FrontStreet Coffee: An Introduction to Floral and Fruity Coffee Beans

Four main factors influence coffee flavor. Below, FrontStreet Coffee explains how to choose the right coffee beans for you from four angles: variety, origin, processing method and roast level.

Coffee Varieties

Coffee is currently divided into two major species, Arabica and Robusta, with many sub-varieties under each. The most famous Geisha, for instance, belongs to the Arabica species. When selecting beans, choose Arabica coffee beans, as their flavor quality is significantly higher than Robusta's.

Origins

Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya

Processing Methods

Coffee processing refers to the process by which coffee is stripped of its fruit flesh by local processing plants after harvesting to produce green coffee beans. There are two main methods, washed and natural. The washed method removes the fruit flesh and ferments the beans in water, resulting in a cleaner taste with prominent floral and fruity notes and higher acidity. The natural method dries the coffee cherries directly in the sun, letting sugars from the fruit flesh penetrate the beans, resulting in sweeter coffee with a fuller body. Many new methods have been developed recently as well, such as honey processing, anaerobic fermentation and barrel aging.

Roast Levels

Finally, roast levels. After processing, green coffee beans are shipped to roasters for the last step, roasting. The deeper the roast, the stronger the caramelization and the more bitter the coffee; the lighter the roast, the more prominent the floral and fruity notes. Today the specialty coffee community mainly favors light roasts, which have abundant acidity, sweetness and aroma. The commercial coffee that people typically drink, such as Starbucks, uses medium to dark roasts with higher bitterness. If you have not tried specialty coffee before, FrontStreet Coffee recommends starting with medium or light-medium roasts, then moving to light-roasted beans once you have adjusted.

About FrontStreet Coffee

The simplest way to put it all together: start with an Arabica bean, choose an origin and processing method that match the flavor you want, and then pick a roast level that lets those flavors come through. A floral, citrus-driven Ethiopian washed coffee and a fruit-forward natural coffee will taste completely different even when both are roasted the same way, which is why variety, origin, processing and roast are best read as a set.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to taste the floral and fruity style described above, FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha lineup is a natural starting point. The FrontStreet Boquete Geisha is an approachable introduction to the variety, with orange-blossom honey sweetness, oolong tea body and fine fruit acidity, while the FrontStreet Esmeralda Green Label (Private Collection) blends several plots to show the estate's signature high-altitude Geisha character at a more accessible price than the Red Label.

For a naturally processed, fruit-forward cup, the FrontStreet Huakui is grown from Ethiopia's native heirloom varieties and shows creamy strawberry, mango, jackfruit, citrus and blueberry, and the FrontStreet Ginlana Gesha is a naturally processed Ethiopian Gesha with bright citrus acidity, ginger flower and ripe fruit sweetness.