The Chinese people have created a huge number of amazing varieties of tea, rich in nutritional microelements, vitamins, and multifaceted aromas. In China, the process of tea drinking is closely connected with medicine. Thanks to this, people not only enjoy a tasty and aromatic drink, but also receive invaluable benefits for the body.
Coffee beans are extremely popular among lovers of this drink. But how to choose coffee beans and not make a mistake? Let’s try to answer this pressing question in this article.
Pay attention to the type of coffee
The first thing to pay attention to when choosing coffee beans is its variety. All coffee beans come from only two types of coffee trees:
- Arabica. An important distinguishing feature of this coffee is its softness and low concentration of caffeine. Arabica beans grown on different plantations can have different flavors. The most common are floral, chocolate, wine, berry. These trees are distinguished by their capriciousness to growing conditions, and are also not very fruitful. Despite this, Arabica occupies about 70% of the modern coffee bean market.
- Robusta. The most important features of robusta are strength and bitterness, as the amount of caffeine in these beans is much higher. This leads to the fact that robusta in its pure form is consumed quite rarely, but it also has its admirers. The trees on which robusta grows are highly fertile and not very demanding of conditions. Due to this, robusta is usually much cheaper than arabica.
How to choose coffee beans based on the information provided above? First of all, you need to try each of the options described above in pure form. To do this, you will need to buy single-sort coffee.
It should be noted that single-variety coffees are not as common as coffees that are a mixture of Robusta and Arabica. The most popular variants of a mixture of these two varieties are:
- 70% Robusta and 30% Arabica. This option is suitable for those who prefer to combine sweetness with a slight bitterness.
- 80% Robusta and 20% Arabica. This blend produces a drink with a sour taste, high density and a slight bitterness.
- 90% Robusta and 10% Arabica. This blend is a great option for those who drink coffee to perk up.
You can always buy both single-variety beans and a mixture of robusta and arabica. By the way, ICAF coffee is a great option in this case, as it offers both of these options to its customers.
We choose coffee beans depending on where they grow
To choose good coffee beans, it is also important to pay attention to the place where they grow. So let’s look at the main options:
- Ethiopia and Yemen. This is the historical homeland of coffee, coffee beans collected here are usually distinguished by a chocolate flavor.
- Kenya. The main distinguishing feature of Kenyan coffee beans is the berry aftertaste.
- India. The drink is distinguished by its softness, and also by the fact that it is slightly tart.
- Brazil: Coffee from this country has a hint of tangy flavor and is also more tart than Indian coffee.
- Guatemala. This coffee does not have the characteristic bitterness, it is slightly sweet, and also has an aroma of spices and flowers.
- Colombia. The drink has a rather bright fruity flavor, is light and fresh.
- Cuba These beans have a slight tobacco flavor.
The place of origin of coffee beans should also be taken into account because in different places they are processed differently, which also affects the taste of the drink obtained from them. There are two main ways of preparing coffee:
Dry. This type of processing allows preserving the flavor and aroma characteristics of coffee beans. However, the quality of cleaning is slightly worse. This method is most often used in African and Asian countries, as well as in places with a dry, hot climate.
Wet. The main advantage of this type of processing is that it allows for better cleaning of coffee beans. Wet processing is used on almost all plantations located in South and Central America.
Taking into account the features described in this section, you will be able to make the right choice of coffee beans, choosing the most suitable option for yourself.
Choosing coffee by roasting degree
The taste of coffee is influenced not only by the type of coffee beans, but also by the degree of their roasting. Therefore, it is better not to choose coffee beans without taking this indicator into account. There are three categories of roasting: weak, medium, strong. In turn, each of them is divided into several subcategories.
