If you are like me and love a great tasting cup of java, you will agree that coffee certainly is the delicious drinks in the world. I bet that you are even drinking a cup at this very moment. But the question is, how do you choose one brand of coffee over another one. Better yet, what does it take to make a great tasting cup?

When it comes to coffee, there are 2 general species and these are called Arabica and Robusta. The specie Arabica is the finer one. This grows in the subtropical and tropical regions around the world. The Arabica variety of coffee beans usually have a more complicated set of fragrance and flavors, though not as bitter and caffeinated as the Robusta variety.

Robusta specie of coffee beans are not particularly produced for a gourmet grade. Many of the world’s largest coffee companies blend together Arabica with Robusta, particularly due to the fact that Robusta is so much more inexpensive. This results in a blend that is sorf ot weak, thus producing a product that is inferior in terms of aroma and flavor. Thus, when you buy coffee from the supermarkets or wherever, choose a brand that is labeled 100% Arabica. This will ensure you a very superior taste even if you just use less coffee.

Usually, the quality of Arabica coffee depends on the conditions where it is grown in. Most of the time, the world’s best beans are produced from trees that grow in higher altitudes. These trees are also placed in the shade of another tree. Beans grown following the more traditional methods are done with a canopy known as shade trees whose purpose is to make the growing process of the coffee bean slower. This allows each coffee bean to mature at a very slow pace, producing a lot of natural sugar at a more complex, refined and wonderful flavor and also with lesser caffeine.

It is also very important to roast the coffee beans well as this is an important factor to producing a perfect cup of coffee. There’s  no just one roasting method that applies to all types of coffee beans. There is an art to roasting and a specified degree to roast raw coffee beans and this depends with the flavor character of each type in the variety.

A coffee bean is sold to coffee importers while still green and this is called unroasted. Only after the coffee beans have been roasted that freshness matters. When roasting is complete, the degradation of the flavor begins, because oil begins to oxidize and this contains the aroma and flavor. When buying coffee, look for those in an oxygen sealed bag and those still in whole beans. These bags can be stored in the freezer and just grind them as you need.

If you want to produce premium coffee, you have to buy these coffee beans still in the green form and roast them yourself. For me, I feel very rewarded whenever I roast my own cup of coffee. The results are outstanding!

For more useful information, please visit our website: THE KNOWLEDGE BASE, and look for the FOOD & DRINKS section.