Coffee Club- Corazon Coffee Roasters

Remember me talking about exploring coffee? Voila!! Welcome to Jessica and Monica's Coffee Club. After a lot of discussion, we have decided to really dig in to the locally owned coffee houses and coffee roasters here in Des Moines, and Iowa, journal our experiences, and share the adventures as we work our way around the state sipping coffee, enjoying the occasional coffee treat, and finally deciding on who our favorites are. You already know how much I love Starbucks, and Jessica does as well, we make many pit stops into Starbucks for a pick me up. Recently we have been making lists of places we want to try- started out mostly restaurants but it wasn't too long before coffee places started popping up. 

We did have our visit to Zanzibar's Coffee Adventure, and we have been brewing different coffees from Trader Joe's to try. It's interesting that as we plan our weekend adventures and Foodie Field Trips we come across interesting coffee houses quite a lot. I'm dying to learn more and Jessica is more than willing to teach me everything she knows about coffee.

The suburb of West Des Moines is home to a unique shopping district known as Valley Junction. Cute shops, fun restaurants and bars, trendy shops line the streets. The Junction hosts a big farmers market every summer with loads of vendors and live music, and it's also home to the next place on our list for a Coffee Club visit- Corazon Coffee Roasters. Located in Valley Junction, Corazon offers a large selection of fair trade coffees that are roasted in-house, teas, and coffee accessories. Their coffee is also sold and served in several Des Moines stores and restaurants, including Gateway Market and HoQ.

One of the most impressive features in the store is the roaster. I've never seen one before and it was interesting to hear how the process works, and how each type of coffee is handled differently. There is an equal part art and science in roasting coffee. I'd love to learn more!

Nate is the owner of the store and he is more than happy to fix you a cup on the spot. He also likes to talk about coffee. His coffee knowledge is impressive. He walked us through the roasting process starting with the giant bags of green coffee beans, which can be stored up to two years before roasting. We all know coffee can be acidic, and a lot of that acid content depends on the origin of the coffee beans. South American coffees tend to be the lowest in acidity of all coffees. Where the coffee comes from also helps a roaster decide how long to roast the beans. The light roasts are beans from Ethiopia. Medium roast beans are grown in Mexico, and dark roasts come from other South American countries. 

Jessica and I enjoyed a perfect cup of pourover Peru dark roast while talking with Nate in the shop, and purchased a pound to take home. This coffee is heavenly, so smooth and rich. The beans are coated in the flavorful coffee oils that roasting brings out. The aroma is amazing. Even at home in my non-fancy Mr. Coffee, this makes one of the best cups of coffee I have ever experienced. It's going to be hard to top this one!