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A coffee bean’s life

Coffee – From Beans To Shelf

From its origins over two thousand years ago, coffee bean processing has grown to a worldwide market whose output as a commodity has a dollar value second only to petroleum.

Though there are dozens of bean varieties, the plants fall into two main classes: the arabica, first cultivated on the Arabian Peninsula, and the robusta which contains about twice the caffeine.

By contrast to wine, the coffee berry (called a ‘cherry’) is not valued for its fruit, but only for the bean inside. It’s that bean that is aged, roasted, ground and brewed to make the 400 million cups per day consumed around the world.

The beans come in two main varieties, green and red, with the latter – with its higher aromatic oil and lower acid content – used to produce the finer coffees. Hence one of the most important stages in the life cycle of bean to shelf is the picking.

Since most beans are hand picked by laborers, at the rate of a few baskets per day, separating the red and green is a valued skill and has a large effect on the final product.

After picking, the fruit is removed by soaking, scouring and mechanical rubbing. Then the beans are washed to remove any remaining flesh. This ‘fermentation’ stage produces beans which are then dried in the sun over large concrete or rock slabs, until they have about 12% water content.

From there the beans are sorted by color and size, sometimes by hand increasingly often by machine. Some of the beans are discarded, others polished to remove the skin. For select types, the beans are then aged anywhere from three to eight years, while others go to be roasted within a year.

During the 400-degree Fahrenheit roasting the beans expand to about twice their dry size, crack and change color from green to brown as oil in the interior is released. It’s this oil that gives the different coffees their basic flavor.

Naturally a wide variety of in-house techniques have developed for roasting. Beans from Java and Kenya, for example, are often lightly roasted producing a distinctive flavor. After roasting, the beans produce carbon dioxide for several days so the beans are ‘de-gassed’ either by airing or packaging in semi-permeable shipping bags.

The resulting beans, up to a few weeks later, are then ground where again there are variations in styles and results. In some cases, ‘burr’ grinders are used to crush the beans to a consistent-sized granule. In others, choppers are used to chop the beans into small pieces with a less homogeneous-sized result. Turkish coffee is made by pounding the beans to a powdery consistency, using mortar and pestle.

The final result is then brewed, where the variety of styles and techniques is almost as great as the number of brewers. All these fine differences fall into one of four categories, however: boiling, pressure, gravity and steeping.

In ‘boiling’, hot water is run through the grounds then filtered or settled. In pressure methods, such as espresso, the slightly-less-than-boiling-hot water is forced through the grounds at high pressure. Gravity or ‘drip brew’ drips hot water onto coffee grounds and filters. Steeping is similar to the method of tea bags, though the bags are much larger.

Through its long journey from mountains or jungles, coffee beans go into making up one of the world’s most treasured drinks. And with the new research demonstrating the health benefits of moderate consumption, one has even greater reason to be grateful for the effort. Cheers to coffee!

Coffee Freshness Tips

Coffee How To

Coffee – Freshness Tips

For the freshest possible coffee the ideal is to obtain unroasted beans, then roast and grind on the same day you plan to brew.

Roasting beans is, however, something of a ‘cooking’ specialty. Unless you’re willing to invest in a fairly expensive piece of equipment, the results are often less than satisfactory. Not to mention that – even when done correctly – it can fill the house with odors that take time to dissipate and can become annoying.

Beans, even after roasting, will stay fresh for a while. Freshly roasted beans naturally release small amounts of carbon dioxide which helps to keep oxygen away from the bean, delaying spoilage. If stored in an airtight container, especially with a drying agent, they’ll retain their good flavor and aroma for up to a week.

Naturally, the closer to roasting they’re ground and consumed the fresher they’ll be. But even after a few days they can still produce a stellar grind and a superior brew. After two weeks the flavor may still be acceptable, even though aroma will no longer be first rate. Whole bean coffeestored at even optimum conditions will be dull after a month.

