Blend
A coffee bean travels a long way before it reaches our cup. Everything starts when the ripe, dark red coffee fruits, called cherries, are harvested. They are immediately processed by either the dry or wet method, then the coffee beans are ready for roasting.
There are many kinds of coffee beans, from various countries, which give different aromas to the coffee in our cup. However, there are two main varieties which account for about 99% of world production:
Robusta’s higher caffeine content (2-4.5%) gives
more body to the flavour of your espresso. This variety was
discovered in Congo in 1898 and now accounts for about 25% of
world production. Its cherries are generally smaller than those
of the Arabica plant; it has round seeds with an almost straight
central groove. Robusta beans produce a coffee of poor quality,
without much aroma, very strong (bitter and woody), but with
more body and a higher caffeine content than Arabica. Robusta
grows mainly in Indonesia, West Africa and Asia.
Arabica has a richer aroma and less caffeine
(1.1%-1.7%). Arabica beans produce subtle aromas, their elegance
and prestige derive from their fine body with a vigorous, aroma-rich
flavour and pleasant acidity. These sensory characteristics
may vary according to the region where the plant was grown and
how the coffee was made (the flavour may display varying degrees
of spiciness, acidity or a chocolate taste).
A blend may include other varieties, or be a mixture of varying
percentages of Arabica and Robusta which gives prominence to
the special characteristics of one or the other.
Lastly, there is increasing demand for decaffeinated coffee,
which undergoes a special decaffeination process to remove most
of the caffeine in the beans. A content of 0.1% caffeine is
the legal limit for decaffeinated coffee.
