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Is Coffee Always Bitter? Is Bitter Better? What Are the Best Non-Bitter Coffee Beans for Beginners?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Let's start with a trivia question: What are the world's three major beverages? The answer is tea, coffee, and cocoa. All three were originally used as medicine because theine, caffeine, and theobromine all have stimulating effects. When patients drank them, they would break into a sweat, and their cold or fever would improve by half. Even those seriously ill would feel more energized. Word spread rapidly, and these three beverages became popular worldwide. Among them, coffee has the strongest effect.

Let's start with a quick question: What are the three major beverages in the world? The answer is tea, coffee, and cocoa—all three of which were originally medicines. This is because theophylline, caffeine, and theobromine all have stimulating effects. When patients drank them and worked up a sweat, their colds and fevers would improve significantly, and even those seriously ill would feel more energetic. As word spread from person to person, these three beverages became popular worldwide. Among them, coffee has the strongest effect and has influenced the most regions.

Coffee originally comes from the Greek word "kaweh," meaning strength and passion. According to legend, it was first discovered by an Ethiopian shepherd whose goats began jumping around after eating red berries. This was when coffee first gained human attention.

Coffee belongs to the Rubiaceae family, genus Coffea, and there are over one hundred varieties of wild coffee worldwide. However, all coffee varieties today originate from three species: the tetraploid Arabica, which has excellent quality and aroma and constitutes most high-end coffee; Robusta, which has high caffeine content and is suitable for instant and canned coffee; and Liberica, which is too bitter and strong, so few people drink it except in its region of origin. Therefore, it's not true that the more bitter the coffee, the better it is.

Why Does Coffee Provide an Energy Boost?

Actually, this is related to the body's direct energy molecule—adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When you feel energetic, it's because ATP is abundant. However, it's worth noting that, just as drinking alcohol can make you feel warm (which is only superficial), coffee can only refresh your mind, not truly give you strength.

Not All Coffee Is Bitter

So which coffees are not bitter? In fact, coffee contains many different flavors. For example, most African coffee beans contain fruity acidity, with a sweet and sour taste more like fruit juice (if you savor it carefully). Here, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Yirgacheffe beans, which are suitable for beginners and offer good value for money. Meanwhile, most Costa Rican coffee uses honey processing, giving their beans a better sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee's Musician Series coffee beans are exceptionally sweet. The Blueberry from Giant Rock Estate is full of blueberry gummy candy sweetness with abundant juice notes. Additionally, there are specially processed Colombian coffee beans with intense floral aromas—FrontStreet Coffee's Rose Valley is filled with rose fragrance, while Flower Moon Night contains jasmine notes, and Sakura has a subtle mugwort aroma. All three beans feature berry flavor characteristics. If you're interested, you can come and try them! You might discover a whole new world, hehe.