Mastering Home Brewing: The Art of Crafting Exceptional Coffee_The Ultimate Guide to Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans_Comprehensive Introduction to Premium Coffee Varieties

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How to Make Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans at Home

I wonder how many people like me who initially thought that drinking freshly ground coffee at home was an extremely sophisticated affair: requiring various dazzling equipment and going through numerous complicated processes just to get a small cup of coffee. Indeed, coffee is slightly more complex than tea, but when you actually start making it at home, you'll find it's not as complicated as imagined. Except for Espresso, which has high equipment requirements and relatively tedious processes, other types of coffee are still quite easy to make at home. AeroPress and pour-over can still produce a good cup of coffee.

All of the above is just to tell everyone not to get caught up in purchasing various coffee equipment at the beginning. In my opinion, the only essential things at the start are high-quality beans, a good grinder, and a passion for coffee. Equipment used for making coffee later can be purchased according to your own needs. I'll mention the equipment requirements for different brewing methods in later experiences.

Coffee Bean Production Process

Coffee beans don't naturally look the way they do. Let me briefly explain the coffee bean production process.

First, you need a coffee tree

Then the coffee tree bears coffee cherries

The picked coffee cherries undergo sun-drying...

...or washed processing

Remove the peel and pulp to get raw coffee beans

Roast the raw beans, and they become beautiful roasted beans

Grind into coffee powder. What you can buy on the market are the last three forms of coffee: raw beans, roasted beans, and coffee powder. Here I recommend buying roasted coffee beans, and the fresher the better! Because raw beans don't have much coffee flavor and need to be roasted to bring out their flavors, but after roasting, various flavors will disappear with the evaporation of moisture and carbon dioxide. Therefore, I recommend buying freshly roasted coffee beans from local coffee shops or online, and don't buy too much at once - about two weeks' worth is sufficient. Additionally, after coffee beans are ground into powder, the increased surface area exposed to air causes flavors to dissipate quickly. The fine powder needed for espresso can lose half its flavor within two minutes. So I still recommend buying roasted beans and grinding them fresh when you want to drink. As for raw beans, although they have a much longer shelf life than roasted beans, home roasting requires specialized roasting machines that are expensive and demand high technical skills, so they're also not recommended.

Coffee Varieties

Let me also talk about coffee varieties:

There are four types of coffee trees in the world, but the coffee we drink now mainly comes from two types of coffee trees: Arabica and Robusta.

Arabica coffee trees are not easy to cultivate, mostly grown on high-altitude slopes, and harvesting also requires manual labor. However, they win with balanced flavors and lower caffeine content. Robusta varieties are easier to cultivate - they're heat-resistant, cold-resistant, humidity-resistant, drought-resistant, and disease-resistant. Vietnam's coffee industry once switched to Robusta after Arabica trees were destroyed by leaf rust disease. Additionally, Robusta varieties are easier to harvest - vibrating machines can do the job besides manual labor. This variety seems to have countless benefits, but the fatal flaw is that the produced coffee beans have poor aroma, excessive bitterness with insufficient acidity, and high caffeine content, so they're mostly used for instant coffee. Most beans on the market today are Arabica varieties.

Global Coffee Distribution

Besides being broadly divided into two major categories, different soils and climates also greatly affect coffee bean quality. When buying coffee beans, you might see descriptions of different coffee flavors using dazzling adjectives like tropical fruit flavor, caramel flavor, nut flavor, cocoa flavor, etc. But when you actually get the beans, you might find that you can't taste the many flavors described, inevitably making you self-deprecatingly call your taste buds "dull" or even lose interest in coffee. Actually, I think it's completely normal not to taste the described flavors. These coffee flavor descriptions actually originate from the Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel published by SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America).

The Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel describes and defines taste profiles according to taste (sour, bitter, sweet, salty) and aroma (floral, fruity, nutty, chocolate, spice, etc.). This is actually a standardization process designed for professional cupping systems. For ordinary people who drink coffee as a simple hobby, there's really no need to be too serious about it. Besides, taste itself is very subjective - what you think tastes good is what matters most.

