2011-11-25

Red Hill Farmers Market - Sunday 26 Nov

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Roadhouse Roast has some great coffees on offer at tomorrows Red Hill Farmers Market. The weather will be clearing so it'll be a great day for a drive through the Red Hill hinterland. There will be fresh produce in abundance and of course fresh roasted coffee.

We'll be at the Red Hill Consolidated School from 9am to 1pm. So be quick, stocks are limited.

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The November Range

We offer whole bean and ground coffee, 200g/bag.

Blacktop Blend

Flavour notes: Full bodied and dark with mouth-watering blackberries and rich stouty overtone.

Comments: This blend is named after the 1971 film Two-lane Blacktop, the quintessential road trip film of that era. The blend is predominantly Brazilian, with Peruvian and Indonesian beans to round it off. Great for espresso based drinks. My personal favourite at the moment!

Guatemala 'Nueva Granada' Estate RFA

Flavour notes: Sweet candy apple aroma with a smooth choc-caramel sweetness.

Comments: This Rainforest Alliance certified coffee is grown on the mountainous slopes of San Marcos, Guatemala. The Coffee of Nueva Granada is shade grown with shade trees providing sanctuary for birds and small wildlife. Since joining the Rainforest Alliance program, Nueva Granada has planted over 30,000 additional trees.

Indonesian Mandheling Lumika Lintong

Flavour notes: Dark morello cherries with delightful coconut perfume, smooth earthy finish.

Comments: This Lintong coffee is produced in the Lake Toba region of Sumatra. It is hand selected by 72 year old Lumika who is renowned for her keen eye for quality. She purchases only the best parchment coffee from small local growers. Lumika and her sons own their own processing facility in which they apply strict quality control to produce a superior and consistent product.

2011-11-20

Simple Pistachio Macaroons

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I am currently searching for a biscuit recipe to replicate something I tasted awhile ago. I can still remember its soft sweet gooey texture and polenta bite. They were so good as an after dinner treat accompanied by a nice little espresso to cut through the sweetness. The only problem is I have no idea how they were made.

For my first test on trying to replicate these biscuits I chose a simple macaroon recipe - 1 cup ground nuts, 1/4 cup icing sugar and 1 egg white. But as you can see below couldn't help myself but throw in everything I had in the cupboard. Note to self - learn to follow the recipe.

The result was more cakey than I was looking for but delicious non the less. They were perfect with my afternoon latte.


Simple Pistachio Macaroons

3/4 cup Ground Pistachios
2 tbsp Almond Meal
2 tbsp Polenta
1/4 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp Self Raising Flour
2 Egg Whites

Combine all ingredients and and rest in the fridge for 1/2 hour. With wet hands role into small balls and bake for 10min in a moderate oven. When cool role in icing sugar and serve.

2011-11-18

Bendigo then back to Southern Cross

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Southern Cross Station and the afternoon sun.
 I was in Bendigo last week for a work conference and I couldn't resist checking out the coffee scene while I was there. On my short walk back to the train station I managed to stumble across two cafe roasteries. I wonder how many roasters that is per capita? They're doing pretty well for a country town.

My coffee purchases.

2011-11-13

Roadhouse Roast - An Existential Coffee

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Roadhouse Roast, the business, was born out of wanting something more from life. It was the realisation that I had to do something for myself to give my own life meaning. I couldn't sit back any longer. I had to jump into the drivers seat, both hands on the wheel.

And, like on any road trip sometimes you need to pull over at the Roadhouse, reorientate, find clarity, and reflect on where you have been before moving on to your next destination.

 
The first blend to be offered by the Roadhouse is the Blacktop Espresso. The name comes from the 1971 film Two-lane Blacktop, the quintessential existentialist road trip movie of that era. The tag line...

'Their world is a two-lane blacktop,
No beginning...
No end...
No speed limit'

Flavour notes:
Full bodied and dark with mouth watering blackberries and rich stouty overtone.

2011-10-31

Hungover? Try This

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I found this recipe while I was flicking through some vintage Floyd - Keith Floyd that is. This particular recipe is not actually one of Floyd's but from a book titled White Trash Cooking that Floyd came across while filming Floyd's American Pie in the late 80's. 

I'm guessing that it might only be good for hangovers, and it would have to be a pretty good one to try this. I don't think we'll be seeing it on the breakfast table any time soon. Even Floyd wasn't game enough to try it and neither am I. 

Red Eye Gravy

'After cooking the breakfast meat (bacon, ham, or sausage), remove it from the iron skillet and put it aside. To the drippins add 65ml of strong coffee and stir while continuing to heat. Pour over hot grits or sop up with hot biscuits.'

2011-10-21

Get your coffee while it's fresh

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See Roadhouse Roast at the Red Hill Farmers Market Sunday 23 Oct.

2011-10-09

Decaf Debunked

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A couple of weeks ago, much to my disappointment, my boyfriend decided to give up caffeine. My efforts to coerce him back to the dark side weren't successful  and I've been a lonely caffeine hound ever since. My last resort Decaf...

Well actually I've been curious about roasting a decaf coffee for while now. The decaffeination process in itself has always intrigued me. I know decaf always comes with a lot of negative connotations, so seeing I've never tried it myself I thought I'd put it to the test.

For my first decaf roast I chose a Mexican Mountain Water RFA Organic coffee from Ministry Grounds. I started with gentle heat with a slow ramp up towards 1st crack, finishing the roast just into 2nd. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this bean but I was quite surprised at how evenly it roasted, 1st crack was clear and defined with a nice even crackle from 2nd crack.

Now, how did it taste? It tasted good, it was smooth and rounded like a good coffee should be. It was very enjoyable. However, without the caffeine, I felt the cup was left a little deflated. That extra pep you get from a good cup of coffee just wasn't there.

This experiment really showed me the effect that caffeine has on the body. And though I enjoyed this little experiment, after two days drinking decaf I was glad to get the roaster out again and get that caffeine back into my system.

2011-09-27

Market Day

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Well I did it! Market day has been and gone. What a great day. The sun was out and no rain,yes!

Everything went to plan, except next time I'll make sure I'm not roasting 'til 1am the night before (think I'm still recovering). Everything seemed to come together, the logo, the packaging, my new red trestle table hand built by my boyfriend JB (under strict direction of course).

The day wasn't all about the sales, but I'm really happy about how my product went. There was genuine interest in the coffees I put on the table.

The biggest error of the day was not having a big red 'Coffee' sign out the front. For some reason I assumed that everyone knows that little brown bags with Ethiopian or Guatemalan written on the front contained coffee beans. There was a bit of confusion.


So until next market it's back to the drawing board. AR 

2011-09-21

Coffee On My Mind

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Stage 1 - 3 days and counting

2011-09-13

Welcome to the Roadhouse - The Experiment

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Hi, welcome to Roadhouse Roast an experimental coffee roastery based just south of Melbourne, Vic.

My goal for a long time has been to set up small roasting company and Roadhouse Roast is my first step along that journey. It's still in experimentation mode but over the coming months I'll be developing my brand and selling my wares at local farmers markets. 

My first big order of green coffee is in transit and I'm expecting it soon. Still having some design issues with the logo/packaging but maybe inspiration will hit soon. I'll keep you posted.

Launch day for 'Stage 1' will be September 25 at the Red Hill Farmers Market, maybe I'll see you there. AR

2011-08-01

Welcome to the Roadhouse

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Welcome to the Roadhouse Roast coffee blog - We are currently under construction. Please check back soon.