There are as many beans and coffees from around the world as there are grapes and wine – and as much delight to be had in sampling them. The Colombian is, rightly so, world-renowned. The La Esperanza from Tolima, for example, is grown at almost 6,000 feet and the effect shows. High-toned with a delicate [...]

To achieve a good roast you have to start with beans that have been skillfully selected and dried. Some bean processors use a wash to remove the fleshy fruit from the bean and to separate different kinds of beans. Density differences in the bean will cause some to float higher, making for easier removal or [...]

Brazil The coffee from Brazil is world-famous for a good reason: it’s stellar. None more so than the Brazil Bourbon Santos. Brazil is the world’s largest coffee bean producer, but hasn’t always been regarded as the best. That may change if this blend catches on. Named after the birthplace of the cultivar, an island now [...]

In the 1930s, physicists started discovering a whole zoo full of exotic atomic particles. There were muons and kaons and who-knows-whatelse-ons. When told of these, the famous physicist Enrico Fermi said: ‘If I wanted to remember all that I would have become a botanist.’ Ironically, later he invented the process used in atomic bombs. I [...]

True coffee aficionados always drink their coffee straight, right? Wrong! There are, if anything, more blends and flavorings of coffee than there are of wine. Cast off your confines and let loose with the 101 different ways to enjoy nature’s gift. The creativity of blenders is inexhaustible. One Indonesian blend is a combination of Sumatran [...]

Why should professionals have all the fun? ‘Cuppers’ taste coffee as an adjunct to professional buying, judging contests, writing reviews and so forth. But the joy of sitting before a half-dozen cups of Tanzanian Peaberry, Monsoon Mysore and the rest is a delight anyone can experience. The cupper tastes (and smells) for aroma, flavor, body, [...]

Ever wonder why one bean makes it to your local specialty shop and another doesn’t? Long before you sip a delicious cup of dark ambrosia, coffee graders make hot and tiring journeys, face insects and hostile governments and endure weeks of frustration and danger to bring you that favorite brew. Ok, maybe it’s not quite [...]

Once upon a time in America there was drip or instant, milk or sugar. Folger’s was the name of the game. Then, from Australian Skybury to Kenyan Peaberry, from Kona to Barcelona, the world exploded with options. Today there’s enough variety in choices of blend, country and style to boggle the greatest coffee aficionado. Of [...]

A ‘barista’ is someone who makes coffee drinks as a profession. Naturally, that experience will shape how beans are judged. ‘Cuppers’ (coffee contest judges or professional tasters) and company buyers share the barista’s goal of finding beans which produce a great drink. But it’s the barista who stands in front of the final consumer every [...]

That a mere beverage could generate so many romantic tales and so much hard-headed business is a wonder. Yet from its beginnings to the present, this dark and pungent liquid has fascinated, cured and enriched billions the world over. Legends abound about the origins of the coffee plant, but the most reliable histories put its [...]