Deciding what the best coffees are to enjoy naturally comes down to your personal taste but unless you have tried some really high quality coffees then you really can’t make an informed decision. There are many varieties of coffees that come from all parts of the world. To begin with, the best coffees are those that are smooth, rich in aroma and have a unique taste that is neither bitter nor burnt tasting. The characteristics of coffee rely heavily on the place where they are grown as well as how they are grown.
There are many differences of opinion but again that is mostly based on personal taste. For example, many feel that mountain-grown coffee is the ultimate particularly when it is grown in volcanic soil. Perhaps out of the many varieties available the two most common when it comes to quality coffee is Arabica and robusta, although many people insist that Turkish, cappuccino and espresso should be amongst these ratings as well. Basically, though these ones are more of a specialty type coffee. Then it still comes down to the Arabica and Robusta. Out of the two Arabica is the most expensive but that’s not necessarily because it’s better than Robusta. Quite often, the price takes into consideration as to the difficulty to harvest a particular crop such as Arabica as it tends to be somewhat fragile and sensitive to insects. This plays a part in the price. Whereas robusta is quite a bit hardier therefore cheaper. For the most part Arabica coffee is used more for the gourmet types where as Robusta is just a superior quality basic coffee. Once you have determined you preference in category, the next thing that affects the quality of the best coffees is the coffee bean processing. If this is not done properly then it can even make a quality Arabica coffee seem inferior. There are two types of processing…. The Wet Method: Means they are washed and mechanical means are utilized to extract the pulp. To begin with, they are allowed to ferment, then thoroughly washed and then dried. Then they are hulled in order to retrieve the green beans. Here there are sorted in accordance to their superiority. The Dry Method: They are laid out in the sun to dry and raked on a daily basis so they dry evenly. To totally dry the cherries it can take up to two weeks. They are then sorted and categorized as to quality. Both methods are quite acceptable provided they are done correctly. The next process is roasting and once again the best coffees depend on this being done correctly. Then proper packaging to seal in the flavor is most important as roasted beans become stale very quickly. In addition to this proper grinding and finally the way the coffee is prepared all dictates what the best coffees are.
