World's Top Six Coffee Bean Growing Regions Ranking: Which Brands Offer the Best Black Coffee Beans

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With the development of the specialty coffee market, there are increasingly more varieties of specialty coffee, and the market is filled with high-quality specialty coffee beans that can be truly dazzling. FrontStreet Coffee has over 50 varieties of coffee beans available for sale, and there are various other coffee beans that haven't been listed. FrontStreet Coffee purchases raw beans from green bean suppliers and roasts them fresh in-house. After a series of quality control evaluations including cupping and brewing, only coffee beans that can at least showcase the basic flavor characteristics of their growing region and have no unpleasant tastes will be sold to the public. Regardless of whether the coffee beans are ultimately listed, FrontStreet Coffee publishes cupping information online, including origin, processing method, variety, roasting recommendations, cupping reports, and a series of articles for every coffee enthusiast to review.

How to Choose Coffee Beans That Suit Your Taste?

Many beginners who are new to coffee beans often struggle with choosing beans, wanting to try every variety. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee has compiled a simple guide that everyone can reference to select their favorite beans.

Regional Flavor Characteristics:

Ethiopia, Kenya: Bright, citrusy and lemony fruit acidity.

Guatemala: Nuts, mild fruit acidity.

Panama: Rich floral notes, mild fruit acidity.

Colombia: Nuts, cocoa, mild fruit acidity.

Costa Rica: Nuts, mild fruit acidity, noticeable sweetness.

Brazil: Nuts, cocoa, creamy mouthfeel.

Honduras: Rich mouthfeel, neither astringent nor acidic, high body and aroma.

Indonesia: Spices, herbal notes, high body.

Yunnan: Herbal notes, mild fruit acidity, neither acidic nor astringent, medium body.

Jamaica Blue Mountain: Perfect balance of sweet, sour, and bitter.

Hawaii Kona: Mild fruit acidity, high body.

Coffee bean processing methods are increasingly innovative, with many various special processing methods emerging in the industry, such as anaerobic fermentation, enzyme washing, and more. However, among coffee bean processing methods, there are three most conventional methods: washed processing, natural processing, and honey processing. Let's take a look at the flavor characteristics of these three traditional processing methods:

Washed Processing Method:

FrontStreet Coffee believes that washed processing coffee has more pronounced acidity, better cleanliness, medium mouthfeel, and the most consistent green bean quality. African coffee regions often use washed processing, which allows African coffee beans to better express bright, citrus-like acidity.

Natural Processing Method:

FrontStreet Coffee believes that natural processing allows coffee cherries to dry naturally, enabling coffee beans to mature naturally inside the fruit without interference from the external environment. Therefore, naturally processed coffee beans amplify their inherent flavors, with rich body, intense flavors, and emit sweetness.

Honey Processing Method:

FrontStreet Coffee believes that honey-processed coffee beans have superior flavor, with balanced acidity and sweetness. Like natural processing, because it involves sun-drying, the coffee beans' inherent aroma is also amplified, with rich body.

Flavor Performance of Different Roast Levels:

Light Roast: Rich fruity notes, with sweet and sour floral and fruity aromas, clean and refreshing mouthfeel, no viscous sensation.

Medium Roast: Nutty notes, primarily caramel, cocoa, and malt aromas, smooth mouthfeel with slight viscosity.

Dark Roast: Slight chocolate bitterness, low acidity, rich caramel aroma, with spice, woody, and charcoal notes, smooth mouthfeel, rich body, no astringency.

Bright Acidity, Washed Processing Representative: FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Gedeb Cooperative

Region: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Altitude: 2000-2100m

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Heirloom

Brewing Flavor: Entry reveals citrus and black tea notes, with cream and caramel emerging as temperature changes, distinct almond aftertaste with obvious sweetness and clean, sweet mouthfeel.

Floral Notes, Natural Processing Representative: FrontStreet Coffee Panama Butterfly

Region: Panama Boquete

Altitude: 1650

Variety: Geisha, Caturra, Catuai

Processing Method: Natural

Brewing Flavor: Floral notes, black tea, berries, citrus, slight nutty finish, smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness, moderate acidity, medium aftertaste.

Rich, Intense, No Acidity Representative: FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling

Region: Mount Gayo, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Altitude: 1100-1600

Variety: Ateng

Processing Method: Wet-hulled

Brewing Flavor: Toasted bread, pine, caramel, cocoa, herbal notes, multi-layered complexity, clean and balanced, sweet and persistent aftertaste.

Nutty Cocoa Aroma, No Acidity Representative: FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queen Estate

Region: São Paulo State, Brazil

Estate: Queen Estate

Altitude: 1400-1950

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing Method: Brazilian Pulped Natural

Brewing Flavor: Fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice, black tea, mellow fruit sweetness, distinct nutty flavors, balanced and smooth acidity, clean and subtle bitterness.

Tomato Juice Sensation, Bright Acidity Representative: FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Assalia

Region: Thika, Kenya

Processing Station: Asali Honey Processing Station

Altitude: 1550-1750 meters

Grade: AA TOP

Variety: SL28, SL34

Processing Method: Kenya 72-hour Washed

Brewing Flavor: Acidity notes of cherry tomatoes, lemon, grapefruit, and berries, with cream and chocolate flavors in the mid-section, distinct caramel sweetness, overall rich body.

Noticeable Sweetness, Distinct Fermentation Representative: Costa Rica Mirasu Geisha Blend

Region: Tarrazú, Costa Rica

Estate: Mirasu Estate

Altitude: 1700m

Processing Method: Raisin Natural

Variety: Geisha, ET47, SL28, MACIO

Brewing Flavor: Fresh jasmine fragrance, mild fruit acidity, almond aftertaste, noticeable sweetness.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473