Key to getting a good cup from purchased roasted beans is to ensure that the skin is unbroken. When that happens, all bets are off. Oils underneath the skin and inside the bean will deteriorate unless frozen, in which case the brew will never be first rate.

When storing beans, be sure to use an airtight container. A glass jar of the type used for instant tea grounds is tempting, but inadequate – there is still too much leakage around the lid. A good glass jar with a rubber seal is best. Many online vendors sell just the ticket. Be sure to store the jar in a cool, dark place since not only air, but also heat and light can contribute to spoiling beans.

Even better, but more expensive, are containers which flush air with an inert gas, then inject the coffee beans which then give off CO2, providing natural protection against spoilage. Beans stored in this way can keep their freshness for several weeks.

The next best thing to home roasting, and an option open even to those with less than stellar cooking skills is grinding at home.

Good grinders are available at moderate prices, are generally easy to use and are not difficult to clean. Many are automated to the point that with very minor experimentation, it’s possible to arrive at consistently good grinds.

Since grinding necessarily breaks the bean skin the same ‘oil spoilage’ problem can arise if the grind isn’t used within a few days. Like roasted beans, only more so, any grounds not consumed within a day should be packed in a desiccating cannister. Those cannisters contain a drying agent, usually beneath a mesh at the bottom, that keep moisture from introducing mold or excess oxygen into the grounds.

If not stored in a desiccating cannister, grounds will lose much flavor within a few hours. Oils will evaporate and, exposed to the air and moisture within the jar, the grounds will deteriorate.

For a superior cup, grind only what you intend to brew and drink everything brewed within an hour. With modern, moderate cost machines there’s no longer any reason to suffer second-rate coffee.

Coffee Brewing Methods

Coffee How To

Coffee – Different Brews For Different Views

Once upon a time there was only the lowly percolator. Coiffed housewives would sit lovingly staring at water being heated until pressure forced it up a small tube and over a basket full of grounds.

Well, it was amusing to watch even if the coffee couldn’t be very good. Boiling coffee and running the liquid over grounds more than once can each produce a brew less than ideal.

Then in the 1970s, as with so many things, life changed forever. The drip method – inexpensive, quick and even an improvement in taste – came to dominate the scene. A cup of grounds thrown in a plastic container over filter paper, a few minutes of nearly boiling water dripping over the result and – voila! – coffee in a glass pot.

Later came pre-packaged ‘pods’ of a favorite blend, changes in materials and all sorts of controls to adjust the brew, and internal spouts that spread the water evenly over the grounds. Whether cone or flat, always near 200F (93C), please.

In the ’90s, espresso makers became the rage, with the importation of European culture and the application of American ingenuity to lower the cost without ruining the flavor. Hot water is forced under pressure through finely ground dark roast and in a few minutes, out pours a delicious, aromatic drink.

Add steamed, frothy milk and you have a cappuccino or latte, depending on the ratio of milk to coffee. A definite improvement and the variety of espresso makers makes for delightful experiments in chemistry.

The French plunger is another device aiding the spread of European methods, anywhere open-minded coffee innovators are seeking the new. A metal rod extends through the center of a glass cylinder, where it is topped with a handle. At the other end is a filter, fitting snugly inside the container.

Put grounds into the container and pour nearly boiling hot water in. Unlike the drip method, the grounds steep until the plunger is pressed. The result is a dark, full-bodied brew served right from the device.

One of the more esoteric brew methods uses the vacuum brewer: two glass or metal bowls, one atop the other. Heat causes water to rise into the upper, similar to the percolator principle. Remove the heat and as the liquid cools slightly a partial vacuum is created, drawing the hot water through the grounds and into the lower chamber.

The process is a pleasant show at a dinner party and a wonderfully fresh cup, since it can be carried out right at the table.

Of course, none of these methods is really new – most go back centuries in one form or another. The Ibrik from Turkey may be one of the oldest. Water is heated in a brass or copper container with a long handle and a grooved tongue. Finely ground coffee is added directly to the hot water and then poured, unfiltered. Strong!

