beans are soaked in water in order to soften the fleshy material and then they are de-pulped and placed in a fermentation tank in order to remove the mucilage.

Once fermentation is complete then the coffee beans are dried. Drying of the coffee beans may occur either in the direct sunlight or through forced air-drying methods. The goal is to lower the moisture content of the 10.5 percent.

What is so good about Wet Processing?

The benefits of wet processing are that it produces what is termed as a “clean cup” of brewed coffee. The benefit of a clean cup of coffee is that the acidity allows the coffee to “shine.”

In general the wet processing produces a coffee with a higher acidity than a dry processed coffee and the wet processed coffee will tend to be much cleaner and have floral and winey flavor.

The Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is an important tradition and involves much ceremony including the burning of incense as the coffee beans are pounded using a mortar and pestle and brewed in a narrow-spouted coffee pot.

The apparatus for the Ethiopian coffee ceremony is placed upon a bed of long grasses and the coffee beans are roasted over a charcoal brazier in a pan. Small cups with no handles are used for serving the coffee which may be accompanied by popcorn or other food items.

First, most fundraisers are donation raisers with generally sub-standard products given as recognition of the financial gift. Not so with our church fundraisers.

Our church coffee fundraisers recognize and address two important, key, elements regarding quality of products:

• We provide you with an affordable, direct trade, artisan crafted Arabica coffee which your clients will either buy more than one bag or be repeat customers. Our coffees have been recognized in magazines such as Southern Living.
• We provide several options to our fundraisers (see graphic below).
  • You can sell our fabulous Go Roast directly in 8 ounce bags
  • Offer a link on your website and earn affiliate commissions
  • We can set up an on-line BRANDER e-commerce store for you or
  • We can help you set up a real-life coffee shop.

So contact us for your next church coffee fundraiser through our Coffee 4 Missions brand and website. Here is a graphic which outlines our church coffee fundraising program.

First, our name really is Toomer, but….

Visitors to Toomer’s Coffee Company™ in Auburn are often amused to find out our name really is Toomer.  However let me clear the air: we are “kissin-cousins” only to the Auburn Toomers.

However, my great-great-great Grandfather, Benjamin Toomer and two of his brothers, arrived as founding fathers of another famous town, Hilton Head, SC in the 1700′s.  I know all of this because my father, Fred Toomer,  helped write a book on the Toomer family history.

Now, about Sandy & Trish Toomer
Trish and Sandy Toomer have been happily married for 33 years and have two grown children, Harrison (27) and Sarah (24).  Sandy is a native of Vestavia Hills, Alabama and Trish is from Hurricane, West Virginia.
From 1990-93 we were in training at Moody Aviation (a part of Moody Bible Institute) and after graduation, joined Mission Aviation Fellowship in 1993 and served as missionaries to the South American country of Ecuador.

Sandy was a missionary pilot with MAF and flew [as a commercial pilot] nearly 3,000 hours serving missionaries and indigenous tribes of the Amazon rainforest while Trish provided hospitality for visitors to the Shell Ecuador base.  In that role as Hospitality Coordinator for MAF’s base in Shell, she provided a home away from home for hundreds of visitors and workers from churches worldwide each year and was the link and “shopper” for missionaries living in the jungle.  Harrison and Sarah attended Nate Saint Memorial School in Shell.

Since that time, in addition to Trish & Sandy’s joint venture, Toomer’s Coffee Company™, Sandy also owns and operates a successful new media company, Flying Tigers MEdia.

Today

We first opened Toomer’s Coffee Company™ in downtown Opelika, a short hop from Auburn, in 2004.

However, since so many of our regular coffee-bean-buying customers were from Auburn, they kept after us to move the shop over to Auburn.

So, in August of 2005 we opened our doors in the University Village shopping center on South College Avenue, located right behind Loco’s.

The Future

As of July 2013 we leave the retail side of Toomer’s Coffee Roasters to new owners to focus our entire efforts on building and growing our wholesale business regionally and nationally which includes BOTH Toomer’s Coffee Roasters™ and Coffee 4 Missions™.

“Our church has been purchasing coffee from these great people since 2005. We provide a Sunday Morning Café and also use the coffee for weekly events and our staff during the week.

What can I say except we love the product, love the fair pricing, but more importantly love the people we deal with at Coffee 4 Missions and Toomer’s Coffee Roasters. I would encourage you to seriously consider bringing the Coffee 4 Missions brand and purpose into your church, business or home.”

.

Rusty Hutson
Lead Pastor
Cornerstone Church
Auburn, AL
www.CornerstoneBuzz.org
(Congregation size: 1200+)

“We opened our Café 246 coffee shop last year and wanted a high quality coffee at a reasonable price but also a coffee company with a higher purpose and ideals than simply us selling coffee. What a tall order!

We found everything we were looking for and more in Coffee 4 Missions and Toomer’s Coffee Roasters.

It is outstanding coffee; our people love it and purchase bags to enjoy at home. The company/people are of the highest caliber, honest, and dependable; they will do whatever it takes to be sure we have what we need when we need it.

