Know Your Coffee
History of Coffee
Coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia during the 10th century.
Trade and colonization spread the popularity of coffee throughout the middle east, then Europe, and eventually to the rest of the world, America's taste for coffee evolved as an act of defiance against England as a result of the Tea Tax of 1767.
Trade and colonization spread the popularity of coffee throughout the middle east, then Europe, and eventually to the rest of the world, America's taste for coffee evolved as an act of defiance against England as a result of the Tea Tax of 1767.
The Quality of Coffee |
Differences in soil, climate and preparation determine a coffee's cup quality. There are two major species of coffee trees: arabica and robusta. Arabica trees produce high quality beans, grown at altitudes of 4,000 to 6,000 feet. Robusta trees produce lower quality coffee, grown at sea level to 2,000 feet. True gourmet coffee is produced only from the top 10% of arabica trees!
The Taste of Coffee
There are four primary taste components to a cup of coffee. Each helps distinguish one cup from another and is critical to effective coffee roasting.
They are:
They are:
- Acidity - the crispness, liveliness, or smell of the coffee.
- Body - the impression of weight or texture of a cup.
- Flavor - the specific, distinguishing taste characteristic of a coffee such as winy, spicy, fruity, burnt, bitter, etc.
- Aroma - the smell or lasting impression the coffee has on the nose.
Coffee Regions List
South America:
Colombian Excelso - Smooth, aromatic, and rich in flavor. Deserving of its popularity.
Colombian Supremo - More select grade than Excelso; bold flavor and aroma.
Brazilian Cerrado (ser-ah-doh) - From the world's largest coffee producing nation, the Cerrado region produces beans that are soft and pleasant in the cup.
Central America:
Mexican Pluma Altura (ploo-mah al-tur-ah) - A mild cup. with a delicate tang and pleasing bouquet
Guatemala SHB - Though not quite as highly regarded as the Antigua, the SHB indicates a high-grown coffee with great flavor. Good on its own or blended with another favorite.
Guatemala Antigua (an-tee-gwa) - The most popular of the Central Americans, Wonderful flavor good body, and balanced acidity,
Costa Rican Tarrazu (tar-ah-zoo) - Another popular Central American. A bold flavor though still in keeping with its mild Latin hentage. Considered one of the world's great coffees.
Panama Boquete (bo-ket-ay) - When these coffees are at their best, they have a delightful nut-like flavor, pleasing bouquet, with well balanced body and acidity.
Nicaragua Matagalpa (mah-tah-gul-pah) - Top grade "Strictly High Grown" (SHG) beans that have a subdued flavor with fairly good body.
Jamaican High Mt Baronhall Estate - This coffee is shipped directly to us from the Baron Hall Estate. While not as rare as the Blue Mountain, it is nch, with a fine lingering aftertaste.
Jamaican Blue Mountain - This is the authentic coffee only grown in the Blue Mountains. One of the world's most highly regarded and expensive coffees, A noble flavor you can only find in this cup.
Africa:
Kenya AA - The "AA" tells that this is a top Kenyan pick. The coffee has the typical East African snap, spicmess, and "winy" brightness.
Ethiopian Sidamo (sid-ah-mow) - From the western side of Ethiopia. Exhibits a spicy wildness, fine flavor, and relatively good body.
Ethiopian Harrar (hah-rahr) - The Harrars will surpnse you with the amount of flavor they exhibit. Sometimes called "mocca" the cup has a strong "syrupy" flavor.
Ethiopian Yrgacheffe (yer-ga-shef) - From the Kaffa region, this coffee is grown at over 8,000 ft. and has a mellow body with an almost floral sweetness.
Zimbabwean AA - The "AA" says that it Is among the highest grades available. The taste falls somewhere between the intensity of the Kenyan and the mildness of a Tanzaman.
Tanzanlan Peaberry - While many think that the smaller peaberry bean produces a more intense flavor, all Tanzanian coffees exhibit a very flavorful and balanced cup. Zambia - A coffee that displays the typically Afncan wild and winy flavor this African bean produces a very balanced cup; fairly intense flavor with good body.
Asia:
Yemeni Mocha Mattari/Sunanl - One of the rarest of all coffees. A complete coffee with body and snap but with subtle overtones.
Indian Plantation AA - The best Indian coffees are low-key with moderate body and acidity.
Indonesia/Pacific:
Sumatran Mandheling (man-day-ling) - Mandhehng is a region of Sumatra that produces one of the heaviest-bodied coffees available. A full and robust flavor that blends well with other coffees.
