Know Your Coffee
What should you actually look for when choosing coffee?
Arabica or Robusta. Single origin or blend. Light or dark roast. Intensity 5 or 10.
Coffee packs give you plenty of information, but not all of it means what you might think.
Here's what is worth understanding.
Roasting can shape a coffee, but the raw coffee matters first.
Is Arabica always better than Robusta?
No. They're different coffees.Arabica
Often associated with greater aromatic complexity and acidity, although characteristics vary greatly depending on origin, variety, processing and roasting.Robusta
Often associated with more body, bitterness and intensity, and generally contains more caffeine than Arabica. Quality also varies widely.Arabica is not automatically “good coffee” and Robusta is not automatically “bad coffee”. The quality of the beans, how they were grown and processed, how they were roasted, and how they are used all matter.
Species tells you something about the coffee. It doesn't grade it.
Does single origin mean better coffee?
Not necessarily.
Single origin
Coffee coming from one defined origin can allow particular characteristics of that place or crop to stand out.
Blend
Coffees from different origins, species or lots can be deliberately combined to create a particular balance of flavour, aroma, body and consistency.
A blend can be a recipe.
A good blend is not simply a mixture of leftover coffees. Roasters can deliberately select and combine coffees to achieve a particular cup. Maintaining that cup as harvests and crops change can require considerable sourcing, blending and roasting know how.
Single origin and blend describe different approaches. Neither is automatically a quality grade.
The roast changes what you taste.
Roasting transforms green coffee into the aromatic coffee we recognise. How heat is applied over time develops flavour, aroma, colour and body.Lighter Roast
Can preserve more of the coffee's acidity and distinctive origin characteristics, with less pronounced roast flavour.Medium Roast
Can balance characteristics from the coffee itself with flavours developed during roasting.Darker Roast
Develops stronger roast characteristics and can bring more bitterness and heavier roasted flavours, while some of the coffee's more delicate origin characteristics may become less noticeable.Lighter isn't automatically better. Darker isn't automatically worse.
There's more to roasting than light, medium or dark.
Roast level describes only part of what happened. A roaster also manages time, temperature and the development of the coffee throughout the roast.
Two coffees described as “medium roast” can therefore taste quite different.
The goal of the roaster may also be different: preserving particular characteristics of the coffee, developing more body, creating balance for espresso, maintaining consistency across a blend, or achieving another intended profile.
Roasting is a process, not just a colour.
These are broad traditions, not strict technical categories or quality rankings.
Intensity 8/10. But intensity of what?
Some coffee brands use intensity scales to help describe how strong or bold a coffee may taste. But these scales are not universal. An intensity 8 from one brand cannot necessarily be directly compared with an intensity 8 from another.
Intensity also doesn't automatically tell you:
How much caffeine the coffee contains
How high quality it is
How dark it was roasted
How strong the finished drink will be
Those things depend on other factors too.
Intensity is a brand's guide, not a universal coffee measurement.
Chocolate. Nuts. Fruit. Are they added?
Usually, no.
When a coffee is described as having notes of chocolate, nuts, berries, caramel or other flavours, these usually describe aromas and flavours people perceive naturally in the coffee. They do not necessarily mean those ingredients or flavourings were added.
Tasting notes are also descriptions, not guarantees that everyone will experience the coffee in exactly the same way.
Tasting notes are clues to what you might notice, not a list of ingredients.
What happens after roasting matters too.
Coffee's aromas and flavours change after roasting and after the pack is opened. Exposure to oxygen, moisture, heat and light can affect it.
Whole bean
Keeps the coffee intact until you grind it. Grinding just before brewing can help preserve more aroma.
Ground coffee
Offers convenience and can work very well when the grind is appropriate for the brewing method, but the greater exposed surface area means aroma can change more quickly after opening.
Keep coffee well sealed, dry and away from unnecessary heat and light.
Start with how you drink your coffee.
The coffee you enjoy for one preparation isn't necessarily the one you'll prefer for another.Turkish Coffee
Very finely ground coffee brewed directly with water. The coffee choice and roast influence the flavour, while the extremely fine grind is essential to the preparation.Espresso
A concentrated brewing method where blend, roast, grind and extraction all have a strong effect on the cup.Coffee With Milk
Coffee needs to work alongside milk, so body and flavour intensity may become particularly noticeable.Filter
A different extraction style that can make clarity, acidity and more delicate flavour characteristics easier to notice.You don't need to be a coffee expert.
Try two coffees side by side and pay attention to a few simple things.
Smell
What do you notice before you drink it?
First sip
Does it immediately seem mild, bold, sweet, bitter, bright or something else?
Body
Does it feel light, smooth, creamy, heavy or somewhere in between?
Flavour
Can you notice cocoa, nuts, fruit, caramel, roasted flavours or something else?
As it cools
Coffee can taste different as its temperature changes. Notice whether other flavours become easier to identify.
Aftertaste
What stays after you swallow?
Most importantly, do you enjoy it?
Personal preference matters.
Comparing two coffees? Start here.
- What coffee is it?
Arabica, Robusta or a blend? - Where is it from?
Is origin information provided, and how specific is it? - Single origin or blend?
Remember that neither is automatically better. - How is it roasted?
Light, medium, dark or another description? - What flavour profile is being described?
- Whole bean or ground?
If ground, is it suitable for how you prepare coffee? - How are you going to drink it?
- Most importantly, what do you actually enjoy?
There isn't one “best” coffee.
Origin tells you something.
Arabica or Robusta tells you something else.
The blend, processing and roast all add more information.
And how you prepare and drink the coffee changes the experience again.
Understanding those differences gives you more to go on than a name, an intensity number or a price tag.