We roast to order every day.
Our freshly roasted coffees are packaged in 12 oz. 1 lb., 2 lb. or 5 lb. one-way valve bags to ensure freshness and flavor.

What is Gourmet Coffee?

Gourmet Coffee is the finest quality farm grown beans, that come from the best coffee growing regions of the world. The beans are selected for taste, uniformity and size. Imperfections and blemishes are eliminated, separated from the 1st quality beans. We Daily Micro-ROAST the beans and seal them for freshness in a state of the art one way valve bag. NO water, chemicals or artificial flavors are added and our decaffeinated coffees are SWISS WATER PROCESSED, not decaffeinated in animal fat like most commercial coffees. All of our Gourmet Coffees are certified Kosher and our flavors are Natural. Now you can enjoy the richest, most natural and best tasting coffees in the world. Coffee Tasting, information and seminars are available to all our customers at the 235 Salem Street Showroom, Woburn, MA 01801

Certified Organically Grown Coffees
Coffee Roasters International Organic Varietal Coffees

Just because a coffee producing country offers an organic coffee is not enough reason to put our name on it. Our selections are based on outstanding and consistent cup quality proven over the years. While we see plenty of samples of coffees with interesting names and funky stories attached to them, we believe it is the quality of the cup which brings your customers back again and again. That's why we are proud to call only a select few coffees Coffee Roasters International’s Organic Coffees.

Mexican Altura

This selection distinguishes itself with perfect balance. Cup characteristics are medium body and silky acidity with an outstandingly mellow, nutty taste. Almost all the organic farmers in Mexico are active in growing under shade canopy, generating community improvements, and working in co-operatives. Nevertheless, only a select few can produce coffee with this outstanding taste.

Guatemalan Atitlan

In the Lake Atitlan region of Guatemala, small groups of indigenous farmers produce this wonderfully complex, big, and balanced coffee. It is beautifully rich in subtle chocolate and sweet spice tastes. Our slowly crafted. Full City roast highlights these elements for a joyously outstanding cup. The cup may be better enjoyed in the knowledge that my, and therefore your, purchase goes directly to the farmers through a sustained community fund.

Indonesian Gayoland

Gayoland is the name coffee insiders both here and in Indonesia use for the Central region of Northern Sumatra. The long tradition of small farmer - owners is continued as a result of the premium this shade grown coffee receives based on its quality alone. It is very full-bodied and uniquely flavorful. The area of Aceh cultivates tobacco, sugar cane, tea, and clove. If you close your eyes and taste carefully, all these elements will come through for you in the cup.

Peru Estate

Peru’s Northeastern Andes Mountain, one has to hike for miles to come upon the communities that grow the best tasting Peru coffees. Projects of jungle shade grown coffees, superior mulching methods, and grower support through non-governmental organizations all contribute to our emphasis on selecting coffee which is the result of a long term commitment to quality. Our Peru is very lively and has a very flavorful fruitiness for a standout cup. We highlight these elements with an ultra clean and velvety full city roast.

Costa Rican Estate

This is a wonderfully prepared and beautifully textured cup Mouth feel is a wine term, but I feel I can use it to. describe the silky winy taste of this bright and even cup. It is grown on pacific slopes of the Sierra Nevada near Panama’s border. It is one of the few organic and shade coffee projects in Costa Rica today.

Papua New Guinea Estate

A beautifully bold and well-balanced bean with an outstanding aroma and a distinctly toffee-like flavor. A unique coffee from a unique land.

Nicaraguan Estate

Our Nicaraguan is, like most of our selections, grown by small farmer co-operatives under a shade canopy of thick forest. This attention and commitment to the organic ideal comes through in a exceedingly clean cup. Taste characteristics are a gentle acidity with malt overtones.

And many more all the time.

About Our Decaf Coffees

How much caffeine is in decaf?

In the United States federal regulations require that in order to label coffee as "decaffeinated" that coffee must have had its caffeine level reduced by no less than 97.5 percent.

Example: Panamanian coffee is about 1.36% caffeine by weight normally. This and many other arabica coffees are about 98.64% caffeine free even before anything is done to lower the caffeine content.