Aged Sumatran Mandheling - Typically aged in warehouses for a few years, the process somewhat mellows the charactenstic flavor found in the original coffee but retains the rich, heavy body Sumatran is known for.
Java Estate - With slightly larger bean size and a deep, clean taste, this is a select pick of the best Javas.
Celebes Kalossi {sel-eh-bees ca-low-see) - Though this coffee shares some of the heavy body of otner Indonesian coffees, it has a bit more zest with a smoother flavor. It is a prized and rare coffee.
Papua New Guinea A - It may be a "sleeper" in terms of name recognition, but the lack of identity is more than made up for with its fine charactenstics. slightly sweet acidity, heavy body.
Hawaiian Kona Fancy - Smooth and flavorful, one of the most highly prized coffees in the world. The only U.S. Coffee, it comes from selected plots found only m the Kona district on the big island.
Colombian Excelso - Smooth, aromatic, and rich in flavor. Deserving of its popularity.
Colombian Supremo - More select grade than Excelso; bold flavor and aroma.
Brazilian Cerrado (ser-ah-doh) - From the world's largest coffee producing nation, the Cerrado region produces beans that are soft and pleasant in the cup.
Central America:
Mexican Pluma Altura (ploo-mah al-tur-ah) - A mild cup. with a delicate tang and pleasing bouquet
Guatemala SHB - Though not quite as highly regarded as the Antigua, the SHB indicates a high-grown coffee with great flavor. Good on its own or blended with another favorite.
Guatemala Antigua (an-tee-gwa) - The most popular of the Central Americans, Wonderful flavor good body, and balanced acidity,
Costa Rican Tarrazu (tar-ah-zoo) - Another popular Central American. A bold flavor though still in keeping with its mild Latin hentage. Considered one of the world's great coffees.
Panama Boquete (bo-ket-ay) - When these coffees are at their best, they have a delightful nut-like flavor, pleasing bouquet, with well balanced body and acidity.
Nicaragua Matagalpa (mah-tah-gul-pah) - Top grade "Strictly High Grown" (SHG) beans that have a subdued flavor with fairly good body.
Jamaican High Mt Baronhall Estate - This coffee is shipped directly to us from the Baron Hall Estate. While not as rare as the Blue Mountain, it is nch, with a fine lingering aftertaste.
Jamaican Blue Mountain - This is the authentic coffee only grown in the Blue Mountains. One of the world's most highly regarded and expensive coffees, A noble flavor you can only find in this cup.
Africa:
Kenya AA - The "AA" tells that this is a top Kenyan pick. The coffee has the typical East African snap, spicmess, and "winy" brightness.
Ethiopian Sidamo (sid-ah-mow) - From the western side of Ethiopia. Exhibits a spicy wildness, fine flavor, and relatively good body.
Ethiopian Harrar (hah-rahr) - The Harrars will surpnse you with the amount of flavor they exhibit. Sometimes called "mocca" the cup has a strong "syrupy" flavor.
Ethiopian Yrgacheffe (yer-ga-shef) - From the Kaffa region, this coffee is grown at over 8,000 ft. and has a mellow body with an almost floral sweetness.
Zimbabwean AA - The "AA" says that it Is among the highest grades available. The taste falls somewhere between the intensity of the Kenyan and the mildness of a Tanzaman.
Tanzanlan Peaberry - While many think that the smaller peaberry bean produces a more intense flavor, all Tanzanian coffees exhibit a very flavorful and balanced cup. Zambia - A coffee that displays the typically Afncan wild and winy flavor this African bean produces a very balanced cup; fairly intense flavor with good body.
Asia:
Yemeni Mocha Mattari/Sunanl - One of the rarest of all coffees. A complete coffee with body and snap but with subtle overtones.
Indian Plantation AA - The best Indian coffees are low-key with moderate body and acidity.
Indonesia/Pacific:
Sumatran Mandheling (man-day-ling) - Mandhehng is a region of Sumatra that produces one of the heaviest-bodied coffees available. A full and robust flavor that blends well with other coffees.
Aged Sumatran Mandheling - Typically aged in warehouses for a few years, the process somewhat mellows the charactenstic flavor found in the original coffee but retains the rich, heavy body Sumatran is known for.
Java Estate - With slightly larger bean size and a deep, clean taste, this is a select pick of the best Javas.
Celebes Kalossi {sel-eh-bees ca-low-see) - Though this coffee shares some of the heavy body of otner Indonesian coffees, it has a bit more zest with a smoother flavor. It is a prized and rare coffee.
