Category Archives: Blog

Black Friday Shipping Savings and New Holiday Packages

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‘Tis the season for savings from Cafe La Semeuse USA!

Free Shipping on Orders of 20 Bags or More

Buy twenty (20) or more bags and get FREE shipping Friday, Nov. 23rd – Monday, Nov. 26th. on all varieties! Stock the shelves with never bitter Cafe La Semeuse coffees before the holiday rush. No code necessary, just add the bags to your cart.

New Holiday Gift Packages

Cafe La Semeuse has created three specially selected holiday gift boxes for the coffee lover in your life. Each gift box comes with six (6) 8.8 oz bags of mixed assortment of robust, medium roast, or ground classic varieties.

As a delicious bonus, while supplies last all of our gift boxes will come with Gracious Gourmet Fig Almond spread and Amore di Mona vegan, fair trade, organic, chocolate made with Cafe La Semeuse coffee!

Robust Gift Box (whole bean)
This delicious assortment is perfect for the person who enjoys their coffee on the robust side.

Medium Roast Gift Box (whole bean)
This delicious assortment is perfect for the person who enjoys a variety of strengths from medium to dark roasts.

Ground Classics Gift Box (ground)
This delicious assortment allows everyone to enjoy their favorite La Semeuse blend, as well providing the opportunity to try new, never bitter, blends.

Get your holiday shopping done on your schedule. Just order now and let us know when you’d like it shipped to your loved one!

Choose any Three Classics with Our New Sampler

New to La Semeuse? Or would you like to try more varieties? Or maybe you’d like to send a smaller gift box of your choosing as a gift? Try our new custom Classic sampler pack and select your choice of three (3) 8.8 oz. bags La Semeuse Classics coffee in Whole Bean or Ground. Buy now >>

Easy Serve Espresso PODS

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La Semeuse Il Piacere Espresso Coffee Pods 20pcLa Semeuse Nocturne Coffee Pods 20pcLa Semeuse Soleil Levant Fair Trade Coffee Pods 20pcOur Single-serve E.S.E. espresso pods both reduce the time needed to brew coffee and simplify the brewing process by eliminating the need to measure out portions from bulk containers. Fully biodegradable. Each pod contains seven grams of coffee compressed into a food safe filter package. There are many Espresso machines compatible for use of 45 mm diameter E.S.E Espresso standard Pod even in US and Canada.

Available in: Piacere, Nocturne and Soleil Levant.

COLD BREW

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Now that it’s warming up, why not try cold-brew coffee? Any of our roasts are great for this form of brewing. Versailles Classique gives a nice sweet taste while Pure Origins Ethiopie lends a rich, nutty profile. Hot or Cold. La Semeuse.

Cold Brew is not the same as iced coffee, don’t be fooled. It’s an entirely different process.  Iced coffee is hot coffee or espresso poured over ice and mixed with dairy and lots of sweeteners. Cold-brew coffee is exactly what it sounds like, brewed by steeping coffee in cold water rather than hot. The former makes for a watery, often more bitter and flavorless product. Cold-brew reigns supreme for anyone who appreciates coffee in its premium, unsweetened, unadulterated form.

Further, when the grounds are exposed to cold vs. hot water in the steeping process, UCLA food science blog explains that the flavor is much more nuanced and less bitter. ‘Fans of the cold brew method have emphasized that cold brews contain a completely different flavor profile that can’t be found with hot brews.’ There are many factors that go into how the coffee grounds are absorbed. The temperature at which they brew, the ratio of beans to water and the length of brew time play a critical role in the flavor as well as the caffeine content.

As for equipment, it doesn’t take much more than a Mason Jar and a cheesecloth. Of course there are several options you can purchase like the Toddy Cold Brew, which we love.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial:

Measure it

One pound of coarsely ground (French press grind setting) coffee for one gallon of water. A lighter-roast coffee will be fruitier and will work better for a longer steeping time; darker roasts are earthier. Start with filtered water:

Add water

Put the coffee in a large, clean container. Pour in a gallon of water, stir the grounds in evenly. Cover the container with something breathable, such as cheesecloth, so no dust settles into it, and let it stand at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

Strain it

Set a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a paper filter on top of a clean container (this is the one that will be used to store the coffee) and pour in the coffee mixture.

