Types Of Coffee Beans

For a tree grown in over seventy countries around the world, from Brazil to Indonesia, it's strange how strict the growing conditions need to be in order to produce top quality ‘coffee beans’ and how relatively small the total output of these bean actually is.

The phrase 'coffee beans' is deliberately in single-quote marks, since the thing that gets roasted and ground to make coffee isn't really a bean at all, it's a seed.

In particular, it's the seed of a fruit that grows on trees that can easily reach twenty feet or higher. Some wild varieties can grow to over forty-five feet or 15m. Most of these coffee seeds come two’s, though there is a variety that produces only one coffee seed (the peaberry). This berry resembles a cranberry of sorts, with a sweet pulp covered by a tight membrane called a silverskin.

In an area around the equator from approximately twenty-five degrees north or south, comes the vast majority of the plants coffee output.  Ideal temperatures for growing coffee beans are between 60F (15C) and 70F (21C), as is rainfall of about six inches per month, or more.

The robusta, or coffea canephora, is added into making of the majority of the worlds coffee because it can be grown at lower altitudes, and is a lot more disease resistant that other varieties. But it's the higher-altitude coffee Arabica that forms the essence of a perfect cup of coffee.

Once planted, the coffee tree takes about five years to properly mature to first crop, and even then a single tree will only produce enough coffee beans for about two pounds (1 kilogram) of coffee.

Those two pounds equal about two-thousand coffee beans, usually hand-picked by low paid manual labourers. Manual they may be, but ignorant they certainly are not. Coffee bean harvesting is a extreme skill that’s been developed over time and passed on by generations, where the picker learns to select perfect coffee beans and discard the bad ones.  Since coffee beans are individually selected the price therefore is greatly inflated.

All About The Types Of Coffee Beans

For those seeking roasted coffee, the categories broaden. There's a light or 'cinnamon' (named for the colour of the spice; nothing to do with the flavour). These are acidic and highly caffeinated.

The medium or 'American' roast is slightly darker and enormously popular since it's the degree used by the major coffee vendors (Folger, Yuban, etc). Not a quality cup by most barista's standards.

Dark or 'City' roast is what is seen in many specialty shops, where the process has reduced the caffeine and acid taste. The result is a less bitter, often sweeter cup. This is what's generally used for the average espresso.

Next in line is the 'French' roast, so named because the French tend to prefer their coffee more full-bodied. The beans will appear very dark brown and have an oily texture or sheen. Look carefully and sniff so as not to confuse these with beans that have merely been burnt.

Darkest on the drinkable scale is the 'Italian' roast, often used in specialty espressos. The deep brown colour and pungent aroma are distinctive and make a fine cup.

As one goes down the scale of colour, the cups made from these coffee beans will be increasingly less acid and more sweet. This is a consequence of the carmelization (browning and thickening into syrup) of sugars resulting from the roasting process. At the same time some of the caffeine - a bitter chemical - is burned away, producing a mellower cup of coffee.

So, the next time you savour that perfect cup of coffee, give a thought to the long journey it travelled to reach your cup and the process it’s gone through to make it taste different. It might make you appreciate the high price of coffee beans actually is well worth the price.