What Coffee Beans Are Suitable for Beginners? How Should You Choose When Buying Coffee Beans for the First Time?

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Many coffee beginners want to break free from instant coffee, but when faced with complex descriptions of various coffee beans and powders, they inevitably feel overwhelmed. The consequence of random blind buying is: "What is this terrible coffee? It's so undrinkable!"

So what makes the best coffee beans? Of course, the most suitable one is the best, but this statement seems like nonsense. Without drinking enough coffee or trying enough varieties, how can you know which one is suitable? Is a product you've been drinking for a long time necessarily the most suitable? Just because you like the words in the flavor description, does that mean the taste will also suit you?

Today, FrontStreet Coffee will set aside the subjective and elusive coffee flavors and share some practical tips for selecting coffee beans with everyone.

I. Look at Packaging Information and Descriptions

All information about coffee beans is on the label. When you can understand the label, it becomes easy to pick the best coffee beans.

Coffee Beans

The unchangeable principle: always buy coffee beans (whole beans). Ground coffee is convenient, but to save that little bit of time, it's really not worth it—the flavor difference is too significant. Air is coffee's enemy. When coffee is ground, it begins to oxidize, meaning the flavor will dissipate faster. The closer you grind your beans to brewing time, the fresher and more aromatic your coffee will be.

Roast Date

The first essential factor—the roast date is completely different from the "expiration date"! Although coffee might seem to last indefinitely, that's not the case. Of course, you might not get sick from drinking coffee beans that have been stored for a year, and the beans might not be "spoiled," but they definitely won't taste as good.

After coffee beans are roasted, their chemical composition immediately begins to change. The beans start releasing carbon dioxide produced during roasting—a process called "degassing" in English. As coffee beans begin degassing, their oils start to oxidize, meaning the bean's flavor will begin to decline. Coffee freshness is quite subjective, but it's recommended to consume coffee beans between four days to two weeks after roasting. However, the brewing method you use can also affect this timeframe.

For example, if you enjoy pour-over coffee, it's recommended to start using it within the first week after roasting and finish it as quickly as possible, because the coffee's flavor and aroma are most perfect and complete at this time. But if you prefer espresso (coffee machine), the beans can be "aged" a bit longer, about seven to nine days before starting to use them. Even longer storage makes them suitable for cold brew coffee.

These are just recommended values—remember to experiment to find the method that best suits your taste.

Roaster

In first-tier cities, with good fortune and enough coffee shops, it's easy to meet people who roast coffee. Get to know them, understand their philosophy and roasting methods, increase interaction—it's not just a commercial transaction of buying coffee, but also building a social network that's very helpful for advancing your coffee knowledge.

Coffee beans that indicate who the roaster is on the packaging label deserve careful attention. This shows they care about their "craft," and the chances of getting good coffee are much higher.

Origin

Altitude, soil, rainfall, and sunlight all contribute to the final taste of coffee beans, making the origin an important indicator for tasting. Coffee trees thrive along the "coffee belt," the region between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. If your coffee bag or barista can't tell you where this coffee was grown, you might need to reconsider your choice.

More than 60 countries worldwide produce coffee, but you'd be better off starting with some famous regions and understanding their flavor profiles before moving on to more exotic varieties. Countries like Hawaii, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, and others—you can first understand the characteristics of each producing region and see which type of flavor you might prefer.

Between extremely unique climates and processing techniques, exploring coffee flavors by region is a tremendous pleasure. Even if you already have one or two favorite regions, it's recommended to occasionally break away and try different regions to discover something new.

Fair Trade

In the food labeling world, fair trade is an amorphous description that means... well, it depends on who you ask. You might see various fair trade labels on coffee and other product packaging. If this is an important consideration for you, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with some better-known labels and their meanings.

Does fair trade mean good coffee? This is really hard to say, but fair trade represents that coffee producers and their employees are not living in oppressed, exploited environments. Things produced in good environments are usually not too bad. If interested, you can research which fair trade certification aligns best with your values, and when you find it, making choices will be easier.

Organic Certification

Organic is often misused as marketing to increase product prices. In reality, organic certification is quite complex—different organic certifications have different standards. Some organic certifications only prove that farmers didn't use chemical pesticides and fertilizers, not that there are absolutely no chemical residues. And like other organic crops, organically produced coffee doesn't necessarily mean high quality. Even without "organic certification" doesn't necessarily mean "non-organic"—after all, those impoverished coffee farmers from generation to generation can neither afford chemical fertilizers and pesticides nor pay the considerable fees required for certification.

In other words, finding the best coffee beans depends on your own gradual tasting. Because any trading method or production certification has no necessary relationship with whether coffee tastes good.

Roast Level of Coffee Beans

Even for the same batch of beans, different roasting methods will bring different flavors. Generally, we can divide coffee bean roast levels into three main categories: light, medium, and dark.

Light Roast: Lightly roasted beans haven't undergone prolonged heating, with a relatively greenish, pale color. Such coffee beans have prominent acidity with almost no bitterness, and also have higher caffeine content, suitable for making American coffee.

Medium Roast: Medium roast coffee beans have a caramel color that's relatively bright. Their acidity is significantly lower than light roast, bitterness begins to emerge, but overall it's more balanced and smooth, lightly sweet and smooth, with caramel and chocolate aromas as main notes—this is a commonly used roast level.

Dark Roast: Dark roasted coffee beans have a black, shiny, oily appearance. At this point, the coffee beans have basically no acidity, and bitterness dominates with absolute presence, very suitable for making espresso.

Summary:

For beginners just starting from instant coffee or heavy flavor lovers, dark roast is recommended;

For coffee enthusiasts who enjoy balanced complexity, medium roast is recommended;

For connoisseurs who can enjoy coffee's fruity acidity, light roast is recommended.

Of course, there are different degrees between light, medium, and dark roasts. The heavier the roast, the lower the acidity and higher the bitterness, while caffeine content also decreases accordingly. Everyone can choose according to their own preferences.

Important Notice :

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