What I appreciate most is the help they gave us prior to opening our coffee service - they helped with design and layout, equipment procurement, lots of encouragement, training of our staff, and were on-site the day we opened!

You cannot go wrong purchasing coffee from this outstanding company- you will receive great coffee at a reasonable price and have a good feeling knowing you are helping to support missions… one cup at a time.

Mary Lou Herald
Food Service Director 
Whitesburg Baptist Church
Huntsville, AL
www.WhitesburgBaptist.org
(Congregation size 1500+)

“Life’s too short to drink bad coffee.” That quip is certainly true for me and the church where I serve as Executive Pastor, First Baptist Church of Opelika, AL.  That’s why, when we decided to provide complementary coffee to those who attend our services on Sunday morning, we looked for the best product we could find for the best price. I really didn’t have to look far, because I already had a great relationship with Sandy and Trish Toomer at Toomer’s Coffee.

Since 2005 I have led a weekly men’s Bible study in their retail coffee shop. That provided me with firsthand knowledge that the coffee was excellent and that the Toomers are wonderful Christian people operating their business by Christian principles. We serve their coffee each Sunday, and some of their flavored coffee at banquets and church-wide fellowships.

Knowing that Sandy and Trish served as missionaries, and still today have a heart for missions, I was not surprised when Coffee 4 Missions became part of their “coffee family.” They truly have a desire to see the Lord use their business to help reach people for Christ throughout the world.

Fair pricing, excellent coffee, a heart for missions! I want to encourage you to seriously consider partnering with Coffee 4 Missions for your coffee needs. I personally, as well as our church, have been blessed.”

Mike King, Ed.D.
Executive Pastor
First Baptist Church
Opelika, AL 
www.FBCOpelika.com
(Congregation size: 2400+)

“I adore Toomer’s Coffee Roasters and the people behind it (both the coffee and the owners)!

The infrared roasting brings out the full flavor of the bean, and it’s easier on my stomach. When I’m forced to drink coffee away from home, I can tell the difference. Nothing else is as smooth and mellow with the full flavor. I order plenty and take it with me when I’m traveling away from home. I travel around the world regularly and always have my Toomer’s Coffee stash with me! Seriously.

I’ve even mentioned it in my books because I want everyone to get a chance to taste it. Once you try Toomer’s, you won’t want to drink anything else!”

Colleen Coble
Author
Thomas Nelson Publishing
www.ColleenCoble.com

We are looking to become more involved with individuals, churches and organizations who want to purchase coffee knowing that their dollars go beyond sustainability for farmers in the coffee growing countries. We, of course, applaud these efforts. We lived and worked in the third world for nearly a decade and understand our responsibility there. This is why we actually hope to go further in that area by using Direct Trade coffees more and more.

But what we are really trying to do is make sure a significant percentage of profits (beyond what is paid to farmers) from the Coffee 4 Missions can be routed directly to great causes. Our tag is “Great Coffee supporting the Great Commission”.

Take a look at the website and please pass along the link and forward it to friends, pastors, and ministry directors to get them involved.

Thanks!

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But a few months ago I read the book, “The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson. In it Mark talks about he and his wife’s goal of living off of 10% of their income and giving the other 90% away. Wow! I thought that’d be an incredible goal to strive for and began searching for others who had done this.

Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church in California does this and he refers to it as Reverse Tithing. Bill and Melinda Gate’s have this also as their goal. The list goes on and on.

In fact there is an entire website devoted to those who are willing to put their commitment to this style giving at The Giving Pledge (click to visit site). You may also recognize a few of the names on there like, T. Boone Pickens, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jon & Karen Huntsman, Carl Icahn, Warren Buffet and others.

In America today the average giving rates is less than 2%

In a country considered to the richest nation on earth that’s sad. Of course I understand many people are struggeling to make ends meet. But I would also ask you sit down and list out your expenses. You might be surprised what you spend money on. Here are a few of our personal changes:

ROKU Internet Video Streaming

The LEAF

CABLE TV

For example, we looked at cable (TV). We were spending almost $1000 per year on this.
Then we considered this: we faithfully only watch maybe 4-5 channels, and being busy entrepreneurs, we only watch those in the evenings and then not every evening. That said, we dropped this, bought a ROKU ($90) to stream shows we like via our internet connection and also added a simple digital antenna (The Leaf – $40) that provides us with 26 HD channels FOR FREE.

We love it and if you amortize the cost of the setup over five years…we’re talking pennies day for a great media experience.

_______________________

HEALTH – SWITCHING TO WHOLE FOOD PLANT BASED DIET

Consider your health and saving money. Trish was on cholesterol lowering medicines and having minimal success.

Then we heard about a whole foods/plant based diet in the China Study (click on image to see on Amazon).  Also Forks Over Knives is a great video and the book outlines even more scientific evidence of the incredible lifestyle change (Click on image at right to see it on Amazon).

This way of eating has been scientifically proven to improve quality of life, improve health (lowered cholesterol, lowered blood pressure and has even reversed and cured many with Type II Diabetes and advanced heart disease) but it is also  A VERY CHEAP WAY TO EAT.

