Our Descriptors
Process
Altitude
Beans
Region
Brew Method
Process:
There are three different processes the coffee can go through after it has been picked. Wet (washed), Dry, and Semi-Dry.
The wet process contains sorting the ripe and unripe fruit by submerging them in water. The pulp is then removed from the fruit by pressing it through a submerged machine. The coffee is then dried in the sun, until at about 12-13% moisture, and brought down to 10% by machine. This process produces clean, bright, fruitier coffee with little body.
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The semi-dry process is also called "wet-hulled", "semi-washed", "pulped natural" or, in Indonesia, "Giling Basah". In this process, pulping machines remove the pulp from the bean, the beans are stored for a day, washed, and then dried in the sun until they contain 10-12% moisture content. This process is a median between the two processes and produces coffee that is sweet, and rich, with a medium body.
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The dry process involves sorting the beans by winnowing with a large sieve. They are then laid out in the sun to be turned and raked for up to four weeks, after which time they are taken to the mill to be hulled, sorted and bagged. This coffee produces funky coffee that is a wide variety of flavours and tastes. It can create fruity, sweet, thick complex coffee that is rich with a big body.
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Altitude:
The altitude that coffee is grown at affects the taste of the coffee:
Beans:
Arabica:
- 60% of coffee bean production.
- Grown at high altitudes.
- Easily influenced by environment.
- Prone to disease
- Produce beans with a bright body
- Produce beans with multi-layered intricacy of flavours and aromas.
- Best served hot - drip or pour over technique.
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Robusta:
- Tolerant of environment
- Immune to disease
- Requires hot environment with irregular rainfall
- Produce beans with bitter notes and heavier body
- Produce beans with low acidity
- Produce beans with smooth texture
- Produce beans with chocolate hints in the flavour profile
- Susceptible to poor growing practices, need to look at the way it was grown.
Good for iced, or vietnamese coffee - great with milk or cream as it doesn't lose flavour.
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Liberica:
- Larger beans
- irregular shape, asymmetrical
- unique floral or fruity aromas and tastes
- full body
- smoky taste
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Region:
Variation throughout the regions are down to many factors. Some of these are climate, altitude, and the different ways the beans are processed in different countries.
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Brazil:
Brazil are a huge producer of coffee. Their output of tastes are varied. With their heavy body, Brazilian coffee lend themselves more to espresso. You will find chocolate, spice and nutty flavours in beans from Brazil. Chocolate and some spice can be found, and the flavour will linger in the mouth longer.
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Kenya:
Kenyan beans are big, bold and juicy, and have either savoury or sweet characteristics, in the form of tomato acidity or black currant tartness. Many Kenyan coffees can be "tropical tasting" and are a favourite among coffee professionals.
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Central America:
When we talk about Central America, we are thinking about places like Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Central america often produces coffee that is bright and clean. They produce traces of fruit and nuts, which often lend themselves to cocoa and spice flavours. Varying amounts of acidity can be found in the beans, balanced with smooth, sugar browning sweetness, chocolate, or buttery.
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South America:
When we think about South American coffee we are looking mainly at Colombia. Colombian coffee represents for many the "classic" cup of coffee. Their coffee beans allow for mellow acidity, a clean cup, and often represent nuts, chocolate and caramel tones. Coffee will have a nutty undertone, be sweet and medium bodied.
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Ethiopia:
Coffee out of Ethiopia often have a floral, tea like consistency. They could also be heavy, and wine like depending on the way they have been processed. There can be some lemongrass or jasmine characteristics, or syrupy, strong, berry flavours. Some of the berry flavours can be represented as blueberry or strawberry and coffee is usually lighter and drier on the palate than some others.
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Indonesia:
Indonesia delivers, dark almost earthy coffee tones. Many notes could be akin to unsweetened, or dark cocoa. Some coffee may have a stouty, or mushroomy like consistency and take to dark roasting incredibly well.
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Brew Method:
French Press (Plunger):
Invented in 1929, this is probably the widest used variant of coffee brewing. In a french press, the coffee is steeped in water first, and then filtered out of the coffee by pressing the plunger down through the water.
Grind of coffee: Course
Recipe: 1g:14-17g Coffee:Water
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Aeropress:
Similar to a french press, the aeropress steeps coffee in water, but then uses air pressure to push coffee through a filter and into a cup. Developed in 2005, it is a relatively new invention.
Grind of Coffee: Fine - Medium
Recipe: 1g:15g Coffee:Water
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Moka Pot (Stovetop Espresso)
This Italian invention uses pressure from heated water to pass through a layer of coffee. This can be underrated as it is easy to make bitter coffee.
Grind of coffee: Medium
Recipe: 1g:14g Coffee:Water
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Pour-Over/Drip, Chemex:
If you're looking for a flash way to make coffee that will impress your friends, look no further than the Chemex. This is a pour over technique, so uses a filter to pour water over ground coffee.
Grind of Coffee: Medium
Recipe: 1:17/18g Coffee:Water