Text/Ayao Photo/Aphine
Coffee literacy has a long way to go, so that more people know about coffee.
The main contents of this article:
(1) Detailed explanation of the variety of coffee;
(2) How to grade coffee beans;
The word "coffee" is derived from the Greek "kaweh", is the meaning of "strength and enthusiasm", coffee tree is an evergreen shrub belonging to the madder family, there are about 40 kinds of plants in the coffee genus, but the coffee beans that can be used for human drinking or commercial use in the food industry are only Arabica species, Robusta species and Liberian species, of which Liberian species are poor in flavor and intolerant of leaf rust, so basically rarely circulate in the market, we mainly introduce Arabica species and Robusta coffee for beginners.
The arabica species originated in Ethiopia, which is known as the cradle of humans and coffee, and the mythical Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve stole forbidden fruit, is believed to be surrounded by several major coffee-producing regions in Ethiopia. Initially found to have a good refreshing effect and was eaten as a medicine, it was later used by Muslims to heal the body and mind and the secret medicine of evening prayer to refresh the gods from Arabia to the world, becoming a widely loved drink around the world.
The Arabica seed accounts for about 70% of the global production of coffee beans, and it has excellent aroma and flavor, which makes it the only coffee variety in the native species that can be drunk directly. However, the Arabica species has higher requirements for the environment and planting, and is not tolerant of drought, frost, pests and diseases, especially leaf rust (the plague of coffee) will cause a large area of coffee plantation harvest, Sri Lanka was once a world-famous coffee producing area, at the end of the 19th century, because of the ravages of leaf rust caused the destruction of coffee estates nationwide, and then Sri Lanka switched to black tea.
The main production areas of Arabica species are Central America, South America, Africa (mainly in East African countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya), Asia (mainly in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam), and Hawaii in the United States. Arabica-grown coffee trees are suitable for colder high altitudes in the tropics. I especially like to grow on steep slopes, especially the terrain with large temperature difference between day and night, suitable sunshine and shade, and easy morning fog can produce high-quality Arabica beans. With enough moisture and moisture, fertile volcanic soil rich in organic matter is the perfect coffee growing environment. The main producers of coffee are mainly concentrated in tropical countries between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Cancer, where the quality of coffee north of the equator will be better than that of the south of the equator.
Arabica coffee beans are not easy to mechanize because they are planted on steep slopes, mainly rely on manual picking, and transportation is not convenient, so the price of Arabica beans is significantly higher than that of Robusta beans.
Arabica beans belong to small granular bean species, flat and oval shape, strong aroma, rich and delicate, pleasant sour taste, smooth texture, less bitter taste.
Arabica species originated from Ethiopia, spread throughout the country, and after repeated mutations and hybridizations, derived a large number of coffee varieties, some have been improved in quality and flavor, some in the ability to adapt to the environment, resistance to diseases and insects and yields have been improved, and now has developed dozens of varieties, mainly: Bourbon, Tin Pickup, Kadura, Kaduai, Pacamara, Kadimo, Marago gippe, Mondonovo, Kent, Amareo, Variant Colombia and other varieties.
Robusta willingness refers to "tenacious and robust", and the Robusta species is a leaf rust-tolerant variety found in the Congo in Africa, which has stronger resistance to disease and insects to carry drought and cold than The Arabica species. Robusta species grow in high-temperature, multi-wetland zones and are widely cultivated in lowlands and plains below 1,000 m above sea level. Robusta beans have a unique "peculiar aroma" and bitter taste, people who like it will think it is a very charming aroma, people who don't like it will think it is a musty smell, a cup of coffee made of arabica and Robusta coffee beans, as long as the proportion of Robusta beans is more than 3%, then the whole cup of coffee is Robusta taste, its style is so distinct and strong that almost no one drinks 100% Robusta bean coffee. Robusta beans are mainly used in the formulation of blended beans when used directly, and roosto beans are more used for instant coffee, filling coffee beverages, food industry raw materials, etc. The caffeine content of Robusta beans is about 2-3 times that of Arabica, which is much higher than 1.5% of Arabica species.
