I’ve asked several friends to provide some regular input to the Opelika Daily News in coming months. Dennis Smythe is the General Manager of Red Door June Coffee and Floral Company, and here with a little coffee talk!
Two things struck me during my first visit to Opelika last January: First, there were only a few places to get good coffee and none were downtown. Second, I fell in love with the character of the historic downtown district and wanted to be part of the renaissance.
I saw more than a few raised eyebrows when I told my friends and family that I would be moving from San Diego to Opelika. In their defense, they had no idea there were actually places that had yet to be overrun with a green awnings and caramel frapachinos. Places where gas station espresso was gourmet and the misconception that “good” coffee was so overpowering you needed room for cream and sugar, lots of cream and sugar.
Since opening just over six months, Red Door June’s house coffee has been Atlanta’s Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters Dancing Goats Blend (more raised eyebrows when hearing the name of our coffee). Dancing Goats celebrates the story surrounding the discovery of coffee. According to legend, coffee was first discovered in what is now Ethiopia. The area’s remote highlands were home to a goat herder named Kaldi. One day he noticed his goats dancing and prancing after eating the small, red fruit from a nearby shrub. Curious, Kaldi ate the coffee cherries and soon understood why his goats were dancing.
Today, Ethiopia ranks sixth in coffee exports worldwide. Brazil is the leading global coffee producer; with output more than double the second leading producer, Columbia. Indonesia is third and Vietnam fourth, combining for 16.5 billion pounds of coffee annually. The remaining top-ten coffee producers are Mexico, Guatemala, India, Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
There are two species of coffee grown for commercial use, “robusto” and “Arabica.” The robusto bean is grown at lower elevations, has a higher yield per plant, is more resistant to disease than Arabica and contains twice as much caffeine as the Arabica bean. Robusto beans are most commonly used in less expensive canned coffee sold in supermarkets, in fast food and Waffle House type establishments.
Conversely, Arabica beans require higher growing elevation, are usually picked by hand and are wholly responsible for all of the world’s great coffees. Arabica accounts for about 75% of the world’s total coffee production with only 10% qualifying as “specialty” grade.
After the coffee cherries are harvested the beans are extracted using a wet or washed process or the dry or natural process. After processing, beans are shipped to coffee roasters all over the world.
We’ll discuss coffee roasting and preparation later so you won’t need a cup of coffee to stay awake.
I hope you’ll agree that historic downtown Opelika now has a coffee cafe with great food, a warm atmosphere and truly excellent coffee. ~ Dennis Smyth
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on January 27, 2009. View the original page.