Drink up

Cover and refrigerate the brew for 4 to 5 days. It’s a concentrate, so when you’re ready to drink, pour some of the brew into a cup and add some cold filtered water. How much you add depends on how strongly you brewed your cold-brew and how strong you like your coffee. It’s best served cold.

 

 

What is a Flavor Wheel?

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The Flavor Wheel develops a glossary of coffee terms based on sensory science and has become the standard that most cuppers today use in describing the coffee they buy and/or sell. According to Roast Magazine, ‘The flavor wheel has enjoyed 15 years in existence. It is used by the most seasoned coffee cuppers and newbies to boot, it employs familiar and professional vocabulary that is technical but approachable, and it adorns the walls of coffee professionals around the world. There have been thousands of copies sold since the first printing, and the wheel is available in both English and Spanish. The Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel was created in the late 1990s for the SCAA by Ted Lingle, the former executive director of SCAA and current executive director of the Coffee Quality Institute. There are two coffee tasting wheels on the poster; the left side refers to taints and faults, and the right side contains distinct aroma and flavor tasting attributes found in coffee. Time and again, the flavor wheel has been an invaluable resource for coffee professionals; it’s an easy way to provide terms for flavor, create confidence for the taster and help cuppers jog their memory when a tasting term is quite literally on the tip of the tongue.’

At La Semeuse, we use three different categories of senses to describe our flavors. Nose, Mouth and Memory. We use a gradient scale to indicate the flavorvarying degrees in Aroma, Strength, Body, Foam Formation and Degree of Roast. Each of our roasts can be described with terms such as, Aromatic, Sweet, Smooth, Generous, etc. Using this description method helps our clients and would be La Semeuse lovers better interpret what they are experiencing in each cup.

Arabica & Robusta

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cafeierThe coffee tree takes three years to give its first flowering, five years for its first harvest and its lifetime is between twenty and thirty years depending on weather conditions and care provided. The coffee tree has the distinction of having simultaneously, and on the same branch, flowers and cherries with a different maturity, making harvesting difficult. There are generally two categories that beans from the tree fall into. Arabica and Robusta. With the latter considered to be of inferior quality, its use as an espresso coffee is paramount for achieving the coveted ‘crema’ on top. 

La Semeuse coffee is, aside from two of our blends, made with 100% Arabica beans. Il Piacere Espresso roast is 90% Arabica with just enough Robusta to give the characteristics most coveted in an espresso brew. Rich, slightly bitter, thick, golden brown with a nice layer of crema on top. Parisien is the second of our offerings, made with 65% Arabica and 35% Robusta. Parisien offers a strong and stimulating taste with a  dense creamy texture. 

Regardless of the type of beans used, the most important part of any coffee blend is the selection of beans, the roasting process and methodology, the cooling, packaging and method of brewing. At La Semeuse, we pride ourselves on maintaining the highest quality standards in each of those categories. With a 115 year long history and a lineage of Master Roasters, we have perfection in the details taken care of.

Arabica

Generally of excellent quality, it is particularly appreciated. Arabica represents approximately 70% of world production. Its plants enjoy a seasonal climate with temperatures range from 15oC to 24oC. It is grown at altitudes ranging between 600 and 2000 meters and it requires lots of water and light. Its beans have a beautiful shape, rather elongated; the surface is smooth and ripe, with a color ranging from bluish to greenish.

Robusta

“Coffea Robusta” grows faster than Arabica and offers greater resistance to pests. In general, it is grown at altitudes between sea level and 600 meters, mostly in tropical regions of Africa, India and Indonesia. It prefers warmer and equatorial climates, with more limited variations in temperature (24o C – 29o C). Its beans have a rounded irregular shape, and color from light brown to greenish gray. This variety, which constitutes nearly a quarter of the world production, has somewhat of an earthy taste with a hint of bitterness. With the exception of some particular kinds, Robusta coffees are rather average in quality.

The coffee tree comes from the Rubiaceae family. Of its 73 species, only two are cultivated: Coffea Arabica Linné which bears the Arabica beans and Coffea Canephora Pierre for the Robusta beans.