Any of these will produce a delicious cup, but all bring out distinctive aspects of the ground. Try them all! You may find that a history lesson can also be a delectable taste tour.

Coffee bean producers

Coffee Regions

Coffee – Coffee Bean Producers Around The World

From its origins in Ethiopia, where the main coffee production is still from wild coffee tree forests, coffee consumption has spread throughout the world. But because of its requirement for ample sunshine and rain, the plants from which beans are produced grow only in tropical or sub-tropical regions.

From a narrow band centered on the equator of around 23 degrees North to 25 degrees South comes all of the world’s source of the liquid that a Turkish proverb calls ‘black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love’. As a commodity, coffee – from beans grown in over 70 countries – is second only to oil in dollar volume.

Brazil remains by far the largest coffee bean producer with an average output of 28% of the total. Even world-renowned Colombia is a distant second at only 16%, with Indonesia less than half that at 7%. Mexico, the fourth largest producer is half again at 4%.

Coffee trees produce the best beans in high altitudes but have adapted to a variety of areas.

In Brazil, the plantations cover huge areas and employ hundreds of workers to tend the plants. In Colombia the rugged mountains and poor economic conditions mean transportation to processing centers is still largely carried out by mule or Jeep.

While Colombia has the tree-lined mountains, Hawaiian producers plant on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano. The black volcanic ash is rocky, but perfect for the plants where the intense afternoon sun is softened by tropical clouds. Frequent island showers provide the ample rain needed.

Indonesia is composed of thousands of islands, where coffee has been grown since the Dutch colonists introduced it in the 17th century. Though other countries have greater technology, no one exceeds the helpful warm, damp micro-climates found here. Hundreds of one to two acre farms on the largest islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi combine to secure the country’s third place position.

Plantations in Mexico, by contrast to Brazil, are primarily small farms but with over 100,000 of them the total still makes the country a serious factor on the world market. Most are located in the south, in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas with the special Altura beans indicating their origin in the high altitudes.

Vietnam in recent years has rapidly been challenging Indonesia’s position as the Tonkin area recovers from decades of stagnation. First planted with arabica trees in the mid-19th century by French missionaries, the small plantations now produce robusta, one of the two main types of plant.

Africa, Kenya and the Ivory Coast, though smaller producers are world-famous for the dark, large beans grown there. In the foothills of Mount Kenya grow some of the largest in the world which go to produce a well-known fruity coffee. The Ivory Coast holds its position as one of the world’s largest producers of robusta, often used in espresso blends.

Whether the Brazilian Liberdade, the Costa Rican La Fuente, the Indian Monsoon Malabar or the Tanzanian Peaberry, coffees from around the world continue to find eager consumers everywhere.

Coffee bean growing

Coffee How To

Coffee – Bean Growing

For a tree grown in over 70 countries, from Indonesia to Brazil, it’s curious how narrow a range of conditions is required to produce quality ‘beans’ and how relatively small the total output is.

The word ‘beans’ is deliberately in single-quote marks, since the thing that gets roasted and ground to make the drink 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 more. Some wild varieties grow to over 45 feet or 15m. Most of those seeds come in a pair, though there is a variety that produces only one (the peaberry). The berry resembles a cranberry, with a sweet pulp covered by a membrane called a silverskin.

In a band around the equator from approximately 25 degrees north or south, comes the overwhelming majority of the world’s coffee output. Temperatures of between 60F (15C) and 70F (21C) are best as is rainfall of six inches per month or more.

Loamy, good-draining soil is needed and also helpful is high humidity – plenty of mist and cloud at the high elevations, over 3000 ft (915m) for the good stuff. At these elevations the oxygen content is lower, so the trees take longer to mature.

The robusta, or coffea canephora, goes into making the majority of coffee because it can be grown at lower altitudes and is more disease resistant. But it’s the high-altitude coffea arabica that forms the base of a gourmet cup.

