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Gourmet coffee beans are often very misunderstood
by coffee drinkers. Usually, gourmet coffee is simply sealed
up in a prepackaged box or bag and the customer has no idea
where it came from. On order to be more savvy about your gourmet
beans, here is some important information to help you select
the best gourmet house on the market today.
The coffee plant has two main species. There is the Coffee
Arabica and the Coffea Canephora which is known more commonly
as Robusta. A suppler of Robusta knows that it can be grown
in climates and environments were Arabica cannot. Robusta
brew is also more bitter and acidic than many coffees. Because
of this, Robusta also tends to be cheaper than most gourmet
n.
Growing conditions, soil types and weather patterns contribute
to the flavor of the coffee. These things are essential in
creating the gourmets differences in flavor from points of
origin, such as Kenya or Brazil or Costa Rica. However, roasting
adds its own flavor. This can even happen to the point that
it is difficult to tell where the beans originated from.
The lighter the roast the more natural flavor remains. This
is why beans from regions such as Kenya or Java are normally
roasted lightly. They retain their regional characteristics
and the typical flavors that they have. There is a method
of roasting in Malaysia which adds butter to the beans. This
happens during the roasting period and is known to produce
a variety of coffee known as Ipoh White Coffee similar to
Kona.
Fry pan roasting became very popular in the 19th century.
Beans were normally shipped and purchased in their original
green state. You put the green coffee beans in a frying pan
and then roasted them in the kitchen. This process took a
great deal of skill. Fry pan roasting became much less popular
once vacuum sealing became popular.
Today, home roasting is becoming popular again with the
creation of modern drum roasters. People have found methods
of roasting beans using their hot air pop corn makers. What
will they think of next!
Coffee beans have come a long way in the past decade as
coffee shops and specialty coffees have changed the market
entirely. By knowing as much as you can about your speciality
coffee beans, you will be sure to always get a great cup of
gourmet flavored
coffee.
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