The Art and Craft of Coffee (4 page)

Dry/Wet Processed Coffee

How beans get processed matters to the coffee’s overall taste outcome. Two methods, dry and wet processing, dominate the coffee industry. For a lengthy discussion of processing, see
chapter 2
.

Worldwide Guide to Coffee

Now that you know about coffee’s history and process, let’s talk about its origin—how most of the top Arabica coffee is sold. Origin refers simply to where the coffee was grown. In a general sense, this provides a snapshot of what to expect from the beans. A single-origin coffee comes from one particular country or region. It is not a blend. Each region or country produces coffee with a distinct flavor profile. (The proliferation of micro-businesses that link farms directly to consumers has changed that somewhat, mostly for the better.)

General conditions such as climate and soil contribute to a region’s distinct flavor profile. Also, a region’s farmers typically use one general farming method. But for all regions, individual farms and microclimates vary. Each region has many flavors across its expanse.

Central and South America

Central and South America produce what many consider the modern coffee taste, despite being the last part of the world to receive and start growing the plant. Coffee producers from this part of the world invented or perfected many modernization techniques.

Brazil

Java may have invented industrialized coffee (see “Java” entry), but Brazil upped the ante. Efficient, flat lands, good climate, and water availability make it the world’s coffee king. Though little of its coffee is truly distinctive, there’s much to like about it. Because of its notoriously low acidity, this coffee is perhaps the most useful for blending.

Throughout the 1800s and into the early twentieth century, Brazil produced more than half of the world’s coffee. In fact, during the second half of the 1800s, Brazil considered recruiting workers from China because its fertile soil returned crops faster than its own population could harvest them. Eventually, Brazil’s industry became the first modern mechanized virtual “factory” and invested in infrastructure such as railroad lines to ship coffee.

Brazil’s farmers use a variety of processes (though most Brazilian coffee is processed wet) and the country has a variety of climates, but a naturally fertile terroir exists throughout.

Colombia

Before 1900, Colombia didn’t grow coffee. By 1940, it had started to compete head-to-head with Brazil, a coffee-growing factory farm that delivered good but not great coffee (see “Brazil” entry above). It was as if the developers were thinking that if Brazil’s natural coffee-growing conditions were good, Colombia’s were even better.

Colombia developed a standardized system that separated and graded coffees grown on individual farms primarily by size. The system was great for flavor consistency—it practically established a single flavor profile known as Colombian coffee—but nearly eliminated individual farm terroir experiences. In other words, consumers took notice of the “100% Colombian” label but stopped tasting what individual farms could produce. A mass marking campaign surrounding Colombia’s fictional folk hero, Juan Valdez, further pushed this notion.

In the past decade, the country’s industry has loosened up. It now produces prize-winning varieties from different regions (no more single taste stereotype). Today, this country’s coffees are wine-like, balanced with good body, and enjoyed the world over.

Costa Rica

This country’s coffee crop has a reputation for having everything, including balance. The terroir contains rich volcanic soil, the weather is ideal for coffee growing, the altitude is high, and the processing is modern. As of this writing, the government also is stable.

What Costa Rican coffee can seem to lack is distinction. Some critics claim it can taste bland even with all essential elements present and in balance—despite being the modern coffee world’s model for specialty coffee (meaning it is grown and processed for flavor). Most of its coffee is Caturra, treated with wet processing.

Cuba

No one smuggles Cuban coffee like they do cigars. Cuba is known for coffee, but it is for its brewing preparation rather than taste, which is bland, slightly acidic, and with less than average body. It is usually dark roasted to increase its power. Whether improved farming methods will change this is anyone’s guess.

El Salvador

El Salvador coffee, once lost in the world coffee market, is today much more accessible due to availability of small farm lots in the country. El Salvador’s farmers produce excellent Arabica Bourbon. The beans have a yellow cast and an unusually sweet smell. This coffee is best used in blends, though the best El Salvador coffee can hold its own as a single origin. Harvest season in El Salvador is late spring, so look for this coffee in June and July.

Guatemala

Guatemala might be considered the Sumatra of Latin America, with plenty of volcanic earth and sun, mountains to prevent overexposure, and a unique wood-burning drying method. It has more Bourbon growths than many of this region’s countries, and its beans can typically roast over a wide range. If buying green, roast light and then go darker. Six Guatemalan regions produce unique coffees, perhaps the best known being Antigua, Coban, and Huehuetenango.

Honduras

Honduras produces mostly commodity-grade blend coffees. Honduras’s generally low altitude does not preclude good coffee but makes it less likely. Pests enjoy coffee grown at lower elevations, making coffee grown in Honduras more susceptible to infestation.

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A beautiful sight to behold—the well-managed coffee farm.

Jamaica

Jamaica Blue Mountain is among the most expensive beans, akin to Hawaiian Kona. Like Kona, it is memorable when it’s good, with the body of a good Sumatran, the bright acidity of the best Kenyan, and the balance of a Costa Rican or Colombian. Jamaica enjoys quite volcanic soil and some farms still use traditional harvesting methods.

