Coffee

Coffee is grown throughout the world, from South America, to Africa, India and the far east. It is also one of the largest traded commodities in the world – in fact second only to Oil. Two main types of coffee bean are grown – Arabica or Robusta.

The Robusta tends to be grown on plains, is easier to pick and generally is a lower quality and price. Countries who grow large crops are for example Uganda, Vietnam [one of the largest ] and China [ a relatively new entrant to the scene] Arabica beans grow on slopes and some is grown at a high altitude. The bean produces a finer flavour and is more expensive. The extreme example of this coffee is the Jamaican Blue Mountain bean which can sell for enormous sums of money -depending on the voracity of the Japanese market, the are big fans and buy a large proportion of the crop.

Years ago I met a roaster who kept his beans in the safe -he felt it was too valuable to trust the staff or visitors to be around. Leaving aside the beans from Jamaica the popular quality arabicas are coffees such as Colombian, Costa Rican, Kenyan or Mocha Djima – all of which have a wonderful flavour if made using a filter machine or perhaps French Press / cafetiere. So wherever you buy your coffee, -hopefully some from us – always ensure you buy 'pure' unblended beans. Large companies are prone to dilute or cut the coffee with cheaper robusta coffee so they can make more profit. The result is normally a mediocre or poor drink with a dry unpleasant aftertaste in the back of the mouth. That is the robusta you are tasting – you can tell a good cup of coffee because it gives you a clean taste. All the arabica flavour is in the front part of the mouth.

I can almost hear the question – what about espresso? Well do not put your pure arabica coffee through your machine – this is one time where you can blend an arabica and a robusta coffee. Because an espresso machine makes coffee between 9 and 15 bar pressure [ approx. 130 – 215 lbs per sq inch. ] Arabica coffee on its own under such pressures can produce a fairly acidic drink – there are some excellent espresso coffees which are pure arabica but they tend to be connoisseur flavour and a different level of roast [ our EL SOL is an example of this ]

Much more popular is a coffee with a small amount of robusta blended which takes the acidity down to a reasonable level – this produces a much more acceptable flavour – again our popular Belaroma coffee is a good example of this. There are many types of coffee, different levels of roast and every individual has a different taste so there is no such thing as the best coffee – it just depends on what you like, the strength you prefer and the machine you have to make it. Please if you have any questions or can give any help do not hesitate to either email or ring the office. Everyone here is passionate about coffee and will do their best to point you in the right direction.