Coffee and Your Health

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imgresFor many people, coffee is a way of life, something that the day cannot start without. There are blogs dedicated to the love of coffee such as Pure Coffee Blog or Dear Coffee I Love You . There is a whole world of merchandise that speaks directly to our need for morning coffee. Despite the years of hearing about all of the risks coffee can pose to our health, such as stunted growth or heart disease and cancer, our love for coffee has stayed strong. 

Now, in a total scientific reversal, it seems that the coffee ‘habit’  is a life extender rather than a risk to our health. The Mayo Clinic has announced that the negative claims were wrong and didn’t take into account the lifestyle choices of most heavy coffee drinkers like smoking and lack of exercise. Instead they have found that benefits include protecting against Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes and liver disease. It also lists an improvement in cognitive function and a decrease in the risk of depression. 

In addition, there have been two more recent findings associated with coffee beans and the medical industry. Scientific American wrote about a new study that  shows Women who drank more than three cups of coffee daily were 21 percent less likely to develop basal cell carcinoma (BCC), compared with women who drank less than one cup of caffeinated coffee per month, the study showed. For men, this risk reduction was 10 percent. And coffee as a painkiller? Yes, apparently a study has shown that coffee contains a protein with an effect similar to morphine,  and that the new substance’s effect lasts longer. The discovery has great “biotechnological potential” for the health food industry, and could also help to minimize stress in animals at slaughterhouses.

Who knew? From vice to wonder bean. Stay tuned as we continue to keep you updated on the latest research on coffee and your health. What will they find next? 

 

 

 

Never Bitter Coffee. How Do We Do It?

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Why Never Bitter Coffee? La Semeuse coffees are roasted at an altitude of 3300 feet, the reduced atmospheric pressure at this higher altitude allows for a slower roasting process at a lower temperature. The beans are never overheated or burnt, producing a fuller, richer, and purer end flavor with absolutely no bitterness. 

The altitude at which La Semeuse is created in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, provides the most significant benefit to the coffees’ signature taste

As a coffee bean roasts, it ‘opens’ and in this expansion, the flavors and aromatic oils are released. The greater the expansion, the greater the release and consequently the fuller the flavor. The benefit of La Semeuse’s location is that the lower roast temperature permits a fuller roast before the bean begins to burn. Therefore NEVER BITTER COFFEE. 

 

The Best Way to Do Coffee

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Research abounds with information about how to make your morning cup taste its best. From the numerous methods in which to brew, to how often it should be consumed throughout the day, coffee plays a big enough part in our lives to dedicate a level of expertise that shouldn’t be ignored.

Huffington Post recently published a list of 5 items that after digging through the best of the best, sounds like a good bet to us.

Here is the general synopsis:

1. Clean your coffee pot.
Clean it with white vinegar and warm water once a week.

2. Store your coffee correctly.
Don’t store coffee in the fridge or freezer or near an air conditioner or heater. Grind beans for each use.

3. Use filtered water.
What goes in must come out.

4. Pour-over brewing.
Hario, Chemex, Bonavita and Kitchenaid offer great options for this.

5. Dont drink coffee all day.
Save your caffeine upload for before lunch. If not, it could lead to some sleepless nights.

We have added one more that could be the most important of them all:

6. DRINK LA SEMEUSE COFFEE!

There you have it, all the makings of a perfect cup of coffee or three.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

The Truth is in Your Cup.

 

 

Slow Down. Sip Your La Semeuse in 2015

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Yesterday was the last day of holiday vacation for many of you. What a blissful two weeks it was, especially for morning coffee time. The whole world slowed down just a bit while the kids were out of school, offices were closed, your neighbors were away, and the absence of a daily grind made the day much sweeter. Instead of racing through your mornings, you woke up later. You pulled out your Chemex Coffeemaker or your Delonghi Espresso Machine to really enjoy your La Semeuse coffee. Instead of pouring in the cold half and half, you took the extra step and went for the foam. Instead of gulping on the fly, you read the New York Times from front to back while sipping slowly. These seemingly small indulgences are what really determine the quality of your day.

We invite you to add another item to your list of resolutions: to keep up this slower pace in the coming year. It may mean that you have to wake up earlier in the morning, perhaps before anyone else in your house does, before the sun has peaked through and the craziness begins. Drink more La Semeuse coffee, and do so slowly. You’ll be grateful you did.