The Very Best Bean

There are several species of coffee beans, but only two are commercially grown, robusta and arabica. The plentiful robusta are normally grown at lower altitudes, primarily in Africa. Arabica are grown at higher altitudes resulting in a better quality of beans, but also slower growth and smaller yield. Most arabica come from South and Central America. They are also grown in Africa, Yemen, India, Indonesia, New Guinea, and Hawaii. A coffee tree is capable of growing to 30 feet in height, but is usually pruned and maintained at from 4 to 6 feet to facilitate harvesting and improve the quality of beans. The trees produce white flowers with a delicate scent reminiscent of orange blossom or Jasmine and subsequently berries, which during ripening turn a deep red. Each berry has a sweet pulp around two beans or seeds. A tough husk called parchment and, underneath that, an inner "silver-skin", to protect the beans.

PROCESSING AND GRADING

Berries do not ripen uniformly, and for quality coffee they must therefore be picked at several stages. Once picked, they can be prepared either by the "dry" method (also called "natural") or the "wet" method (producing "washed" coffee). The former, more primitive method involves drying the berries in the sun and subsequently crushing them to release the beans. The second method is mechanical, first stripping away the pulp and then soaking and breaking down the husk or parchment by fermentation. The beans are then gently released and washed and dried. Grading differs from country to country, but the four main criteria are:

• The size of the bean
• What altitude it was grown
• How it was picked and prepared
• Its taste or "cup quality".

CoffeeSociety.com SELECTS ONLY THE BEST

At CoffeeSociety.com we use the highest grade of Arabica beans that exist. We focus on bean selection, roasting, and cupping our product to insure that it reaches the highest possible pinnacle of consistent quality. The "cup quality" of coffee is greatly dependent on numerous factors but we must start with a bean that has its origin from a grower and a plantation that meets or exceeds our stringent requirements.

Coffees from the same country may have similar characteristics, but you will find that the flavor of coffees within a country will vary greatly. The best way to understand what this means is to "cup" our coffees. Experiment and try them without milk first and then with milk and decide for yourself the best ways to describe them. Taste is strictly subjective.