When 97% of the caffeine has been removed only .0408 % of the coffee weight is caffeine. About 4/10ths of 1%. At this level it is labeled "decaffeinated. How roasters label their products is another matter. Suppose two roasters roast Panama coffee that originally came from the same lot, and were decaffeinated together in the same vat. One roaster labels his decaf. "97% Caffeine Removed." The other says his is "99+% Caffeine Free." Which roaster is not telling the truth?

The answer is: They are both right. They are both essentially saying the same thing. But, which decaf. does the average consumer believe has the least caffeine?

Currently used solvents for decaffeinating coffee include, H2O (water), CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), Meth. Chloride, Ethyl Acetate. Note: A relatively new method called Swiss Water Decaffeinated uses "flavor-charged" water in the decaffeination process.

Coffee Preparation Methods

1. Drip

Drip is the most common form of coffee served in the United States. This method essentially pours near-boiling water over medium-course coffee grounds to produce coffee. This is probably the easiest method of making coffee. A few words about filters: There are two types of filter available for drip coffee. One type is paper. The other is a metal or plastic permanent filter. Neither is innately better but they do produce different coffee flavors. A paper filter will hold some of the essential oils that are being released from the coffee. Some people have a preference for this. In paper filters there are several brands that have various thickness and types of paper that will absorb more or less of the oils. One selling point for paper filters is that they are very easy to clean up; just throw them away. This of course means more landfill and more trees being cut down. Some people also feel that paper filters give coffee a papery taste. The permanent filter has some obvious advantages and disadvantages in relation to paper. I will add just a couple of ideas about them here. One, use metal; plastic won't last as long and may give your coffee an off flavor. Two, permanent filters require a slightly courser grind and you may get some sediment in your cup. This is probably comparable to the sediment in a coffee press.

2. French Press

A French press is a glass container with a wire mesh attached to a plunger. To make coffee, you first allow water to come very close to a boil but just short of this point. If you are heating water in an open pan, when you see the very beginning of a boil, pull your water. The overall temperature of the water from top to bottom should even out to be in the ideal range for coffee. If you are using a closed tea pot, this is the point where the water just begins to sound different in the pot. The press should be pre-warmed before putting the coffee in. This will help keep the glass from absorbing as much heat when the hot water is put in the press thus making for warmer coffee when you pour. The press should contain approximately the same amount of very coarsely ground coffee as you would use for drip coffee. Let it rest for 2-3 minutes or until it is easy to press the plunger down and then plunge the wire mesh. This filters the coffee. Course ground coffee is a must here or there will be a great deal of sediment in the cup. You will have a small amount of sediment no mater what. Due to the fact that there is no paper filter, all oils make it into the cup. This is a great cup of coffee.

3. Vacuum

The buildup of steam in the lower bowl forces the water up into the funnel, where it mixes with the ground coffee. A quick stir wets the grounds into the water, and a small amount of water left behind in the bowl keeps the steam coming and the temperature constant. Brewing continues for 2 minutes (it can go longer but you don't get any more flavor) and we then take the siphon off the hotplate. With no more steam being produced, a vacuum forms in the bowl, which sucks the brewed coffee down through the filter. I hear this gives a great cup of coffee and is quite fun to watch.

Cona (the original) in England, Hario in Japan, and Yama Glass in Taiwan and Bodum make vacuum pots. Corey & Silex used to make them in the U.S. and Sunbeam also made a metal model with built-in heating.

4. Percolator

Percolators violate most of the natural laws about brewing coffee. Don't over extract the oils and flavor. Percolators work by taking coffee and reheating it and throwing it over the grounds over and over and over again.

Never reheat/boil coffee. This destroys the flavor. For best flavor, boil the water, pass it over the grounds and retain the heat. Don't reheat it.

Violating these rules may not sound like much, but these are about the only rules there are. The effect of a percolator is to keep passing boiling water/coffee over the grounds until there is no flavor left and the flavor in the coffee is so dead that it's a worthless waste.

5. Espresso

A single shot of espresso is about 30ml. It should take between 18-25 seconds for the water to pass through the coffee grinds. Espresso is made by forcing hot, not boiling water, through finely ground coffee at high pressure, typically 9 - 14 atmospheres. This is achievable with pump driven or hydraulic (crank - lever) espresso machines, not steam powered machines which make "strong coffee".