The cultivation environment of Robusta bean is mainly lowland and plain below 1000 meters above sea level, with fast growth rate, strong resistance to diseases and insects, and can also be cultivated on relatively poor land, so the aroma and taste are far inferior to Arabica species. The main producers of Robusta beans are Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil.
Because of its large yield, Robusta beans can be planted in lowlands and plains and can be picked mechanically, which has a great advantage in price over Arabica beans, so there is a large amount of commercial beans. Because Robusta beans are rich in oil, the hometown of espresso - Italy, the use of Robusta beans is quite high, and some Italian bean manufacturers or stores can use Robusta beans to blend the proportion of between 30-60%. One thing to remind is that not all Arabica beans are good beans, not all Robusta beans are bad, and in recent years, Uganda, the hometown of Robusta beans, has also cultivated high-quality Robusta beans.
The flavor of Robusta beans is more mediocre and pungent, the sour taste is less pronounced, and the bitterness is heavier. Unbaked luo beans smell like raw peanuts and rice, the taste after roasting is close to the taste of wheat tea, and the deep roasting has a rubber flavor (also known as burning tire flavor), so it is used for instant or filling coffee drinks, generally add flavor, otherwise the average person is not blessed to consume.
Coffee is the world's second largest commodity in addition to crude oil, the main coffee producing countries are mostly poor countries, coffee as an important cash crop is an important national export foreign exchange resources, but also the most important economic source for farmers in coffee-producing areas, so high-grade beans are all used for export earnings, can not meet the export standards to keep their own use. The Ethiopian government, a world-famous coffee producing area, has used administrative means to restrict domestic coffee consumption in order to increase foreign exchange sales, and control measures even include controlling circulation and sales channels, and farmers only have to keep the poor beans that cannot be sold for themselves to drink. (Ah Dai has also drunk one dollar a cup of this kind of coffee in Indonesia, and indeed he is sorry for himself without adding sugar)
The hotel buffet has unlimited coffee, the free coffee provided for breakfast, basically use this level of beans, don't complain that the hotel's free coffee is difficult to drink, because it is free, so the hotel must save costs. However, there are also many cafes that use this kind of bitter, astringent and smelly beans, which is really unreasonable, and the conscience of the industry is not wanted. I once drank this kind of dregs that I couldn't help but spit out after a sip of a drink in a café in Xiamen, but I couldn't swallow it, and it was countless times more difficult to drink than instant. There is also the kind of café that is known as the largest in X Continent, and it is almost a bean of this grade.
That is, the coffee industry often said "commodity beans", like Starbucks, Mai Coffee and most commercial cafes, are using this grade of beans, in the coffee market are bulk procurement, a large number of circulation, sales account for the main share of the market, we can easily buy in large chain supermarkets, e-commerce platforms are also easy to buy, especially Jingdong Tmall Taobao The largest sales are usually this type of commodity beans, of which illy and lavazza are the most well-known to consumers, There are also coffee capsules for capsule machines that are basically beans of this grade, and commercial beans are generally blended beans. Strictly speaking, some well-known brands of commodity beans, because of the stricter quality management and special production and packaging technology, so it has a stable quality, consumers normally will not drink too difficult to drink coffee, but it is not difficult to drink, in order to drink a variety of flavors and rich levels in the commodity beans, basically do not have to think, you just need to look at the production date and shelf life of these beans, probably can also understand. The tasting period of specialty coffee is about one month, and the shelf life is generally three months, otherwise the flavor is basically lost, and the shelf life you see on the packaging of commercial beans is usually 18 months to 24 months, so this grade of coffee is bitter to drink, but it is not smelly.
Some industry conscience cafes, as well as some more literary and artistic cafes, and some five-star hotels above the hotel to provide customers with non-free coffee, will use this grade of beans. High-grade coffee is actually blurred between commercial beans and fine beans, if you must find out the difference, then relative to the commercial beans, most of the high-grade beans are relatively fresh, with a better sense of flavor recognition, in the blended beans there will be some proportion of fine beans. Or some of the more well-known varieties of coffee beans, the uniformity and consistency of the beans are not very high, the cup test score is not too high, but the freshness and appreciation are better, the smell is not too bitter to drink, and it can make people feel happy after drinking.
