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QUALITY COFFEE
What we really care about drinking coffee is its quality.
Curiously, almost all the people are looking for the same substance when having coffee or tea; caffeine, used as protection by both the tea plant and the coffee plant.
It seems like caffeine attracts human beings, according to the available information, as it is a stimulating substance that moderately consumed provide us great advantages.
Let’s focus on finding the basic elements of a quality coffee..
1st element: Coffee bean
The first thing we should take into account is bean quality.
If the coffee bean is poor, your coffee at home or at the café will also do.
It is not possible to get a great coffee if beans are stale.
Therefore, you should see that coffee beans have grown at high altitudes, which is always a quality guarantee.
If beans are grown at high altitudes, we probably are talking about Arabica coffee, whose quality is better than Robusta’s. Cafés Sabora generally uses Arabica coffee beans in its products.
Then, why is Robusta variety grown?
Basically, this is due to economic reasons. Robusta variety can be grown at sea level and it allows the enlargement of coffee production to areas where Arabica could not be grown.
The Robusta plant is quick-growing and has a greater crop yield than that of Arabica. Robusta coffee has a lower quality, more intensity and bitterness than Arabica.
Economically, Robusta is also cheaper, so it is traditionally used for lower quality and cheap coffee blends.
Coffee production areas are relevant for quality beans, this way coffee grown at high altitudes comes from Colombia, Nicaragua, Central America, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, etc., which guarantee a great coffee production.
Harvest is also important, as beans which are collected at the optimal time will have better quality than those collected sooner or later.
The beans that are organically grown, without the use of chemical products, brings coffee with full aroma and flavour which preserves all properties of the product.
We should follow up the idea of considering that a good coffee is determined for the great bean used in the production process.
2nd element: Coffee blend
The experience of coffee growers together with the blend of different coffees with different features aimed to produce a balanced coffee is an additional element to get a great coffee. But it is also true that there are wonderful not-blended coffees.
The secret of blend is picking the best coffee beans, from the best areas, in the optimal harvest time to create the best coffee. Blend should be balanced as well.
Whatever blend we like to make, coffee beans should be excellent quality from the best production areas.
3rd element: Coffee roast
Besides the good selection of coffee beans and blend, coffee roast is the final point that allows to enhance the main features of body, flavour and aroma, making this way a quality coffee that brings out all properties of coffee.
There are different types of roast according to each country and each type of coffee needs.
The traditional addition of dark roast coffee to the blend in Spain deserves a special mention.
Dark coffee, which has up to 15% of caramelized sugar, gives a special bitterness to coffee that people may like, must not be confused with strength or bitterness of natural coffee itself.
Dark roasted coffee hides the aromatic properties of a good coffee, so we should not expect finding a good quality in a dark roasted coffee.
There are different degrees of roast: light roast, American roast, Viennese roast and Italian roast.
According to the coffee type and the intended use, the roast degree is decided. Roast and blend are the two most influencing elements on the final result of coffee.
4th element influencing in coffee quality is packaging.
To get coffee preserved it is important that aroma remains, in addition to avoid moisture and oxidation of coffee beans.
Oxidation of coffee.
Oxygen in the air causes chemical oxidation of coffee as it does with many other substances. Oxidation process is favoured by moisture, high temperature and lightness.
Loss of aroma
Aromatic molecules are produced during coffee roasting and then they move to coffee surface. Therefore, time between beans roasting until consumption should be as short as possible to avoid the loss of aroma.
Moisture
Loss of quality in coffee is often caused by moisture, since freshly roasted coffee beans have a moisture content of 2-3%, which means that coffee is highly hygroscopic, i.e. beans capture air moisture which could ruin coffee.
Packaging coffee in appropriate bags and recipients delays the loss of aroma, preserves coffee from moisture, air, high temperature and lightness.
To sum up, you will fully enjoy you cup of great coffee at home or at the café if the following requirements are met: the quality coffee beans have been harvested at the optimal time, the blend is balanced (not absolutely necessary, but pretty common), the degree to which coffee beans are roasted is the right one, coffee is correctly packaged and time between packaging and consumption is as short as possible.
Which other elements do you think would make an excellent coffee? What do you most appreciate in a great coffee?
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