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Gourmet Coffee Beans - A Brief Overview
By Jerry Powell, Fri Dec 9th
The coffee plant has two main species. There is the CoffeaArabica, which is the more traditional coffee and considered tobe superior in flavor, and the Coffea Canephora known morecommonly as Robusta. Robusta tends to be higher in caffeine andcan be grown in climates and environments were Arabica would notbe profitable. Robusta is also typically more bitter and acidicin flavor. Because of this Robusta tends to be less expensive.High quality Robusta is also used
to blend espresso for morebite, and to lower costs. A little known fact is that some coffee beans improve theirflavor with age. It is the green unroasted beans which are aged;the typical length of time is 3 years, though there are somehouses which sell beans aged to 7 years. Aged beans have afuller flavor and are less acidic. Growing conditions, soil types and weather patterns during thegrowing season all contribute to the flavor of the bean,creating the differences in flavor from points of origin, suchas Kenya or Brazil. However, roasting adds its own flavor,sometimes to the point that it is difficult to tell where thebeans originated from, even by experienced cuppers. (Article continued below)
The lighter the roast the more the natural flavor of the beanremains. This is why beans from regions such as Kenya or Javaare normally roasted lightly, retaining their regionalcharacteristics and dominate flavors. There is a method ofroasting in Malaysia which adds butter during the roastingproducing a variety called Ipoh White Coffee. Beans roasted to darker browns begin to taste more like themethod of roasting than the original flavors. Dark roasts suchas French or Vienna Roasts tend to completely eclipse theoriginal flavor. Roasting to whatever degree, while addingstronger flavor does not effect the amount of caffeine of thebean. Fry pan roasting was popular in the 19th century, since thebeans were normally shipped and purchased still in their greenstate. You simply poured the green coffee beans in a frying panand roasted them in the kitchen. This process took a great dealof skill to do in a consistent manner. Fry pan roasting becamemuch less popular when vacuum sealing pre-roasted coffee wasperfected. However, in order to vacuum seal roasted beans, youhad to wait for them to stop emitting CO2, as roasted beans dofor several days after the roasting process. What this meant wasthat vacuum sealed coffee was always just a little stale as theflavors begin to turn bitter and deteriorate in just about aweek after roasting. Home roasting is once again becoming popular with the creationof computerized drum roasters which help simplify the process.There are some people who have found methods of effectivelyroasting beans using their hot air pop corn makers. The region the bean is from as discussed before is a primaryfactor to the type of flavor you can expect from the brew,though it is very true that 'new' or unexpected tastes come fromevery region. Arabia and Africa grow their coffee beans in high altitudes inthe rich black soils of Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Tanzania.The flavors of these beans are distinct and of legendary status. The Americas coffees are grown in near rainforest conditions inareas such as Colombia, and Guatemala. Coffees of theAmericas tend to be very well balanced and aromatic. The Pacifics includes coffees from Sumatra, Java, New Guinea andSulawesi, which are as various in flavor as the islands theycome from. Then there are the exotics such as certified Jamaica BlueMountain and certified Hawaiian Kona. These are rare indeed andcan go for as much as $60.00 per pound. About the author:Jerry Powell is the Owner of a Popular site Know asGourmet911.com. As you can see from our name, we are here tohelp you learn more about different kinds of Gourmet food andWines, Coffees from all around the world.http://www.gourmet911.com/ | Sign In |