Papua New Guinea A - It may be a "sleeper" in terms of name recognition, but the lack of identity is more than made up for with its fine charactenstics. slightly sweet acidity, heavy body.
Hawaiian Kona Fancy - Smooth and flavorful, one of the most highly prized coffees in the world. The only U.S. Coffee, it comes from selected plots found only m the Kona district on the big island.
Blends
Mocha Java - A blend of the two original coffees from the Red Sea area and the Dutch East Indies. Spicy, rich, and full-bodied.
House Blend - Latin and African coffees blended to produce all the body, aroma, and flavor necessary for a great cup.
House Blend Dark - Complementing varieties are blended with a darker roast coffee to produce a cup mat has a touch of the dark taste and more "oomph" than regular House Blend.
House Blend Full City Roast -" Full City Roast" takes a coffee from just showing oil to a slightly darker brown, with more oil. Gives this blend a darker, smoother taste.
Turkish Style Blend - A taste created by combining Colombian and Brazilian coffees with a portion of darker French roast for balance that is similar to an authentic Turkish brew. The term "Turkish" often refers to a Middle Eastern brewing method.
Chicory - Not a coffee at all. but a ground root that is often added to coffee. Popular in "New Orleans" style coffee blends.
Decaffeinated - European Process
Green coffees are shipped from the producing country to plants in Europe for caffeine removal. The beans are soaked in very hot water that extracts oils and minerals as well as caffeine. The beans are then removed from the water and a solvent is added to absorb just the caffeine. The beans reabsorb the oils and minerals so important to coffee flavor once resoaked m the caffeine-free water and dried. There is no chemical residue remaining when the coffee reaches the consumer.
The following European Processed decaffeinated coffee types are part of the extensive coffee list offered by Coffee Express. The European decafs listed below have very similar taste and roast properties as their regular counterparts.
Colombian - EP
Mocha Java - EP
House Blend - EP
Viennese Dark Roast - EP
French Dark Roast-EP
Decaffeinated - Swiss Water® Process
Swiss water is a patented decaffeination process that uses charcoal instead of methyline chloride to extract the caffeine. Our Swiss Water beans are processed at a plant in Vancouver, Canada, and are a good choice for customers uncomfortable with the chemicals used in the European Process. The coffees listed below have similar taste and roast properties as the regular coffees with the same names.
Colombian - SWP
Kenya - SWP
Sumatra - SWP
Mocha Java - SWP
Home Blend - SWP Viennese Roast - SWP
French Roast - SWP
Dark Roast (Dark roasting produces a more intense flavor - for both dnp and espresso brewing)
Viennese Roast - The lightest of the specially blended dark roasts provides a truly rich flavor yet has a mildness not expected in a dark roast.
French Roast - The most popular of the dark roasts. Strong, spicy, and smooth - makes a fine cup of espresso.
Porto-fino - French/Italian - A blend of South and Central Amencan coffees roasted at a temperature between the French and Italian roasts. It is the sweetest of the darks and the most intense.
Organic Coffees (Certified)
Organic coffees go through an intense certification process so that consumers are assured that all possible requirements have been met before they are shipped to the roaster. Each organic coffee comes with a certification stating that it has met those requirements (copy available upon request). As with the decafs, these coffees will have tastes similar to those of their uncertified counterparts from the same regions.
Guatemala SHB Peru Sumatra New Guinea Timor
House Blend Fresh Roasl
Decaffeinated Organic (Certified)
Processed using the patented Swiss Water Process, complete with Organic certification. The tastes found in the regular decaffeinated coffees from those regions are maintained in the selection list below.
Decaf Mexican
Decaf Peru
Decaf Sumatran
Decaf. French Roast
House Blend - Latin and African coffees blended to produce all the body, aroma, and flavor necessary for a great cup.
House Blend Dark - Complementing varieties are blended with a darker roast coffee to produce a cup mat has a touch of the dark taste and more "oomph" than regular House Blend.
House Blend Full City Roast -" Full City Roast" takes a coffee from just showing oil to a slightly darker brown, with more oil. Gives this blend a darker, smoother taste.
Turkish Style Blend - A taste created by combining Colombian and Brazilian coffees with a portion of darker French roast for balance that is similar to an authentic Turkish brew. The term "Turkish" often refers to a Middle Eastern brewing method.
Chicory - Not a coffee at all. but a ground root that is often added to coffee. Popular in "New Orleans" style coffee blends.
