Know your beans
know your roаst
Great coffee starts with great beans. The location, climate and soil
where the coffee grows has a huge influence on its taste and character.
The best coffee tends to be grown at a high altitude with a tropical
climate, which is why Brazil has long dominated the coffee market, with
many coffees from this region providing heavy flavours with hints of
chocolate and spice, making them ideal for espressos.
In addition to different coffee growing regions, there are also many
different varieties, but the main two that you will find served around
the world are Arabica or Robusta. Beginners to coffee will often prefer
Arabica, with its softer taste, and slightly sugary, fruity tones, while
those who need a bigger kick in the mornings will prefer the stronger
Robusta, offering twice as much caffeine and an overly bitter taste,
with nutty and chocolatey notes.
It takes more than great coffee beans to make exceptional coffee. Before
they are roasted, coffee beans are green and have almost no aroma,
except for an earthy, grassy smell. The roasting process is what makes
coffee beans into the delicious cup of coffee you are drinking. The most
common way to describe coffee roast levels is by the colour of the
roasted beans, ranging from light to dark (or extra dark).
Light roasts have a toasted grain taste and pronounced acidity. The
origin flavours of the bean and its caffeine level are retained to a
greater extent than in darker roasted coffees. As coffee roasts get
darker, they lose the origin flavours of the beans and take on more
flavour from the roasting process, exhibiting more balanced aroma and
acidity.
While there are a lot of choices, remember that there is no right or
wrong — for instance, you may choose split-roast, which involves
roasting beans of a similar size and density together when crafting a
blend. Have fun trying and enjoying different combinations.
