To Roast a Bean
Hey Beanheads,
Roasting coffee. You know, before I got into this business I really just took coffee for granted. (Sorry, coffee…) You get the beans, you grind them, you put hot water with the ground coffee and presto you have a jolt of java. But I never realized the journey coffee takes from plant to cup, and we’re going cover that a bit in the next few posts.
Coffee starts as a plant. (Thanks Captain Obvious!) But it’s not a tree or a vine - it’s a SHRUB! (“Bring me a Shrubbery! One that’s nice. And not too expensive!” (Monty Python anyone?)) Coffee shrubs (which are evergreen) produce a fruit - a berry specifically. There are two major species of Coffee (gen. Coffea) - the first is known as Arabica and the second is known as Robusta. Arabica is a much higher quality bean than Robusta. Arabica coffee is native to Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya, but now is grown throughout the world. Robusta is native to parts of Africa. There are other species but they are rarely used or talked about.
These shrubs grown up to 16 feet tall if left to their own devices, but farmers prune them to control overgrowth. The leaves are shiny and green. The shrub flowers and the flowers form the cherry. The cherry starts out green, but when ripe turns a bright red. Most coffee contains two seeds (the seed is what we call a bean). However, there is a type of coffee called PEABERRY (which we proudly roast here at SweetBeans and it’s AMAZING!) which has only one seed and thus produces a more complex flavor with an aroma unlike any other. Coffee ripens up to 8 months (depending on where it is grown and the climate conditions).
So why is Arabica coffee considered superior to Robusta? Well, if you’ve ever tasted them side by side you’d know. Arabica is much smoother, more flavorful, has a broader complexity and is just more pleasant. Robusta, on the other hand, is bitter, harsh and, in my opinion, a “dirty” tasting coffee. That being said, Robusta does produce a body to coffee that Arabica may not have. Because of that, Robusta is at times used as a blending bean to add body to a thin coffee. Unfortunately, Robusta is also used as a cheap alternative to Arabica in coffees of low quality (think Folgers, MaxWell House, etc.) And that instant coffee? Robusta. Can it be used effectively? Some say yes, other say Robusta has no place in Specialty Coffee. I tend to believe that if you’re going to call your coffee “Specialty” you better use the best beans available. That’s why SweetBeans uses 100% Arabica and will never use anything else.
Next time - we take the bean from the bush and explore COFFEE PROCESSING. Sounds riveting! (Actually it’s FACINATING!)
Until then BeanHeads…
Sip, slurp and repeat!
James