Coffee Guide

What is the best coffee? is a question that my clients ask more often than I would have expected. However, I am not certain that this question has an objective answer like the fact that the blue whale is the largest mammal, or that the Lexus is the most reliable vehicle. Statements like these have more empirical proof.

Those discussions require some sort of standardized definition of the word best whereas that definition is not feasible in this discussion. One might define the best coffee as the one that is in most consumer demand. Another might define the best coffee as the one that is held in the highest regard by the masses, like the Jamaican Blue Mountain, Kona Fancy, or Puerto Rican Yaucco Selecto AA. Upon mention of any of these particular varietals, most of you are probably reacting as if everyone has heard of them, but does that really make one of them the best coffee?

Perhaps price is the most important consideration. If this was the case, the Jamaican Blue Mountain would be, hands-down, the best coffee. I am not suggesting that this isn’t true. However, I am suggesting that this might be the wrong criterion on which to focus. There has been some evidence in the coffee world that not all coffee labeled Jamaican Blue Mountain is actually Jamaican Blue Mountain. While I cannot claim to have empirical evidence either confirming or denying this claim, I have not seen any evidence of price depreciation to account for any impure blending. The point is that whether or not Jamaican Blue Mountain is, or continues to be the best coffee, it will likely always be the most expensive coffee, so we should probably explore another method of measurement.

Another possibility is that the best coffee is the rarest coffee. However, this approach immediately makes me think of the jewelry industry in which diamonds are considered the best gemstone, yet they are not rare at all. Every person planning to propose marriage can readily find a diamond engagement ring if they have the proper finances available. For this reason, I doubt that the rarest coffees are the best coffees. It is also silly to think that rarity increases the quality of a substance. It is certainly possible that a coffee of poor biological composition could only exist on one remote island in the world.

Of course, the correct response is that the best coffee is your favorite coffee. Gourmet coffee beans have a diverse array of flavor, body, acidity, and richness characteristics related to their country of origin, growing conditions, preparation methods, and so on. The intricate balance of characteristics found in each varietal appeals to different enthusiasts in different ways. I personally find few coffee experiences more pleasurable than smelling the spicy peanut fragrance of freshly roasted fine Guatemalan arabica coffees. I find the Huehuetenango to be the best example of this. However, someone else might prefer the citrus notes apparent in a lightly roasted Peruvian La Florida coffee.

Mexican coffees are known for their pleasantly dry acidy snap, while Sumatran coffees are known for their exceptional body. Not only do different coffee varietals provide different flavor, acidity, body, and richness characteristics, but the situation is complicated further by the fact that different coffee enthusiasts put greater or lesser value on each of these categories. Therefore, our conclusion is simple. What is the best coffee? It is the one that you like best!

John A. Russo, MBA
The Perfect Bean Roasting Company
http://www.perfectbeanonline.com
PerfectBean@mail.com

If you need a custom roaster to prepare the best quality of your favorite coffee or blend, we would be glad to help you out at The Perfect Bean Roasting Company. Please feel free to e-mail us for a free consultation to figure out what you would like best.

Coffee beans are the second largest traded commodity after oil. However, the comparison between coffee and oil stops here, as many coffee farmers live below the poverty level, even by third world country standards. One of the contributing factors to this sad fact is that often coffee trades far below the cost of production, resulting in horrific consequences on the life of the growers and their families. To raise awareness of the plight of the farmers, and to aide their situation, the fair trade movement was started in 1988.

The three pillars of this initiative are: 1) A fair price. This guarantees that farmers receive a fair price, and that workers receive fair compensation for their labor. 2) Improved product Quality. By receiving a fair price, Fair Trade producers do not have to sacrifice quality over productivity. I think this is the key point, that through this initiative charity is not the purpose, but rather that we gain a viable quality product we can market. 3) Care for the environment. Most Fair Trade coffee in the US is certified organic and shade grown. This means that the products you buy maintain biodiversity, that the tree canopies provide shelter for migratory birds, and help to reduce global warming.

As a consumer, you have an important role to play by selecting the right coffee beans, but also by supporting your independent coffee shops and their owners, who deserve, like every member of the coffee chain, fair treatment.

Fabrice Moschetti has been roasting coffee beans in Vallejo, CA for more than fifteen years. He writes a monthly coffee column for Listen & Be Heard: http://www.listenandbeheard.net.

In my experiences dealing with a gourmet coffee enthusiast clientele, it has become increasingly apparent that in their quest to enjoy a bold cup of coffee, many people will demand only dark roasted coffee regardless of the country of origin. I wanted to write this article from my own roasting experiences to shed a little light on how a bold cup of coffee can be achieved while keeping the coffee bean’s origin character intact.

It is important to note that coffee beans from certain countries are inherently more suited for dark roasting that others. South American coffee beans tend to be grown at the highest altitudes, resulting in the hardest beans. Therefore, these beans would best be able to handle dark roasting. Indonesian coffees are grown at relatively high altitudes, although typically not as high as the South American beans, and therefore produce a slightly softer bean.

African coffees tend to be the least flexible when trying to produce a dark roast. However, the best examples, like the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe add a terrific zip to a properly proportioned blend.

This raises the question of how to best describe bold. It seems that most coffee enthusiasts define a bold coffee as one that leans more toward the roast character than the origin character, which is usually achieved in a dark roasted coffee. However, a bold coffee could also be defined as one that leaves a more lasting impression than a coffee that is not bold.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bold defines the word bold as Fearless and daring; courageous. in its first definition. When applying this definition to gourmet coffee, we understand that a coffee can be fearless and daring whether it is a light roast, a dark roast, or a medium roast. The country of origin seems to have much more to do with achieving a bold cup that does the roast. A Peruvian or Brazilian coffee does not have the distinct spiciness that a fine Guatemalan coffee has.

With this said, I would like to suggest a new blend for those of you that prefer dark roasts for their boldness. The following is one of my favorites and I know that you will like it too: blend 40% French (dark)-roasted Guatemala Huehuetenango arabica coffee beans with 40% medium-roasted Sumatra Gayoland arabica coffee beans, with 20% light-roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe arabica coffee beans. This blend takes advantage of the best characteristics of each origin country and produces a flavorful, aromatic cup of coffee with a tantalizing zip.

So, when trying to roast a bold cup of coffee, keep this recipe in mind. Through experimentation, I have found it to be quite pleasurable for our clients, and it has become one of my favorites as well. I hope you have fun roasting this one yourself, but if you are not a home roaster, we would be glad to help you out.

Best Regards,

John A. Russo, MBA
The Perfect Bean Roasting Company
PerfectBean@mail.com
http://perfectbeanonline.com/