Is there a difference between pure coffee and black coffee? Is instant black coffee pure coffee?

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Have you heard of pure coffee?

When you look at coffee menus in cafes, you might notice that many coffee names are direct transliterations. Even for regular coffee, there are various names like "blend coffee," "drip coffee," and "pure coffee."

So what exactly is pure coffee? Today, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce you to this rare term—pure coffee.

How many people can immediately understand what "pure coffee" means when they hear it?

Many people's first reaction is... black coffee. Well, congratulations—you're wrong!

What is Pure Coffee?

Pure coffee refers to single-origin coffee harvested from one specific origin. For example, origins like "Kilimanjaro" and "Colombia."

In contrast, blend coffee refers to a mixture of various single-origin coffee beans. Famous hotels and specialty coffee shops sell their own branded "XX Blend" coffee. This approach both demonstrates their uniqueness and allows coffee enthusiasts to taste novel flavors.

Representatives of Pure Coffee

The representative coffee beans are the "world's three great coffees"—"Blue Mountain," "Kilimanjaro," and "Hawaii Kona."

Blue Mountain

The origin is the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica. Only high-quality coffee cultivated in the inner Blue Mountain Range on the eastern side is called "Blue Mountain."

It has a rich aroma, noticeable sweetness, and is a coffee where acidity, bitterness, flavor, and aroma are perfectly balanced. It's known as the "King of Coffee."

Kilimanjaro

The Kilimanjaro production area is located in Tanzania, East Africa, on the highest peak in northeastern Africa. Because the altitude is above 2,000 meters, it easily produces special flavors and has many fans worldwide. Its characteristics include acidity, fruitiness, and pleasant sweetness.

Hawaii Kona

The Hawaii Kona production area is situated in the Kona district on the western side of Hawaii Island. In the Kona region, there is mostly fertile volcanic ash soil, sufficient humidity and moisture, and rich organic matter. The production from this region is very small, making it a rare luxury. It has mild acidity and rich aroma, with sweet notes of flowers and fruits.

The Rise of Original Coffee

Pure coffee is single-origin coffee. There are those named after national production regions like "Brazil" and "Colombia" as mentioned earlier, and those named after regional production areas like "Blue Mountain" and "Kilimanjaro."

In contrast, "original coffee" has recently gained attention. While pure coffee only uniformly labels the country and region, it doesn't indicate the producer, production time, or production location.

Original coffee, however, labels harvest period, producer, bean variety, processing method, etc., as individual varieties in addition to the country and region of origin.

Is it easier to understand if we make an analogy with wine?

Similarly, French wines can be separated by origins like Bordeaux and Burgundy. For coffee, even if produced in Brazil, it can be divided into different types based on each farm's soil, sunlight duration, temperature, and other differences.

In today's world where food safety is increasingly concerning, I believe this trend is natural. Moreover, being able to see the stories of producers and origins gives one the feeling that coffee has traveled from distant countries across oceans to reach us.

Conclusion

To put it simply, the concept of pure coffee is actually a preliminary awareness of single-origin coffee—the initial stage of the single-origin concept. It's a term used by farmers in production regions to protect their own brands, and by coffee shops to enhance their professionalism. It has nothing to do with subsequent brewing methods or preparation techniques. Therefore, instant black coffee can be pure coffee, and lattes and cappuccinos can also be pure coffee. Of course, the purest coffee is still black coffee, haha.

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