Best American Coffee People, who are not well-informed about coffee, think that purchasing coffee is quite easy. All it needs is to walk down the aisle, grab the preferred bag of beans, and go home. But the process can be boring as here you will not find many variations in the flavor as you don’t have to think much. However, buying specialty coffee is completely different. Here you can procure beans from different origin countries based on your preferences. Besides, you can choose coffees with different and new flavors. And these can feel like a lot sometimes. But the process must not be confusing or stressful. Instead, you can consider it an adventure by learning the following details:
How specialty coffees are different?
How coffees become tastier with dark, medium, or light roasts
How processing has an impact on the bean flavor
Why the genetics of coffee matter
How coffee from various countries taste like
And much more
Coffee is one such drink that gives us an effective way to slow down and enjoy the flavor of life. But specialty coffee like the best American coffee has many more things to enjoy. It almost works like a method of embracing happiness in the present. For example, when you open a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans and smell the vibrant aromas, it gives you the feeling of grinding the beans with your hands, enjoying the grinding smell of the beans, and enjoying the aroma of the brew when you pour hot water over the freshly grounded coffee powder. After that, you can enjoy sipping a mug of aromatic coffee with a complex, rich flavor.
As the specialty coffees are of the highest grades and are mainly roasted by the experts, therefore these coffees are very flavorful. And the specialty coffees also include subtle notes of spices, fruits, and flowers.
Like other agricultural foods, coffee beans can be enjoyed the best when they are freshly brewed. At the peak of freshness level and after several days of the beans being roasted, the beans taste sweet, the acids are balanced and crisp, the natural oils shelve vibrant aromas, and there is a little bitterness. But the beans begin to decay first. The oil evaporates, the sugar disappears, the clear flavor becomes indistinguishable and muddy, and the acid breaks down into some bitter compounds. The loss of freshness and flavor can damage the fullness of the regular brew. As a result, it becomes tough to appreciate the coffee flavor and you don’t get the scope to enjoy the moments.
According to the experts' rule, coffee beans remain fresh only after 2-3 weeks of being roasted. So, if you are considering pre-ground coffee, then let me tell you that these grounds have just 20-30 minutes of peak freshness before they begin to decay rapidly. But how to know the freshness level of the beans before you purchase a bag? Here are some tips that can help you in this regard:
1. Check the “roasted on” dates on the coffee bag: Roasters, who mention the accurate date of roasting the coffee is always ready to tell you the truth about the beans. This is the sign of a quality-forward and transparent product.
2. Stay away from the bags with “best by” dates mentioned on them: The “best by” dates are always months in the future. It is wrong information provided by the roaster. The truth is that the beans can hold their peak freshness for weeks and not for months. But above everything else, fresh beans are always the best. Experts also mention that the ways how the coffee cherries are processed on the farm are one of the important features that create dramatic flavor differences. Now let’s have a look at different methods of processing coffee beans.
Washed process: Also called the wet process, this method of processing coffee is more controlled and faster. As a result, these beans are of higher quality compared to the average natural process. But here the fruits are separated from the beans after several days. Therefore, the beans don’t have much wild fruity flavor. But this process offers more fascinating flavors to the beans.
Natural process: Also known as the dry process, the least amount of technology is used here to process the beans. And it also takes the longest time of all, for which there is a chance of things going wrong. The majority of the naturally processed coffees are not specialty grade, but the level of coffee beans washed in this process is very different.
Honey process: This process is called the midway point between both methods mentioned above with a little spin. Here the skin of the cherries is removed during the
process, but the mucilage is left behind. It creates a visible sweetness that can’t be found with other washing methods.
