Growing/Roasting/Blending/Tasting Premium Gourmet Coffee Beans 
Growing
Coffee is the seed of a cherry from a tree, which grows anywhere from sea level
to approximately 6,000 feet, in more than 100 coffee-growing regions around
the world. Each region produces coffee beans with distinctive
characteristics.
Coffee cherries ripen at different times, so they are predominantly
picked by hand. It takes approximately 2,000 Arabica cherries to
produce just one pound of roasted coffee. Since each cherry contains
two beans, one pound of coffee is derived from 4,000 coffee beans.
The average coffee tree only produces one to two pounds of roasted
coffee per year, and takes four to five years to produce its first
crop. These
trees can continue to produce maximum crops for 25 years.
Once picked, the coffee cherries must be processed, or stripped
of their protective coating, before they can be shipped to the
roaster. There are three methods of processing; the dry method
(naturally processed) where beans are dried on terraces, then hulled,
the wet method (washed), where beans are soaked in fermentation
tanks, then stripped, and the semi-washed method which is a combination
of the dry and the wet method. Each method produces different nuances in flavor.
Javámo beans are processed by all of these methods, which is dependent upon the
country and growers from whom we purchase our coffee. No matter how they are
processed, our beans are of the highest quality available in their particular
region.
Roasting
There are two types of coffee roasters:
air-bed and drum. An air- bed roaster works like a popcorn popper,
using hot air to roast the beans. A drum roaster uses a rotating
steel drum heated either by gas burners or by ceramic plates heated
by gas burners. At Javámo
Coffees, we roast coffee beans in the traditional way – by
hand and in small batches. We use the drum method which
is simply adding heat and air to the rotating drum over time. The
amount of heat and air and the point at which they are added can
alter the taste of the coffee significantly. While a computerized
machine can be programmed to do this, our artisan roaster does
it by hand and uses the smell and appearance of beans to tell when
the beans have reached “perfection”
Blending
Coffees from different origins are blended in different proportions
for several reasons. One goal is to make a coffee that is higher
in cup quality than any of the ingredients individually. The
essential aim of the blending is to balance the flavors so as
to make a cup with varying acidity and different taste characteristics. Some
blends contain up to 5-7 different types of coffee beans. Another
reason might be to create a proprietary or signature blend that
leads consumers to equate a particular coffee flavor profile
with a particular brand image. Coffees are also blended
to attain consistency from crop year to crop year. This is often
done by major brands who do not want to be dependent on any specific
origin flavor, either due to concerns around availability or
in order that they might obtain coffee from less expensive sources.
After saying all of this, we believe that high quality Arabica
coffee should be able to stand alone; it should have a good clean
flavor, good aromatics, body and aftertaste. Even though
we blend some of our coffees, we focus primarily on buying high
quality coffee beans that can stand on their own!
Tasting
Coffee Tasting is also known as "coffee cupping" and
is simply a process of comparing and contrasting different coffees. Tasting
only one coffee at a time will not help you discern the different
characteristics afforded in different varietals and blends. But
if you taste two or three coffees, you can compare them not only
in terms of personal preference, but also in terms of aroma, acidity,
and flavor.
Tasting Tip: Always taste lighter bodied
coffees first and work up to fuller bodied coffees.
Aroma is the first hint of how
your coffee will taste. In fact, most of your sense of taste actually
comes from your sense of smell - which is why coffee can taste
so satisfying and complex.
Acidity, in tasting terms, doesn't
mean sour or bitter; it's a lively, tangy, palate-cleansing property,
ranging from low to high. Think of the variation from tap water
to sparkling water, and you'll get the idea.
Body is the weight or thickness
of the beverage on your tongue, its viscosity or heaviness. Body ranges from light to full. The
best way to describe it is the comparison of how whole milk feels in your mouth
compared to water. If you are unsure as to the level of body in the different
coffees, add an equal amount of milk to each one and the one with the heavier
body will retain more of its flavor when diluted.
Flavor is the perception of the
three characteristics above (aroma, acidity, and body) that creates
an overall impression. Flavor can be rich (full bodied), complex
(multi-flavored), or balanced (no one characteristic overpowers
the other).
