Posts Tagged ‘thousand feet’

Going to Buy Coffee Beans? Read This First!

Posted in Drink Recipes on September 18th, 2009 by admin – Comments Off

People who are not familiar with whole coffee beans and coffee often ask what so special about coffee beans in the first place when jar of regular coffee can be easily purchased and is much more convenient. That would be absolutely true if you’re all about convenience. But good taste is a whole other matter.

The fact of the matter is that there are over twenty different types of coffee beans. However, they are primarily divided into two broad types. Regular coffee drinkers might already be familiar with the various types of coffee beans available and their various flavors.

60%-70% of the world’s consumption of coffee comes from the Coffea Arabica coffee bean. It is also the type of coffee bean that most people enjoy drinking the most. The Caffea Arabica coffee bean is also a very expensive bean due to the strict growing conditions that are required when growing this coffee variety.

Coffee Arabica plants need a certain altitude in which they can thrive which should be at least a few thousand feet above sea level. These plants should also be grown in a temperature between 65- 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Coffee Coffea Canephora makes up between thirty to forty percent of the world’s coffee consumption. This type of coffee is also commonly called Robusta. This type of coffee bean is thought to be of an inferior quality because of its bitter taste. Coffee Cofera or Robusta can be grown at around 85 degree Fahrenheit and in almost any place. However because of its bitter taste its not very popular among most people.

Coffea canephora are often used as fillers for coffea Arabica beans, which because Arabica is expensive, are often mixed with these lesser quality coffee beans. So most of the time when you buy coffee beans it’s coffea Arabica mixed with Robusta in order to bring it within the reach of common people.

Whether you prefer Arabica based coffees or go for the Robusta varieties, the freshest and best tasting cup of coffee will always be made from freshly ground coffee beans. You can certainly buy a large can of supermarket coffee that is already ground up, or you may actually buy coffee beans from the same supermarket and grind it right there using their coffee grinder. But within a week or so, your ground-up coffee beans are going start tasting stale.

The best alternative is to purchase only small batches of whole coffee beans and grind them at home as you need them. Coffee grinders are widely available and fairly inexpensive, so it’s worth the money to buy coffee beans and grind them yourself.