Various Fresh Roasted Coffee Bean Varieties

Now I'll introduce the characteristics of various coffee bean varieties. Because there are too many varieties to introduce one by one, I'll only pick some of the more famous ones to talk about. Actually, it's not realistic to understand all types of coffee in the world. It's best to combine various factors like growing regions, bean varieties (Typica, Bourbon, etc.), processing methods (washed, natural, etc.) to form an overall concept, then distinguish the differences between various coffees.

The editor asked me to add specific product introductions and links, which is quite difficult because freshly roasted beans are bought raw by various coffee shops and then roasted by themselves. Some are also sold online. Giving specific links would inevitably seem like advertising, so for fresh roasted beans, I'll only provide a search link. Generally, more professional roasters will write about which estate the beans come from, processing methods, grade, roast level, and flavor profile in the description. Even if not written, you can ask the shop owner.

Mandheling:

Produced in southern Sumatra, Indonesia. It has relatively high body, with more prominent bitterness in single-origin coffee, low acidity, and generally deep roast level. Quality is divided into 7 levels from Grade 1 (G1) to Grade 6 (G6) based on defect bean quality, with G1 being the best. I must specifically mention Golden Mandheling. Contrary to common understanding, Golden Mandheling is not a grading standard but rather PWN Company's selection of full, large-sized beans named "Golden Mandheling" and registered as a trademark. So strictly speaking, only beans produced by PWN Company can be called Golden Mandheling; other beans, even of the same or better quality, cannot be called Golden Mandheling.

Yirgacheffe:

Produced in the Sidamo region of Ethiopia. When Yirgacheffe is mentioned, typical descriptions are "intense floral aroma, subtle fruit acidity, soft bergamot and lemon flavors." In terms of aroma, you can indeed smell some floral and fruity notes, but the taste tends to be acidic, which might not be easily acceptable to those not accustomed to it. However, if you like this acidity, Yirgacheffe is a very cost-effective choice, and this coffee has quite good layering. Additionally, increasing water temperature and extending blooming time can also reduce acidity.

Yirgacheffe's grading system is somewhat chaotic. Initially, it was classified by processing method according to SCAA: washed: G1, G2; natural: G1, G3, G4, G5 (no G2), with smaller numbers indicating higher grades. But apparently starting a few years ago, the Ethiopian government established another grading system where all exported coffee beans are anonymously centralized at the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) and uniformly cupped and graded by officials. Specialty beans are divided into groups A and B, each further divided into levels 1 and 2. Group A is Yirgacheffe, meaning high-quality Yirgacheffe beans are A1 grade. This anonymous approach makes it difficult for us to trace specific farms or estates. Currently, some domestic sellers still use the old G1 and G2 classification standards, while others use the new A1 and A2 system.

Blue Mountain:

Probably the most famous coffee in China is Blue Mountain coffee, which has always appeared before everyone with the image of "most expensive and best." Blue Mountain coffee comes from the Blue Mountains near Kingston, Jamaica. Because production is not large and it's monopolized by Japan, the amount that flows to other countries is very small, which has kept prices consistently high. In earlier years, due to channel issues, China rarely had authentic Blue Mountain coffee, only "Blue Mountain flavored coffee." However, authentic Blue Mountain can now be bought domestically, with three common brands: M.B.C.F, Cornstadel, and Wallenford.

The biggest characteristic of Blue Mountain coffee is the balance of all flavors. Those who like it appreciate this balance, while those who don't see this balance as bland, believing that Blue Mountain's biggest characteristic is having no characteristics. A friend in Jamaica once brought me a bag of Blue Mountain. After trying it, the taste was indeed good, but overall it didn't quite match its price.

Finally, let me mention Blue Mountain grading, which from high to low is divided into Blue Mountain No.1, No.2, No.3, and Blue Mountain Blend, plus the special Blue Mountain Peaberry (PB). Let me explain peaberry: usually, one coffee cherry contains two seeds - this is why we see coffee beans with one curved side and one flat side. Peaberry occurs when there's only one seed in the coffee cherry, making it overall elliptical. Peaberries account for a small proportion of fruits on coffee trees. As for whether peaberries are good or bad, opinions vary. Some think peaberries are mutations and therefore inferior to normal beans, while others believe one peaberry absorbs the nutrition of two normal beans, making it better. Generally, peaberries aren't sorted separately, but Blue Mountain coffee and Kenya coffee do sort peaberries separately, apparently because they're quite popular in the Japanese market.

