Coffee Beans Guide for Beginners

There are a load of things that are connected to making a cup of coffee or an espresso shot. Just like me, beginners (i.e someone who is not familiar with how a cup of coffee is made) may genuinely and ignorantly mess it up. Especially, when it comes to selecting coffee beans.

How to Identify a Good Coffee Beans: Beginner's guide to coffee

Since making or brewing the best coffee is subjected to many factors, it is safe to say the reason why good coffee seems like a dream to people differ from one person to another. It could be accessibility, pocket-size or just being in a hurry

Therefore, there is a need to provide an accessible guide for beginners in selecting and using their coffee right before using any brewing methods. Below is a beginner's guide to identifying good coffee beans.

1. Origin of the coffee bean

When you see headlines like this- 'Origin of Coffee', you are more likely to think it entirely speaks about the history of coffee or how coffee itself was discovered. This is not entirely wrong and not entirely true also.

For Baristas, coffee origins speak about the whole characteristics of coffee beans. This is because where the coffee beans are planted, harvested and stored will generally influence the aroma, taste and overall quality of the coffee after it is brewed.

More importantly, it is important to know that there are two types of coffee beans; Arabica coffee beans and Robusta beans. The various flavours, taste, intensity, acidity of coffee after it is brewed is determined by how it is brewed and the location of the Coffee beans.

For example, Regions of the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica have Coffee beans with unique flavours and often require light roast or medium roast.

Coffee from Africa and the Arabians on the other hand have high acidity, strong syrup aroma and often needs dark roasts. Any coffee brewed from this region is best enjoyed with milk or cheese tarts.

Therefore, there is a need for you to properly understand the origin of coffee beans and how best they would be enjoyed when brewed.

2. Which is Better: Robusta vs Arabica

The two species of coffee beans: Robusta and Arabica, both have different tales. Every stage that either of the beans goes through is different from planting to storage.

Arabica coffee beans are more stylish and are grown on higher altitudes. They carry more elegance rather than intensity. The beans are deep-greenish in color and are slightly larger in size. While Robusta on the other hand , are pale- green in color with a brown shot.

Arabica coffee beans also have more chromosomes than Robusta beans.

It is also safe to say that, Arabica coffee beans carry more aroma, milder flavor and are generally less bitter than Robusta. Robusta in all of its glory is harder, more intense, carry more flavour, is more bitter and generally a stronger coffee bean.

Since Robusta is most about the function rather than flamboyance, many baristas and home coffee brewers purchase them for blending. That is, the blending of the two types of coffee.

3. Type of Roast of the Coffee Beans

The Roast of a coffee bean is simply how long the coffee bean spends in the roaster or oven while under high temperature.

The fastest way to predict the flavor of coffee beans is through the roast of the beans. Together with the beans origin, the type of roast of coffee beans can largely influence the flavor, taste, acidity and aroma of the coffee after it is brewed.

It is good to know that the degree of roast doesn't necessarily equates quality coffee. However, when a coffee is roasted properly(not necessarily roasted long), it impacts the overall characteristics of the coffee

The roast of coffee beans is determined by individual preference caused by varying outcome of the Coffee after it's brewed.

Light Roast

A light roast coffee is usually low in acidity and has a little less intense flavour than other degree of roast. Light roasts are usually light brown in color.

Medium Roast

Coffee with medium roasts are roasted in medium time in the oven or roaster. The coffee beans comes out medium brown and have an average/medium acidity.

Dark Roast

Dark roast Coffee basically spends much longer in the roaster and they are the most demanded coffee type. Black coffee (because it is roasted darker than others) have high acidity than other types of roast.

4. The Brew

Brewing a cup of coffee is so simple that even the simplicity is complex. Forgive my paradox! The truth is every little detail in coffee brewing needs to be paid attention too. So assuming you know it well can cause some occasionally or regular mistakes.

Brewing a cup of coffee is not rocket science, however there are some things you need to pay attention to.

First, the way you brew a cup of coffee will surely determine the taste. In as much as every step from planting to storage has gone well. Extra care needs to be taken in the brewing process.

After selecting the right roast and beans, selecting the right water quality and temperature, usually between 108° and 205°, matters. Needless to say that, the hardness of water can speak volume on how your cup of coffee will turn out

Conclusion: A cup of Coffee

Any cup of coffee that is enjoyed is a product of memorable hardwork, good equipment and considerable skills. Trying to learn from the scratch is no big deal: You can be a pro in no time.