Coffee has become a ritual - lets not deny it. Gone are the days when the only enjoyment you get from a cup of coffee is the actual drink. My ritual starts from the moment I open the bag - a burst of aroma from my fresh roasted coffee beans and continues through the grinding where I get a second hint into how flavorsome my coffee will be. 

Watching the extraction and the pour into the cup is met with anticipation as I steam my milk to a creamy texture and pour the milk into the cup. Sure, my technique has room for improvement, but thats the journey - each and every cup is a part of me and the result is a more enjoyable coffee, this time a flat white. 

When I sit down to enjoy my coffee, I seem to forget my surroundings, everything falls silent as I draw my first sip.  yum!

I learned a very important lesson today about the importance of fresh coffee beans. With the holiday season in full swing, I was run off my feet and didnt restock my coffee beans at home, a few friends over for coffee and before you know it, I'm reaching for an old bag of emergency coffee beans. The emergency bag of coffee beans was for this very purpose, the moment when I would have less than perfectly fresh coffee beans rather than no coffee beans - a pretty smart decision on my part, or so I thought. 

A few minutes later, the beans were in the grinder, doing their thing landing in my portafilter ready for the magical extraction in my coffee machine at home. I knew and expected that not everything would be perfect with these older coffee beans, and after all, most mass produced coffee in Australia and supermarket coffee is usually 12 months old before it even reaches your pantry - how bad could it be? Truth is, it wasn't that bad, but it wasnt that good either. My coffee was flat and boring -definitely not exceptional. My friends and family have come to expect exceptional coffee from me and I felt a little embarrassed that the coffee king was letting them down. 

I have the luxury of being able to manufacture my own coffee beans at home while the factory is down for maintenance, so that's exactly what I did - life is too short for bad coffee! Don't make the same mistake I did, and don't accept boring stale coffee, ever!

You can buy coffee beans just about anywhere, but why just settle for 'just another product' when you can get exceptional quality and exceptional and personalised service from a coffee business that holds old fashioned values close to heart. 

If you are looking for delicious coffee beans, yummy chai latte or a fresh roasted and exciting alternative to Nespresso coffee capsules, you've come to the right place!

The Coffee Bean Shop has a brand new website and a fresh new way to buy coffee beans online. You get free delivery on orders over $100 plus generous discounts for orders of over ten kilos - perfect if you are buying coffee beans for a cafe.  

i hope you enjoy using the new coffee beans website - if you need to get in touch anytime, I'm always available. 

Oh yeah! There's nothing quite as good as FREE. 

When buying coffee beans online, who wants surprises? I want to make it easy for you to buy coffee beans online, and it is - Delivery is Free anywhere in Australia on orders over $100, or if your order is less than $100, delivery is capped at $9.95. 

So, know you know exactly what the price of your coffee order will be before you even get to the checkout.

As an extra bonus, save with automatic discounts when you purchase 10 kilos or more. The savings are generous, so if you can take advantage of it, added to Free Delivery, you could be a superstar!

I am over the moon right now - having just launched an awesome new mobile website for Coffee Bean Shop! It couldn't be any easier to buy coffee beans on your mobile in under 60 seconds, or brush up on your coffee making skills with the new EDUCATE section

Its so simple too, browse to coffeebeanshop.com.au on your Android or iPhone and you automatically get the mobile optimised website!

To celebrate, I'm offering a free sample of Bondi Chai - all you need to do is order from your mobile, and the rest will be taken care of. (Expires Wednesday 24th July)

Take a look now on your mobile and leave a comment below.

Wow! I am so excited right now. I've been working with a designer to create a brand new coffee bag design and theme that will carry over to the website and other marketing material for our delicious coffee beans. I have to say, the result is awesome, very awesome. (If you need a very talented designer, get in touch and I will share the love). Now is the time to get on board if you own a cafe or restaurant and benefit from our bulk coffee bean discounts - your customers will love your coffee as much as I love the new coffee bag!

Let me start by saying, I mostly enjoy my coffee black, so I rarely need to reach for milk, but when I do, or when I see others preparing milk for their cappuccino or flat white, this one single tip almost always improves the texture of the milk, and the flavour of the coffee.

Do you remember that sound of milk being frothed by some actor on TV? Its sounds a lot like "Pssshhhht...Pssshhhht...Pssshhhht..." as they plung the tip of the steam wand in and out of the milk pitcher. That same motion can be seen at most non-cafe restaurants as they prepare their milk pitcher of milk for your flat white. The problem with all that plunging and action, is that you end up with a very bubbly and soap-suds like consistency to your milk. It ends up being very thick on top from bubbles, and very thin and watery underneath. When you addd that to you your espresso base, you end up with what I like to refer to as a thin cup of coffee.  

The secret to producing great microfoam, which is realy what you want, lots and lots of tiny bubbles all through your milk, making a thick and silky smooth texture is to "steam the milk with the tip only gently breaking the surface until the milik gets to 30c (close to body temp by touch), and then to plunge the steam wans INTO the milk pitcher, and if you can, try to make a whirlpool effect" (be careful not to make too much of a whirlpool, or you risk sucking in more air, creating that Pssshhhht...Pssshhhht... noise and fluffing up your milk too much).

At first attempt, it may not seem like this method will work, but it will, and with a little practice, you will be producing delicious silky smooth milk to pour into your coffee base. When you pour microfoam, you will instantly notice a difference in the pour, and the sound of the pour - it appears thicker, and more consistently textured. 

Let me know what you think in the comments or if this method has helped you.  

Leave a comment below and let me know your single best tip.    

Coffee lovers are less likely to develop the most common type of skin cancer, a new study found. 

The study of almost 115,000 men and women found those who drank three or more cups of coffee a day had a 20 percent lower risk of basal cell carcinoma than those who said no to coffee.
  
"I think we're seeing more and more evidence for the beneficial effects of coffee consumption," said study author Jiali Han, associate professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health, explaining that java has also been linked to a reduced risk of diabetes and Parkinson's disease. "I wouldn't recommend drinking coffee solely based on this work, but it does add one more thing to the list." 

The study, published today in the journal Cancer Research, sheds new light on a skin cancer that affects 2.8 million Americans each year, and with Australia having a higher incidence of skin cancer, its a great discovery.

Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.  

I am giving away 1kg of Espresso coffee beans to one lucky customer. Leave a comment below, with the correct answer to;

What is the cost of 50x 1kg bags of Coffee Bean Shop coffee, delivered to Darwin, Northern Territory?

A) $64.50
B) $9.90
C) Coffee Bean Shop doesn't deliver to Northern Territory

The winner will be randomly selected from the comments below at 5pm Monday 9th, so everyone has a chance to win. Winner will be announced here Monday. (I will also contact the winner directly).

Leave your answer AND tell us what coffee machine you use, in the comments below for your chance to win 1kg of Espresso coffee