Besides Blue Mountain coffee, coffee grades from other Jamaican regions are also divided from high to low: High Mountain Coffee, Jamaica Premium, and Jamaica Supreme.

Hawaii KONA:

There's a saying that Blue Mountain is the king of coffee, and KONA is the queen of coffee. But compared to Blue Mountain, KONA is obviously not well-known enough in China and has no unified translation. Additionally, there was a counterfeiting scandal in the past, making it not very easy to buy domestically. Here's an introduction: "Due to island terrain plus volcanic soil, Hawaiian coffee has a very special mouthfeel - not too strong, not too acidic, with a mellow taste and a pleasant wine-like aroma and acidity. KONA coffee is divided into four grades: the highest grade Extra Fancy, Fancy, Prime, and Grade No.1. However, due to low production and high production costs, with increasing demand for specialty coffee in recent years, Kona prices on the market now rival Jamaican Blue Mountain, and high-quality Kona beans are becoming increasingly difficult to buy." If I have the chance to go to Hawaii, I'll definitely try it.

Geisha:

Geisha is a new variety that has become popular in recent years. It's grown in many regions worldwide, with higher quality in Latin American countries like Panama, Guatemala, and Colombia. Now its reputation and price rival Blue Mountain and KONA. In terms of flavor, it mainly has fruity notes and an aroma similar to oolong tea, so some people say drinking Geisha feels like drinking herbal tea.

Brazilian Coffee:

When talking about coffee, we have to mention Brazil because Brazil is the world's largest coffee-producing country, with total production ranking first in the world. The coffee it produces has mild flavor, slightly acidic and slightly bitter, with no major flaws but no particularly outstanding advantages either - rather mediocre. So there aren't many specialty coffees; they're mainly used as blend beans.

Colombian Coffee:

After talking about Brazil, the number one producer, we should also talk about Colombian coffee, the second-largest producer by volume. Although its production doesn't match Brazil's, the overall quality of its coffee beans is higher. The biggest impression Colombian coffee gives should be smoothness. This coffee has medium body, low acidity, sweet-leaning taste with some nutty flavors, suitable for medium or dark roasting, good both for drinking alone and as a blend.

Kenya AA:

Kenya AA is also a coffee often mentioned domestically, but actually, AA is a grade of Kenyan coffee. Above it are AA++ and AA+ grades, below it is AB grade, and there's also PB grade peaberry. But currently in China, Kenyan coffee is collectively referred to as Kenya AA. In terms of taste, it also has very obvious fruit aroma and fruit acidity, but compared to Yirgacheffe's bright acidity, its acidity is harder to describe - perhaps more rugged?

Guatemala Antigua:

Antigua coffee is produced on Antigua Island. Because it's grown on slopes in the heart of volcanic areas, the beans contain nitrogen elements, and after roasting, they have a charcoal or smoky flavor. However, the expression of this flavor is also greatly related to roast depth. For example, medium roast makes it difficult to express this characteristic.

Costa Rica Coffee:

Costa Rica was quite popular in the World Cup a few days ago. I want to say that it's also a famous coffee-producing region, with the most renowned being the Tarrazú region. Because local government controls are relatively strict, raw bean quality is good with few defect beans. In terms of flavor, because it's also grown at high altitudes, it has relatively strong acidity, and due to lower mountain temperatures causing slower coffee tree growth, it has complex rather than monotonous flavors.

Commercial Beans:

I'm bringing up commercial beans separately because if you really can't buy freshly roasted beans, commercial beans are also an option. Although commercial beans are controversial - some say they completely lose the应有的 flavor of coffee - modern packaging methods are still very effective at preserving original flavor. Moreover, the biggest advantage of commercial beans is their accessibility.

illy:

An Italian brand that uses modern inert gas canning, which plays a significant role in preserving coffee flavor. Here's an excerpt from an introduction: "illy (意利) coffee company uses 100% selected Arabica coffee beans to create a unique mellow flavor, sold individually to hotels, restaurants, homes, and offices. illy coffee is the number one brand used by hotels, restaurants, and bars in Italy, with a 7.5% market share; in the home market, it holds 30.3%.