After only a few months on this healthy program her total cholesterol dropped from the mid 200′s to 160 and her LDL and Triglycerides dropped to the optimal ranges as well.

Throw in the cost savings with savings on prescription drugs and the savings is over $1000 per year. Long term savings? Consider insurance, out of pocket hospitalization expenses and on and on….

_____________________________

PAY OFF YOUR HOUSE OR RENT

Pay off your mortgage. Switch to a 15 year plan. Do the math. Everyone could use a $1500 plus income increase.

_____________________________

DRIVE AN OLDER CAR

Drive a good older car. Our newest car is a 2005 Scion XB. Out others include a 2003 Chevy S-10 and a 2002 Camry. No car payments, they are good cars (check Scions and Camry’s in the Consumer Reports auto reports) and our insurance costs are a few hundred dollars a year TOTAL.

You see it isn’t just about making a lot of money. That’s where we get it wrong in this country.  We say, “Once I start making $XX I will give more. Well the results are in and the facts are that in fact we don’t give more as we make more.  We just spend more on ourselves. Can I say it again? That’s sad.

With that in mind we wanted you, our customers and potential clients, to know where our heart is. It may take us a while, but we continually raise the bar on our giving, ways to save, build our business and live more frugally and as we prosper we see it as simply another opportunity to give more.

God bless you and your family. We urge you to sit down today and look at your finances and see where you are, what you can alleviate and where you can give more.

In case you are interested her are a few of the organizations we currently support (excluding our local church):

Samaritan’s Purse

Women’s Hope Medical Clinic (Auburn, AL)

Ecuadorian Harvest Ministries

Diedrich Manufacturing has been the leader in infrared coffee roasting equipment for over half a century. Beyond that infrared coffee roasters are so phenomenally superior to other conventional coffee roasting methods there was never any question what machine we would use.

It puts Toomer’s Coffee Roasters in a unique class of specialty custom coffee roasters as it is estimated that only 2%* of all coffee roasted uses this higher-standard processing method.

BACKGROUND: A comparison of more traditional methods

Many people today are enjoying Toomer’s Coffee without stomach sensitivity due to our low (ph) acid coffee (not to be confused with the “acidity” flavor characteristic).

One of our regular on-line buyers today, a heart surgeon from Texas commented during a visit to Auburn for a football game (War Eagle! by the way baby…), that ours was the only coffee that didn’t upset his stomach. Let me add, that’s not an unusual comment we hear either.

Here’s why…

During the typical commercial roasting process natural acids are produced that can produce heartburn sensations and upset stomach to some with sensitive stomachs.  However this need not be so.

Typical commercial roasters run the coffee along a conveyor belt system and blow hot air from a gas flame manifold beneath them.  Kind of like some hamburger chains cook their hamburgers.  Another is to simply tumble them in the gas flame heated hot air like a commercial dryer used at the cleaners.

Both of these types of roasters tend to “burn” the bean causing an unevenness in the roasting process that does not fully remove these acid producing compounds.

THE DIFFERENCE IN TOOMER’S COFFEE

The vast majority of coffees available today, even most specialty coffees are roasted in the manner described above.

As I said earlier, our less common (rare?) infrared roasting technique is only used by an exclusive class of roasters,  approximately 2% of all specialty coffees produced.

Here are a few other remarkable improvements our infrared roaster produces in your daily cup:

• 

  Sandy in front of his favorite roaster!

  The beans increase in temperature quicker than those roasted by hot air. Studies have shown that compared to conventional roasting, infrared roasting showed less increase in radicals on the bean during and after the roasting process.

• Highly noticeable was the consistent formation of brown colored compounds showing the bean was uniformly heated and never burned.
• The infrared roasted beans had a quick increase in the internal temperature and thus suffer from less damage on the surface.
• The study also revealed a uniform and quick decrease in moisture and showed the beans undergo uniform heating even at the core.
• Even more noteworthy were the changes in the contents of citric acid, malic acid and formic acid that are naturally found in the bean. When monitored and compared to conventional roasting, infrared roasted coffee beans showed changes from an earlier stage. As the roasting proceeded, the infrared roasted coffee beans contained these acids in a smaller amount!
• Not surprisingly, the content of aroma compounds were found to be 25% more than that of conventional roasting, and when tested was found to carry the same standard to the cup. The taste from the extract of hot air roasted coffee beans was similar to most conventional roastings, while the extract of the infrared roasted coffee beans was different from them (i.e., weaker acidity) leading to a better coffee without a bitter taste.

THE BOTTOM LINE: WHY OUR COFFEE IS BETTER

One of the reasons Toomer’s Coffee is a regional favorite we owe to our consistent quality of finely (infrared) roasted coffees!

Infrared roasting is the superior method to roast coffee.  End of discussion.

Our Diedrich Infrared roaster heats the coffee faster, more uniformly and at relatively lower temperature than conventional hot air/flame roasters.

The result is a low-acid, pleasant cup that is consistent bag to bag year after year.

Try us!  You’ll taste the difference right away!

Sandy Toomer
Roast Master

Sources: Ineedcoffee.com*, Asic-Coffee.org, Diedrich Manufacturing, & my seven years experience!