Decaffeinated - European Process
Green coffees are shipped from the producing country to plants in Europe for caffeine removal. The beans are soaked in very hot water that extracts oils and minerals as well as caffeine. The beans are then removed from the water and a solvent is added to absorb just the caffeine. The beans reabsorb the oils and minerals so important to coffee flavor once resoaked m the caffeine-free water and dried. There is no chemical residue remaining when the coffee reaches the consumer.
The following European Processed decaffeinated coffee types are part of the extensive coffee list offered by Coffee Express. The European decafs listed below have very similar taste and roast properties as their regular counterparts.
Colombian - EP
Mocha Java - EP
House Blend - EP
Viennese Dark Roast - EP
French Dark Roast-EP
Decaffeinated - Swiss Water® Process
Swiss water is a patented decaffeination process that uses charcoal instead of methyline chloride to extract the caffeine. Our Swiss Water beans are processed at a plant in Vancouver, Canada, and are a good choice for customers uncomfortable with the chemicals used in the European Process. The coffees listed below have similar taste and roast properties as the regular coffees with the same names.
Colombian - SWP
Kenya - SWP
Sumatra - SWP
Mocha Java - SWP
Home Blend - SWP Viennese Roast - SWP
French Roast - SWP
Dark Roast (Dark roasting produces a more intense flavor - for both dnp and espresso brewing)
Viennese Roast - The lightest of the specially blended dark roasts provides a truly rich flavor yet has a mildness not expected in a dark roast.
French Roast - The most popular of the dark roasts. Strong, spicy, and smooth - makes a fine cup of espresso.
Porto-fino - French/Italian - A blend of South and Central Amencan coffees roasted at a temperature between the French and Italian roasts. It is the sweetest of the darks and the most intense.
Organic Coffees (Certified)
Organic coffees go through an intense certification process so that consumers are assured that all possible requirements have been met before they are shipped to the roaster. Each organic coffee comes with a certification stating that it has met those requirements (copy available upon request). As with the decafs, these coffees will have tastes similar to those of their uncertified counterparts from the same regions.
Guatemala SHB Peru Sumatra New Guinea Timor
House Blend Fresh Roasl
Decaffeinated Organic (Certified)
Processed using the patented Swiss Water Process, complete with Organic certification. The tastes found in the regular decaffeinated coffees from those regions are maintained in the selection list below.
Decaf Mexican
Decaf Peru
Decaf Sumatran
Decaf. French Roast
The Roasting Process
The roasting process causes a complex series of chemical changes.
Over a period of roughly 18 to 20 minutes, the green coffee loses moisture, turns yellow, and "pops" open, much like popcorn.
As it does so, the bean nearly doubles in size, and begins to assume the very light tan color of lightly-roasted coffee. Once this stage is achieved (about 8 minutes into the roast), the heat source is turned down, and the coffee rapidly darkens in color
Once the desired degree of roast for a given coffee has been achieved, the process is stopped using either a brief spray of water followed by air cooling, or air alone.
Over a period of roughly 18 to 20 minutes, the green coffee loses moisture, turns yellow, and "pops" open, much like popcorn.
As it does so, the bean nearly doubles in size, and begins to assume the very light tan color of lightly-roasted coffee. Once this stage is achieved (about 8 minutes into the roast), the heat source is turned down, and the coffee rapidly darkens in color
Once the desired degree of roast for a given coffee has been achieved, the process is stopped using either a brief spray of water followed by air cooling, or air alone.
Degrees of Roast
Light: Lightly-roasted coffees (roughly the color of cinnamon] tend to have intense aromas, with crisp, lively acidity as the dominant flavor note and relatively light body.
Medium: Medium-roasted beans (roughly light-brown in color) typically are full in body while still maintaining most of their acidity.
Dark: Dark roasts (dark brown in color with slight traces of oil on the surface) replace acidity with a slight roasty bitterness that creates a more pungent flavor
Very Dark: Very dark roasts (dark brown to black in color with oily bean surfaces) have a pronounced carbony bitterness as their pnmary flavor with a noticeable decrease m body.
Medium: Medium-roasted beans (roughly light-brown in color) typically are full in body while still maintaining most of their acidity.
Dark: Dark roasts (dark brown in color with slight traces of oil on the surface) replace acidity with a slight roasty bitterness that creates a more pungent flavor
Very Dark: Very dark roasts (dark brown to black in color with oily bean surfaces) have a pronounced carbony bitterness as their pnmary flavor with a noticeable decrease m body.
Glossary of Coffee Terms
Acidity: A gentle pucker found in the body ot a good cup of coffee or espresso, A moderate amount of acidity adds balance to the flavor of coffee.
