Types Of Coffee Beans
How many types of coffee beans are there? Where do they come from
? What is coffee? Coffee is a beverage prepared from the seeds of the coffee cherry or plant. The seeds are roasted and then known as coffee beans.
Coffee beans contain chemicals which can affect the mood of many people. They can also be toxic to some creatures, especially dogs, so be careful around your pets.
Coffee beans from different locales will have different and distinctive characteristics. The acidity, flavor, caffeine content and body will vary from location to location. These differences are due to the environment where the plants are grown, how the beans are processed and the genetics of the coffee plant itself.
It is amazing how many different sorts of coffee there are and their origins.
The two main types of coffee beans are Arabica and Robusta. Robusta is the more potent of the two, with twice the caffeine content. The Arabica beans are tastier and more fragrant. They are most often used to create specialty blends.
The Arabica bean has two sub-types. Milds are the higher quality. They are grown at over three thousand feet, the perfect altitude for coffee growth. Brazils, no surprise here, are grown in Brazil in larger quantities, at lower altitudes, on the many large plantations of the area.
This variety includes:
* Colombian - Colombian coffee, freshly roasted, is brightly acidic, heavily bodied and extremely aromatic.
* Colombian Milds - Includes coffees from Colombia, Kenya, and Tanzania all of which are washed arabicas (Coffee prepared by removing the skin and pulp from the bean while the coffee fruit is still moist).
* Costa Rican Tarrazu
* Guatemala Huehuetenango
* Ethiopian Harrar
* Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
* Hawaiian Kona
* Jamaican Blue Mountain -
* Java - The popularity of this coffee is where we get the slang term "java" for a cup of coffee.
There are more arabica beans, but these are the most well-known and popular. . For a definition of arabica beans visit:http://middleeast.about.com/od/glossary/g/me090222.htm
Popularity and demand cause some beans to be very expensive. Two examples of this are Kona from Hawaii and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans,
If you purchase these coffees already ground beware if the label says "Kona Blend" or "Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend". They are blended with less expensive beans and labeled with the Kona or Jamaican Blue Mountain even though they may contain only a little of that coffee bean.
Robusta is another type of coffee. It originated in the sub-Saharan regions. Today it is mostly grown in VietNam and Brazil, where it is often called conillon. Approximately 20% of the world coffee production is robusta. It is considered inferior to arabica and is higher in caffeine content.
However one type of robusta coffee bean exotic and rare; the Indonesian Kopi Luwak and the Philippine Kape Alamid. These coffee beans are collected from the scat of the Common Palm Civet. It gets it's distinctive flavor from the digestive processes of the civet.
However, for true gourmets there is a special robusta coffee bean both exotic and rare; the Indonesian Kopi Luwak and the Philippine Kape Alamid. These coffee beans are collected from the scat of the Common Palm Civet. The distinctive flavor is derived from the digestive processes of the civet.
The Arabica bean is split again into two categories. The higher quality Milds, are grown at over three thousand feet, the perfect altitude for coffee growth. Brazils, not surprisingly a product of Brazil, are grown in larger quantities, at lower altitudes, on the many large plantations of the area.
Types of coffee beans are often identified by how they are roasted. For instance, French Roast coffee.
Coffee aficionados seeking the perfect cup of coffee choose beans that have already been roasted. Adventuresome coffee gourmets may like to buy the green beans and roast them at home. Roasting coffee beans is easier than making homemade wine.
Coffee beans can be roasted in a number of ways. Some popular roasts are the light or cinnamon roast and the dark or city roast. The cinnamon roast produces a strong and acidic brew while the dark or city roast produces a less bitter and sweeter category.
The American roast used for everyday brewing is a medium roast. This roast is very popular.
European Roast, Espresso Roast, After-Dinner Roast, Continental Roast are terms for coffee roasting. They range from darker than the traditional American norm to dark brown. Acidity lessens and a rich bitter-sweetness evolves.
Varieties of European roast are the full bodied French roast, and the very dark Italian roast, used in specialty espressos. Because they are dark roasts and so the coffee brewed from them are less acidic and sweeter than average.
The longer the coffee beans are roasted the sugars in the beans caramelizes and the caffeine ( which makes coffee bitter) is burned away.
For more information check out:
http://www.coffeeinstitute.org/ The Coffee Quality Institute http://vanderbilt.edu/ics/ The Coffee Instituteby: David Ognek
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