Beginner's Guide to Coffee Bean Selection - Tips for Choosing Coffee Flavors

FrontStreet Coffee - Beginner's Coffee Selection

1. Coffee Bean Varieties

There are currently more than 100 coffee varieties in the world, the two most common being Arabica and Robusta (Canephora). The two differ greatly in taste, composition, and growing conditions, so let's compare them.

Arabica:

Expensive, smooth, and low in caffeine. Compositionally, Arabica has less caffeine (0.9-1.2 percent), 60 percent more fat than Robusta, and twice the sugar. As a result, Arabica tastes sweeter and smoother, with a plum-like fruit acidity.

Arabica also has slightly less chlorogenic acid (5.5-8 percent). Chlorogenic acid not only provides antioxidant properties but is an important component for resisting pests, so Arabica is more vulnerable to pest damage and climate. It is generally grown at higher altitudes, producing fewer, slower-growing, oval-shaped fruit.

2. Coffee Processing Methods

Common processing methods include natural, washed, honey, and barrel fermentation, which has grown popular over the past year or so.

Natural: Coffee beans have rich fruit aromas, a sweet aftertaste, and high body.

Washed: Coffee beans have fruity or floral aromas, moderate acidity, and lower body.

Honey: Coffee beans have a sweeter aftertaste, delicate fruit flavors, and high body.

Barrel Fermentation: Coffee beans show connections to the corresponding spirits, such as brandy and whiskey, with moderate body and lower acidity.

The processing method relates to local natural conditions. Where sunlight is plentiful and water scarce, natural processing is more common; where water is abundant, washed processing prevails.

3. Coffee Bean Grades

The purpose of grading coffee beans is to provide a general benchmark for trade. There is no universally accepted grading method worldwide; the names and criteria are set by each producing country.

Identification Standards: Take 300 g of green beans and screen them through metal sieves with different hole sizes. The basic unit is 1/64 inch, called a "mesh," used to screen beans from 8 to 20 mesh, that is, 8/64 to 20/64 inch (about 3-8 millimeters). The smaller the number, the larger the hole. Typically, beans below 14 mesh have no chance of becoming specialty coffee.

During screening, some beans inevitably slip through. The allowable error margin depends on the standards adopted.

At FrontStreet Coffee, you can choose coffees from different countries, regions, and flavor profiles according to your preferences—whether you like fruity and floral aromas, rich flavors, or balanced cups, you can find them here. There are also coffee events every month with substantial discounts. When shopping online, look for the name "FrontStreet Coffee."

In Brief:

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall, delighted to share knowledge about coffee. We share without reservation, simply hoping to help more friends fall in love with coffee. We also run three discount coffee events every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more people to enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price—our mission for the past six years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a beginner, washed coffees are the ideal place to start: they highlight a bean's own aromatics and are clean, bright, and forgiving. FrontStreet Gedeb is a washed Yirgacheffe cooperative coffee with jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity over a tea-like body, and it is very easy to brew well.

If you want to explore how vivid washed coffee can be, FrontStreet Kenya Little Tomato is a Kenyan washed bean with a bright cherry-tomato and dark-plum acidity, a juicy body, and a clean, long finish of yellow sugar and green tea. And for a classic, FrontStreet Blue Mountain No. 1 is a washed Jamaican coffee whose balance of cream, caramel, chocolate, and nutty notes makes it one of the most approachable specialty coffees of all.