Diffuse light and moderate winds are helpful, both of which are sometimes produced by deliberately growing in the shelter and shade. By contrast, wine grapes like hot sun and lots of it.

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

Those two pounds equal about 2,000 beans, (correct or not, it’s the standard term), usually hand-picked by manual laborers. Manual they may be, but ignorant they are not. Coffee bean harvesting is a skill developed over time, where the picker learns to select good beans and discard the bad. Bean by individual bean. That’s only one reason coffee is high priced.

The trees have broad, dark green leaves and produce a flower that resembles Jasmine. Some – in Brazil and Mexico, for example, – blossom over a six to eight week period. In countries that lie along the equator such as Kenya and Colombia, though, a tree can have mature berries growing alongside still ripening ones. That’s part of what makes picking such a specialty.

Blossom to harvest may cover a period of up to nine months depending on the weather and other factors and the cycle will be carried out for the life of the tree – about 20-25 years. With the best cultivation technology, a good harvest will be between 6,600 lbs (3,000 kg) and 8,800 lbs (4,000 kg) per hectare. (One hectare is about 2.47 acres.)

From these inaccessible regions, where conditions are harsh, the berries are brought down and processed to make up the world’s second largest commodity (by annual dollar volume).

So, the next time you savor that brew, give a thought to the long journey it traveled to reach your cup. It might make that high price seem less steep.

Coffee around the world

Coffee Regions

Coffee from around the world, delivered to your door is also…

Coffee – Varieties Around The World – Part 2

There are as many beans and coffees from around the world as there are grapes and wine – and as much delight to be had in sampling them.

The Colombian is, rightly so, world-renowned. The La Esperanza from Tolima, for example, is grown at almost 6,000 feet and the effect shows. High-toned with a delicate aroma and cherry-like it has hints of milk chocolate and pipe tobacco. Who knew such a mixture could actually taste wonderful?

Of course, the world’s second largest producer has much more to offer. The Supremo makes a complex brew with vanilla notes and hints of semi-sweet chocolate. Be sure to drink hot, as it fades fast.

Hopping over to Hawaii, the hand-picked Kona comes in both medium and dark roast. The latter has a very light acid with the medium making for slightly more. But the espresso roast remains a favorite, where the minimally acidic, dark and strong character really shines.

Jetting off to Africa we find a Tanzanian Peaberry, grown on the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Peaberries have a distinctive shape, making a single oval bean rather than the usual pair of flat-sided beans. One consequence is a higher acidity and lighter body. Climbers of the famous mountain can find a warming cup on their way up.

And while there, take a side jaunt to the legendary home of coffee – Ethiopia. The Yirgacheffe region is home to a citrusy brew that combines ginger, orange peel and lemon that’s both tart and chocolaty.

Trekking east to India we rest to take in another famous landmark – the Monsoon Malabar. The product of three months of the well-known wet winds, the puffy yellow beans make for a pungent brew with hints of apricot. But don’t leave without sampling one of the Jumboors, with its sweet raisin tones.

Continuing east to Indonesia we find ourselves in Sumatra, long known for the product from the Lake Toba region. A light roast, the cup is sweet and flowery. The original jasmine-like coffee flower has been retained to produce an astringent cup with cherry overtones.

And while there don’t forget about the northern provinces where the traditional dark roast gives a spicy, tropical fruit brew with hints of cedar and grapefruit.

A short flight to Vietnam puts us in a position to enjoy a Robusta from Lampung. The washing-drying-polishing process makes for a woody, astringent cup that competes well with its more high-toned Arabica cousin.

On the way home, a stopover in Jamaica provides an opportunity to discover an unusual source. The Jamaican peaberry, showing its African origins is a single bean. But the effect is altogether different. Full-bodied, sweetly acid, and full of floral notes this cup comes on strong.

Weary from the journey, but satisfied and satiated, we close our book of ‘Travels Around The Globe’ then turn out the light and switch off the coffee pot. Even with all that caffeine we should have no trouble sleeping.