The Coffee Process - Bean Selection
The Ideal Cup starts with the ideal bean.
Join us as we hand select the finest beans from exclusive regions around the world!
The Americas
This region is home to the first and second largest Arabica-producing countries in the world – Brazil and Colombia. There are an estimated 6 billion coffee trees in Brazil alone. Due to the prevalence of washed processing, this region’s coffees are generally bright, with a clean finish.
Regional Coffees:
- Assorted Sampler
- Costa Rican Ooh-Ah
- Costa Rican Tarrazu
- Guatemalan Antigua
- Colombian supremo
- Colombian Blend
- Jamaican Blue Mountain
- Mexican Valle
- Brazilian Santos
- Venezuelan
Regional Facts:
- Soil: Volcanic, red clay, fertile, rich, deep
- Processing: Dry, semi-washed, and washed
- Taste Profile: Generally bright and spicy with a clean finish. Delectable notes of citrus.
Pacific & Indonesia
This expansive region is made up of over 13,600 islands ranging from the archipelagos of Indonesia to Hawaii. Coffees from this region are blessed with a mystic, individual character due in part to the wide variety of traditional processing methods employed here.
Regional Coffees:
- Assorted sampler
- Hawaiian Kona fancy
- Hawaiian Blend
Regional Facts:
- Soil: Volcanic
- Processing methods: Dry, semi-washed, and washed
- Taste Profile: Earthy, rustic flavors, rich, dense and woody. Robust and exceedingly aromatic. Full bodied.
THE WORLD OF FLAVORS.
The SOURCE is the Key to Great coffee. Golden roast Coffee works with the world’s best growers to find coffees that embody the flavors of the micro regions where they are grown.
All factors such as dramatically different climates, mountain regions & topography impact the flavors that grow within the coffee cherry, and keep the bean selections process unpredictable and exciting year after year.
SOURCING THE MOST EXCELLENT
Today two species of coffee are harvested commercially: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica plants produce the world’s highest-quality beans. (The genetically inferior Robusta lacks the complexity to be considered in the specialty coffee category.) At golden roast, we obtain the finest, the top 10% of Arabica beans, and select the most excellent to Put our name on.
There are over 65 different varieties in the Arabica species – all of which stem from the original two: Bourbon and Typica. Like grapes, the genetic strain of the plant, the way it adapts to its environment, and the way it is handled profoundly influence its character. The French call it “terroir,” meaning “taste of place.”
HARVESTING & PROCESSING
Each year, coffee is harvested during the dry season when the coffee cherries are ripe, red (or yellow in some cases), glossy, and firm. Skilled workers will return to a coffee tree quite often over the course of a few weeks in order to pick the cherry at its peak ripeness. Once picked, the cherries are processed in one of three ways: washed, semi-washed, and dry processing.
Washed Processing (or wet processing).
Washed processing begins with pulping the cherries of their skins. Using a pressurized machine, the cherries are pushed against a screen that allows only the seeds to pass through. Once the skin is removed, the coffee is then fermented with or without water. This process removes the pulp that surrounds the coffee beans and can take 16-36 hours depending on a number of factors. Once the pulp is removed, the coffee is dried on a patio until the coffee moisture level is 11-12%. The coffees produced using this method are very consistent, generally bright and dry with flavors of citrus (tangerine, apple, lemon), medium to high acidity and aroma of flowers, spice and nuts.
Semi-Washed (or pulped natural).
Like washed processing, the cherries are pulped of their skins. After the coffee is pulped, the fermentation stage is skipped and the coffee goes directly to the patio to be dried with the pulp intact. By removing the skins, the pulp dries much faster than in dry processing. This gives coffee more acidity and flavor consistency and results in a taste profile that is generally sweet with wetter citrus flavors and more body and complexity than washed coffees. Brazil has made this method famous and produces some of the best semi-washed coffees in the world.
Dry Processing.
The original “natural” method, dry processing entails drying the coffee cherries on patios, rooftops, or raised netting with the fruit and skins intact. Once the cherry is dried, the coffee is hulled to remove the dried cherry and the parchment. Coffees produced using this method are generally the most aromatic and flavor complex. Flavors range from herbal to cocoa-like with fresh and dried fruit notes.