When purchasing Jamaican coffee, ask questions. Avoid blends not cost-competitive with other coffees. Most Jamaican coffee is roasted fairly light to preserve its acidity and varietal character. If buying green, don’t roast darker than Full City (for more on roast type, see
chapter 3
, “Coffee Roasts and Roasting”).

Mexico

The marketplace undervalues Mexico’s coffee, partially because it hasn’t been extensively marketed. Mexico has some fine coffees, with nutty brightness, light but pleasant body, snappy acidity, and good balance. With less-than-desirable growing conditions, Mexican farmers must use superior farming methods. Mexican micro-farms have produced some surprises, such as a dry-processed Chiapas from the same-named region. Coatepec, a town in the state of Veracruz, produces one of the best high-grown Mexican coffees.

Nicaragua

Previously unknown or sold as Guatemalan or Costa Rican coffee, Nicaraguan coffee has only recently gained traction. Due to political differences, it was unavailable in parts of the world for some time, including the United States in the 1980s. Nicaraguan farmers produce some fine Bourbon Arabica, generally akin to Guatemalan in taste and appearance, though less smoky.

Peru

Peru is known for filler coffees of little distinction, but has some emerging fine beans, mostly grown on its small family farms. Most Peruvian beans are void of all petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides. Expect good acidity but light body.

Puerto Rico

Until recently, only locals consumed Puerto Rican coffee, minus the country’s small annual gift to the Vatican. Puerto Rico has recently attempted to market more but has not gained much traction, perhaps because its coffee is still evolving.

Venezuela

Venezuela, once a significant coffee supplier, has receded over time, starting in the 1980s (possibly due to political instability). Some in the industry speculate that Venezuelan coffee still finds its way to the world marketplace—under the Colombian nameplate. Most of what’s available has the typical South American acidity and medium-to-low body.

Asia

Aside from the two countries profiled, the lack of small, upscale farms and craft farmers in this region has prevented a fair assessment Asia’s coffee capability or a rough guide to taste.

China

In the late 1800s, French Jesuits brought Bourbon trees to China. During the adventurous 1920s, Shanghai’s thriving coffeehouse culture, run mostly by foreigners, catered to Jazz age world travelers. Today, China is a sleeping coffee giant. It’s certainly not currently known for coffee. Yet its climate and soil conditions could support a significant bean output. It has a large motivated work force and demonstrated patience (crucial for a farmer). As of publication, a few market experiments were in the works.

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Tasting/cupping in coffee-producing countries is becoming more common, which is a good thing. This has not always been the case. Can you imagine a winery where the wine isn’t tasted before shipping?

To date, tastings have proven good, but short of great or distinctive, with a bland Pacific rim taste. It is full-bodied, but with little of the acidity and/or volcanic richness that makes other regional favorites stars. Currently, the best comes from Yunnan, in southwestern China.

India

No question India is best known for tea. But it has unique climate and farming conditions for its relatively low altitude, creating interesting coffee. India has produced coffee since 1820 when refugees from the Philippines established plantations in Bengal. Some say the plant was planted earlier in Mysore. Indian coffee became popular because of similarities to once-revered Ceylon coffee. Unlike Ceylon, India escaped the devastating leaf rust and root disease of the late nineteenth century.

Indian coffee typically has good body and acidity and can take a wide range of roasts. It is a good choice for single-origin espresso and the secret ingredient in more than one espresso blend.

Java

Javan coffee used to be the large-scale Asian price alternative to Yemen coffee. Dutch colonists built plantations in the 1700s and transplanted Yemen Bourbon trees into the rich Java soil. Java was perfect for growing coffee. Its high moisture provided a humidor-like climate that offered a different, complementary taste profile.

In the late 1860s, two diseases killed off most of Java’s Arabica. Javan farmers replanted, mostly with Robusta, and the region has never fully recovered. Today, great Javan coffees are possible but unlikely. Instead, people go to Sumatran (see “Sumatra” entry below).

Javan (and Sumatran) beans are larger than average and have a unique dark, yellowish brown shade. Mocha Java, the original blend, is one-third Yemen Mocha and two-thirds less-costly Java (or Sumatran, often labeled Java).

SPICED COFFEE?

Indian coffee is sometimes grown, stored, and shipped alongside pungent spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Some buyers claim the scents from those crops add flavor notes to the coffees. Though India has some great coffees, much of its crop goes to blending.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, with their focus on commodity coffee, has gone head to head with Brazil in an attempt to unseat them as the leader of large-scale coffee farming. Time will tell if the specialty beans will grow here as they do in Brazil.

Burma

Burma grows a tiny, yet significant amount of coffee called Myanmar. So far, it is only available in northern Europe and Japan, but it may end up in other markets.

Laos