Arabica: Original speaes of the coffee plant found growing wild in Ethiopia and Africa, Due to their intense aromatic flavors these high quality beans are used exclusively by specialty roasters.
Balance: Just the right flavor aroma, and body extracted from the beans.
Body: The strength and substance of the coffee extraction.
Estate Coffees: Coffees grown by a single owner or company.
Green Coffees: The unroasted seeds of the coffee cherry after they have been processed.
Nutty: Nuttiness is a flavor perceived in freshly roasted coffee; It Is more pronounced in some coffees than in others.
Peaberry: A small, round, single bean rather than the two larger ovals found In a coffee cherry. Some say the peaberry Is superior to flat bean vaneties.
Sourness: A flavor that sometimes comes out if the coffees are picked before ripening. It can also mean a taste sensation found in some strongly acidic coffees.
Specialty Coffees: High quality varietal Arabica beans that have been freshly roasted In small batches.
Varietal Coffees: Unblended, straight coffees from a specific country or region.
Arabica: Original speaes of the coffee plant found growing wild in Ethiopia and Africa, Due to their intense aromatic flavors these high quality beans are used exclusively by specialty roasters.
Balance: Just the right flavor aroma, and body extracted from the beans.
Body: The strength and substance of the coffee extraction.
Estate Coffees: Coffees grown by a single owner or company.
Green Coffees: The unroasted seeds of the coffee cherry after they have been processed.
Nutty: Nuttiness is a flavor perceived in freshly roasted coffee; It Is more pronounced in some coffees than in others.
Peaberry: A small, round, single bean rather than the two larger ovals found In a coffee cherry. Some say the peaberry Is superior to flat bean vaneties.
Sourness: A flavor that sometimes comes out if the coffees are picked before ripening. It can also mean a taste sensation found in some strongly acidic coffees.
Specialty Coffees: High quality varietal Arabica beans that have been freshly roasted In small batches.
Varietal Coffees: Unblended, straight coffees from a specific country or region.
Health News
Tea linked to lower ovarian caner risk
Drinking more than two cups of tea daily can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by half, according to results from a large Swedish study.
“We observed a 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer in women who drank two or more cups of tea per day compared with non-drinkers,” reported Susanna Larsson and Alicja Wolk in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Both green and black tea contain significant amounts of antioxidant polyphenols, which have been shown to stop carcinogenesis in laboratory-based cell studies. Numerous case-control studies have linked drinking tea to decreased risk of breast, prostate and other forms of cancer.
The 15-year study from Sweden followed 61,057 women. Volunteers completed a 67-item food frequency questionnaire between 1987 and 1990 as part of the enrolment for the Swedish Mammography Cohort, and followed for cancer incidence until December 2004. At baseline, 68 per cent of the women reported drinking tea (mainly black tea) more than once a month.
Only 301 women were diagnosed as having invasive epithelial ovarian cancer.
The researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm said: “Tea consumption was inversely associated with the risk of ovarian cancer. Each additional cup of tea per day was associated with an 18 per cent lower risk of ovarian cancer.”
Editor’s Insight: This marks the second report in two weeks about research indicating health benefits from tea. This site reported on 12-06-05 that drinking more than two cups of coffee or tea daily appears to reduce the risk of chronic liver disease by half.
“We observed a 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer in women who drank two or more cups of tea per day compared with non-drinkers,” reported Susanna Larsson and Alicja Wolk in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Both green and black tea contain significant amounts of antioxidant polyphenols, which have been shown to stop carcinogenesis in laboratory-based cell studies. Numerous case-control studies have linked drinking tea to decreased risk of breast, prostate and other forms of cancer.
The 15-year study from Sweden followed 61,057 women. Volunteers completed a 67-item food frequency questionnaire between 1987 and 1990 as part of the enrolment for the Swedish Mammography Cohort, and followed for cancer incidence until December 2004. At baseline, 68 per cent of the women reported drinking tea (mainly black tea) more than once a month.
Only 301 women were diagnosed as having invasive epithelial ovarian cancer.
The researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm said: “Tea consumption was inversely associated with the risk of ovarian cancer. Each additional cup of tea per day was associated with an 18 per cent lower risk of ovarian cancer.”
Editor’s Insight: This marks the second report in two weeks about research indicating health benefits from tea. This site reported on 12-06-05 that drinking more than two cups of coffee or tea daily appears to reduce the risk of chronic liver disease by half.
Coffee service operators who have marketed tea, have witnessed great success with it recently
Tea sales have skyrocketed in the U.S. in the last decade, according to The Tea Council of the U.S.A. Much of the popularity has been credited to perceived health benefits.