Wherever coffee is drunk in the world, something magical arises.
Coffee has the gift of giving even morning grouches a good start to the day. Coffee moves us to take the time to talk together even in the stress of everyday life and brings whole groups of people together around one table. Coffee fulfills different functions from nationality to nationality. It tells its own story in every country – and yet it connects all coffee lovers around the world. In this article, we would like to give you the basics of the coffee plant, the various types and types of coffee, and explain how this great variety of coffee comes about, which forms of preparation exist, and inform you about the roast and degree of roast.
Coffee selection
Coffee plant and coffee bean
You can recognize the coffee plant, also called “coffea”, by its green oval leaves. Its fragrant flowers are white and star-shaped. At first glance, the red stone fruits look like cherries, which is why you may have come across the term coffee cherry in this context. Each of them usually contains 2 raw beans and each core contains around 0.8-2.5% caffeine.
Types and types of coffee
First, the term’s coffee type and coffee type must be differentiated from one another. The type of coffee deals with botany, more precisely with the type of coffee bean. When we talk about the type of coffee, we differentiate between factors that have an influence on the process after the harvest, such as the growing conditions, processing and roasting.
In fact, most types of coffee are based on just these two types of coffee:
1. Arabica
The plant is very sensitive and insists on a stable climate of around 20 °C. You can recognize the bean by its curved scar. Its oil content is higher than that of the Robusta. Arabica stands out due to its fruity taste and offers a variety of fine aroma nuances. The soft, mild taste and easy compatibility make the Arabica bean “Everybody’s Darling” among coffee beans.
2. Robusta
As the name suggests, the Robusta is more robust than the Arabica. This means that the plant not only withstands flat regions with high temperatures and strong temperature fluctuations, but also fights bravely against diseases and pests. The stigma of Robusta is straight and its chlorogenic acid content exceeds that of Arabica. You can taste them by their earthy and low-acid aroma. It has a much stronger taste and stands out from the competition due to the high caffeine content.
Although the market share of Arabica and Robusta together make up almost 100%, we do not want to withhold more from you:
Liberica
Liberica’s fruits are low in sugar and high in caffeine. The taste of Liberica coffee is distinguished by the wooden and tart note.
Excelsa
Excelsa coffee is considered a variety of Liberica and is both earthy and strong in taste. It is considered a special feature and is only available from a specialist.
Maragogype (“elephant beans”)
Coffee types based on Maragogype beans are particularly popular with coffee connoisseurs with sensitive stomachs. They are mild and low in acid with a relatively high caffeine content. They are ideally suited for the production of filter coffee.
Kopi Luwak
Last but not least, we do not want to leave out the morally questionable “cat coffee”. During production, cherries pass through the intestinal tract of so-called “crawling cats” for the earthy and chocolate-like note. You should think twice about whether you support this factory farming for a cup of coffee.
Variety of coffee types: which type of coffee is suitable for which preparation?
Coffee machine
The fully automatic coffee machine usually conjures up classics such as espresso, cappuccino, café crema, flat white, café latte and latte macchiato. You have all the freedom: Depending on your taste, you can choose a single origin variety, a blend or a mixture.
Portafilter machine
Espresso roasting is definitely advisable for machines with portafilter.
Filter coffee and cafeteria
Robusta, Arabica and Maragogype are suitable for this.
Which factor is responsible for the taste of your coffee? In order to better understand our recommendations, we would like to remind you again at this point: The coffee beans form the basis, but above all cultivation and production are decisive.
Procedure and types of coffee roasting
During the roasting process of the coffee beans, roasting temperatures between 100 °C and 260 °C for a duration of up to 20 minutes are common. In principle, coffee roasting can be divided into two different types:
1. Hot air roasting or industrial roasting
Loss of quality for the stomach and palate: In industrial roasting, the green coffee is roasted in a very short time at temperatures of up to 600 °C. This can result in burnt roasted aromas. As you can imagine, the beans are still raw on the inside and almost burnt on the outside due to the high temperatures and the short dwell time.
2. The drum roasting process
Smaller quantities of beans are roasted at temperatures of up to 245 °C for approx. 10 – 20 minutes. In the process, aromas and bitter substances develop, and chlorogenic acid is broken down. The gentle refinement ensures a stomach-friendly and aromatic coffee enjoyment.
What does the degree of roasting say and between which degrees of roast is a distinction made?
You can think of it something like this: the darker the roasted bean, the more bitter it is in taste. In detail, we differentiate between 3 roasts.
1. Light roast (“cinnamon roast”)
The beans are only roasted until the “first crack” is reached. The strongly pronounced acidity and the fruit aromas are retained. “Light roasts” can be enjoyed wonderfully pure, but can cause problems for sensitive stomachs.
2. Medium roast (“American roast” or “breakfast roast”)
Acid, roasted aromas and flavor are on the same level. The longer roasting time causes the bean to lose its earthy, grainy taste and develop a tart coffee aroma. “Medium Roasts” are the all-purpose solution for enjoying coffee. They taste just as good as filter coffee as they are as a café latte.
3. Dark roast
As you must have guessed, the beans will linger longer in the roast. Strictly speaking, up to the “second crack”. The coffee bean has now lost a lot of liquid, and it is slowly simmering. The result is a mixture of chocolaty and smoky flavors with a unique bitter note. At this point there is hardly anything left to taste of the acidity. During the roasting process, the coffee bean released oils that make it shine. Dark roasts are dark and have a very strong taste and are, for example, the basic ingredient of cappuccino as espresso.
In summary, what is important when it comes to coffee roasting?
Both the quality of the beans and the roasting time and temperature determine the taste of your coffee. In principle, you can use almost any roast for your own fully automatic coffee machine. We will be happy to advise you individually so that you can get the taste you want by choosing the roast and how you cook it. If you want to start roasting coffee right now, contact us for support from our team of experts.