The term specialty coffee was first proposed by the American Ms. Nussen, and the most popular saying is that the coffee beans with unique aroma and outstanding flavor cultivated under ideal climate and geographical conditions are cultivated to distinguish them from mediocre commodity coffee. Specialty coffee pays attention to every aspect of coffee variety, origin, environment, screening and processing. The American Specialty Coffee Association's criteria for judging specialty coffee include whether it has a rich dry aroma, wet aroma, acidity, alcohol thickness, aftertaste, taste, and whether the taste is balanced. Specialty coffee beans must be excellent varieties, excellent planting environment, artificial harvesting to prevent inconsistent maturity of coffee beans mixed together to affect the taste, must be screened flawless beans of high quality beans.
Specialty coffee is basically not in the commodity market and supermarket circulation, mainly coffee studios and boutique café roasting, roasters are usually very fond of coffee, the variety, grade, style of coffee beans have systematic knowledge and rich experience, can find out the best roasting curve of coffee beans, so that the flavor of coffee is the greatest embodiment. Coffee beans from roasting to the hands of consumers is a short time, can maximize the preservation of fresh coffee flavor, specialty coffee must be in the best appreciation period, if more than the appreciation period, can not be regarded as specialty coffee. Compared with the aforementioned goods, the requirement for specialty coffee is not "not difficult to drink", but "very delicious". Specialty coffees are generally aromatic, intense, balanced and delicate, without unpleasant bitterness and odor. Since entering the door of specialty coffee, many of my friends often can't help but share happiness and happiness with their friends after drinking coffee.
The consumers of specialty coffee are mainly real coffee lovers, and there are some famous boutique cafes in China that can also drink specialty coffee. The owners of real boutique cafes usually have a high degree of attainment and persistent pursuit of coffee, and they regard it as an ideal to let guests drink good coffee. All I know about Xiamen cupps, Chu Jiayuan, Yan Coffee, are very good boutique cafes.
You can think of it this way, coe is the equivalent of a boutique, the most outstanding coffee bean. The American Specialty Coffee Association works with the host country of the COE Cup each year to complete the cup screening and online auction of specialty coffee, and the cultivator or coffee estate of the specialty coffee submits his best coffee beans to the association's censors for review. After three stages of rigorous review, coffee beans that are considered the most advanced will be awarded the coe title, and coffee beans that are crowned with the title of coe can be traded at high prices at international online auctions dominated by specialty coffee. This system not only improves the quality and prestige of coffee estates, but also significantly increases the volume of coffee transactions, further increasing the income of coffee farmers.
Coe coffee beans are almost flawless, of exceptional quality and deliciousness. In addition to the aroma, flavor, sourness, thickness, afterglow and taste of specialty coffee, coe's judging criteria attach great importance to cleanliness and balance, and require flawlessness. As for the intoxicating aroma, thousands of flavors, mellow and moist that specialty coffee should have, there should be no less.
Coe beans are also the most expensive, similar to the 90+ gem summer and other top beans in the market to attract coffee gourmets to buy, anyway, the local tycoons are not bad money can be willfully drunk. There are very few boutique cafes that also offer coe coffee for customers to enjoy. Most of the coffee lovers who consume coe are coumbarium-level coffee enthusiasts, or they are rich and know how to taste life, after all, the price is indeed very expensive, 1 pound of excellent beans can buy 5-10 pounds of fine beans, buy 20-30 pounds of commodity beans, but compared to the sky-high price of tea, the price of coe coffee beans can be said to be very honest, 100,000 and 200,000 pounds of tea when there are newspaper networks, and the price of two or three thousand pounds of coe coffee beans has broken the sky, In recent years, the price of some coe beans with little fame but very good quality has also fallen within a thousand yuan, which can be described as "the old Wang Xie Tang Qianyan, flying into the homes of ordinary people", drinking coe coffee is not a distant legend.
I am Aphor, engaged in the promotion of coffee culture for nearly 5 years, has been to Coffee Estates such as Yunnan/Taiwan/Indonesia and coffee consuming cities such as Italy and Germany, loves specialty coffee, and wants to make friends who love coffee as much. Welcome everyone to pay attention to my headline number, long-term sharing and exchange of specialty coffee, flower pulling and store knowledge.