Every day, 3 million cups of illy coffee (illycaffe) are sold in Italy alone, and an astonishing 6 million cups worldwide. Every coffee bean is inspected by electronic spectroscopy, allowing no defects. This effort made illy company the world's first coffee company to receive ISO9001 certification." illy beans are Italian blend beans, mainly divided into medium-roast red cans.

lavazza

Like illy, it's also an Italian brand, mostly using vacuum packaging. Personally, I feel illy slightly wins in packaging freshness preservation. About lavazza: "Spanning an entire century, LAVAZZA has strong traditional Italian family characteristics, passed down through generations. Founder Luigi Lavazza was a natural business talent who dedicated his life to the coffee business and is quite a legendary figure in the coffee world. In 1895, Luigi Lavazza bought a small grocery store Paissa Olivero in the old business district of Torino in northern Italy for 26,000 lira (about 20 USD). This was the seed of the LAVAZZA kingdom. In that era, grocery stores played dual roles as both producers and retailers. Luigi Lavazza bought raw beans himself and roasted various coffees according to customer requests. Due to high interest, he quickly mastered every deep skill in the roasting process. After World War I, his three sons Mario, Beppe, and Pericle successively returned from military service and joined. Luigi Lavazza was then able to develop from retail to wholesale, taking a successful step forward on the path of the coffee kingdom."

Yunnan Coffee:

Seeing in the comments that many readers want me to talk about Yunnan coffee, and I've had some contact with beans from Yunnan, so I've added some content, which means the editor has to review it again.

When Yunnan coffee is mentioned, many people's first reaction is "small bean coffee." Actually, the name "small bean" is still debatable, and there are various versions of its origin. A more credible one is that compared to Robusta's "medium beans," Arabica is called "small beans." When first introduced, fearing that the term Arabica would be hard to remember, it was simply called Yunnan small bean coffee. Later, possibly due to various misunderstandings, small bean coffee was regarded by many as a variety, but there's actually no "small bean" variety.

Speaking of varieties, the most widely planted coffee variety in Yunnan is Catimor, a hybrid variety introduced by Nestlé. Its Robusta heritage is often criticized, but its disease resistance, high yield, and suitability for instant coffee have led to its vigorous promotion in Yunnan. Moreover, with continuous improvements, quality has improved significantly, and some decent beans have emerged. Besides Catimor, Yunnan also plants a small amount of Typica, which is an old variety from before Catimor was introduced. Overall, its taste is better than Catimor and more expensive. There are also some Bourbon varieties.

As for evaluations of Yunnan coffee, there are still some controversies - some think it's good, others scoff at it. My personal feeling is that although Yunnan has good beans, the overall quality still has a gap compared to the world's high-quality beans. The flavor is generally flat and thin, with weak layering.

Actually, Yunnan's climate is quite suitable for coffee cultivation: high altitude and large day-night temperature differences. But the biggest problem is the uneven overall quality. Most coffee farmers lack quality awareness, excessively pursue yields, and harvesting, processing methods, and grading systems still lag behind. Much of it is mixed harvesting with their own simple grading, raw beans processed by themselves, and Yunnan beans have a characteristic of poor moisture uniformity during roasting, which raises roasting requirements. The waters of Yunnan coffee in the market are also quite deep, with situations of passing off inferior as superior seemingly more common than with other coffees. But now more and more coffee producers are beginning to focus on quality, introducing excellent varieties, estate-style management. In short, development has been quite rapid in recent years, occasionally giving me some small surprises. Baoshan Lujiangba and Pu'er Manlaojiang River Basin have both produced pretty decent beans. As a domestic product, I still hope Yunnan coffee develops better and better.

Fresh Roasted Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted single-origin fresh coffee beans: Yirgacheffe coffee, Kenya AA coffee, Panama花蝴蝶 coffee, etc., all have full guarantees in terms of brand and quality, suitable for brewing with various equipment. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost performance - a half-pound 227-gram package costs only around 80-90 yuan. Calculating based on 15 grams of powder per pour-over cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 6 yuan. Compared to cafés selling cups for dozens of yuan, this is extremely cost-effective.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473