Depending on your taste, you may prefer a strong cup of coffee or a less robust brew. Because each of these options has its unique characteristics, we’ve put together this article to give you a general sense of the different roasts, blends, and varieties of premium coffee.
We’ll begin with an overview of the types of coffee and then go into further detail about each one of them. From there, you can explore our list of the best roasts, blends, and varieties of premium coffee to see which option is right for you.
Coffee Types And Varieties
Coffee is a flowering plant that grows in Africa, Asia, and South America. While coffee beans are normally grown in these regions, they can also be found in other parts of the world. It is typically a dark, richly textured plant with pretty flowers and widely spaced, often red, green, or orange berries.
The coffee plant is closely related to the rose, carnation, and jasmine plants. A coffee tree can live for 100 years or more and produce an average of 40 coffee beans per year. The coffee plants are grown in flat, open fields that are rich in soil and fertilized with manure, cornstalks, woodchips, and other fertilizers.
The coffee bean is a single-seeded pod that contains between four and six coffee seeds. The seeds have been selected for high yields and acidic flavor. When the coffee bean is roasted, it produces three to five acids, including hydrochloric, sulfuric, and acetic acid.
These acids are responsible for the sour taste in premium coffee. The amount of acid in coffee is directly related to the quality of the coffee. Coffee beans are usually roasted in a semi-open, ventilated kitchen Far Eastern-style hearth that holds about one hundred pounds of firewood or charcoal.
The temperature of the fire is hot enough to scorch the outside of the beans, but not so hot that the inside is burned. A coffee shop that specializes in single-origin coffee often has a dedicated coffee roaster on site.
Depending on the type of coffee, the roaster will either roast the beans in a whole- or part-bag process, or the beans will be ground and then bagged. The flavor profile of single-origin coffee is often bolder and more intense than blends or roasts, due to the additional acidity from the beans.
Style Of Coffee And Barista
There are many different styles of coffee, and each style has its preferences when it comes to which coffee beans to use, when and how they should be roasted, and even how the coffee should be served. You’re likely familiar with air-tasting coffee, in which caffeine is released into the air as you sip your drink.
This style of coffee is usually made with vibrant, acidic beans with high levels of caffeine. On the other hand, pour-over coffee is brewed by directing the coffee grounds toward the mouthpiece of the coffee makers. This style of coffee is often more nuanced, with subtle acidity and a sweetened finish from the coffee concentrate.
