It is ironic that the 5 co-founders of The Black Coffee Company all went to undergraduate in New Orleans, but we probably did not drink one cup of coffee during our tenure in the city known for having a rich coffee tradition and culture.
Personally, I had my first cup of coffee in 2016, long after my years of attending school in New Orleans. I remember the day I had my first cup of coffee like it was yesterday. It was office coffee (probably Folgers or whatever was on sale). It tasted awful!! My wife and I just had our second child, and I was seeking something that could help me focus and get through the day. Even though the coffee was awful, the caffeine kick worked. Being the curious person that I am, I just knew there had to be a better and more favorable coffee out there. A quick google search, I discovered specialty coffee.
The majority of the big coffee brands use robusta coffee beans, which are mass produced and have a dark roasting profile. Specialty coffee are Arabica coffee beans and typically have a light to medium roasting profile. Arabica beans are quality coffee beans and are often fair traded and sourced from a single origin farm. This allows the coffee consumer to experience the unique and flavorful profile of the coffee in which it is grown.
Long story short, I got my hands on some specialty coffee sourced from Brazil. The instant I opened the coffee bag, I could smell the freshness and flavor profile (chocolate and caramel). To truly experience the coffee, I drank it Black. Although at the time, I was not used to drinking my coffee Black, I enjoyed the flavor and sweetness of the coffee. The coffee from the office was extremely bitter and did not have any taste. It is crazy to reflect on this moment in time, because never in my wildest dreams would I have ever dreamt that my long-life friends and I would ever create not just a coffee brand, and coffee company, but to own and operate a coffee shop. As wild as this may seem, this is just the beginning....
You're right. A wise coffee shop owner told me that we add sugar, creamer, syrups etc because grocery store coffee is so bitter.
He said if you have a good cup of coffee brewed from good fresh beans you don't need to add anything and that's definitely true. The color is a little lighter than what some people are used to and sometimes you have to play around with the measurements to get it to your liking. It's worth the experimentation though.
I tried your Peru San Ignacio Cajamarca it's very good! It smells and tastes great 👍