The Best Fresh Coffee Beans
If you're looking to have the best coffee, buy whole beans at a local roaster or coffee shop. A shop that sells a variety of blends would be a good option.
Koffee Kult's Thunder Bolt is a dark French roast with a very satisfying flavor. It's priced higher however it's organic1 Fair Trade2 and has no additives.
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, a coffee bean prized for its delicate citrus flavor and sweet aroma, is among the world's most sought-after coffee beans. It is also a great source of antioxidants. It's best to brew it without milk and sugar to preserve the distinctive flavor profile. It's great with savory food items to make sure that the sweet and salty are balanced. It's also a great option for an afternoon pick-me-up.
Ethiopia is often regarded as the place of origin for coffee. The story goes that a goat herder named Kaldi noticed that his flock became more energetic after eating red berries on a plant close to his home. He tried the berries and found that they gave him plenty of energy. The herder then spread the berry among his family and that was how coffee first became popular.
In the Yirgacheffe area of Sidamo, Ethiopia, coffee is typically "washed" or wet processed. This helps to eliminate bitter taste and to create a fresh, clean taste. In the mid-2000s, global coffee prices reached unsustainable levels, which affected many farmers in Ethiopia. The Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union was able keep the farmers in business by making them bargain on the market and taking fair trade initiatives. This led to the introduction of an era of fruit-flavored single-origin Ethiopian coffees known as the "new naturals." Today, the world is once again enjoying the distinctive fruity, floral and citrusy flavor of the Yirgacheffe bean.
Geisha
Geisha is one of the most expensive coffee beans on the planet. It has a delicate tea-like flavor, with hints peach, mango, and raspberry. It also has a silky taste similar to black tea. But can the price really justify it?
A British consul in London discovered the Geisha variety in the 1930s in the highland area of Gesha in Western Ethiopia. The seeds were later transferred to CATIE in Costa Rica, and finally to Panama by the late Francisco Serracin, known as Don Pachi. When the Peterson family began to experiment with it at their Hacienda Esmeralda farm, they discovered that it was producing extraordinary flavors with balance and finesse.
Geisha is more than an excellent coffee. It has a significant impact on the communities that grow it. It allows farmers to reinvest their profits into improving farming practices and processes. This increases the quality of all coffee varieties they cultivate.
Many coffee lovers are still not willing to try the coffee due to its high price. This is a pity, since Geisha coffee is truly worth it. The sakura season is the best time to enjoy it and so do yourself a favor and grab some!
Ethiopian Harrar
Many consider it to be one of the top coffee beans in world, the Ethiopian Harrar is full-bodied and exotic. It is a dry-processed (natural) arabica originating from Ethiopia's southern Oromia region. It has a distinct fruity, wine-like acidity and mocha flavors.
The coffee is picked in the spring, then dried and then fermented to release its flavors and aromas. It is free of chemicals and low in calories, as opposed to most commercial coffees. It also offers a variety of health benefits, such as decreasing the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. It is also full of antioxidants and has many other nutrients. It is best to drink the cup on empty stomachs in order to reap the greatest benefits.
Ethiopian Harrar Ethiopian Harrar, one of the most sought-after coffees around is from the Ethiopian region that is the most eastern. It is grown close to the town's walled city, which is a historical landmark of Harrar and is located at the highest altitudes. This coffee is a unique blend that can be enjoyed in the form of espresso or lattes.
The coffee is then hand-sorted and harvested, and then dried by sun in traditional cloth bags. This method preserves the aromas of the beans and makes them more flavorful. It is also a more sustainable method. It can be made using any method of brewing but is most suitable to a French Press or Pour Over.
Monsooned Malabar
Monsooned Malabar is one of the world's most well-known and unique coffees, is a chocolatey coffee with a woody, nutty taste and almost no acidity. Its name comes from the "monsooning" process as well as the region it is from the most arid region of India and the mountainous region of Malabar which includes Karnataka and Kerala.
The legend behind this coffee is somewhat mythological, but during the period of the British Raj, when large wooden vessels carried coffee to Europe The cargo was often delayed due to stormy conditions. When it was at sea, the humidity and the wind that blew on the board caused the beans to develop naturally, and eventually turn a pale off-white color. When they arrived in Europe, the beans were found to possess a distinct and highly desirable flavor profile.
This unique and specialized coffee processing process, also known as monsooning, continues to today in Keezhanthoor, a hamlet of high-end quality cocooned in the Western Ghats and surrounded by small-scale, traditional tribal community farmers who are committed to the highest quality beans. They produce a full-bodied very aromatic and smooth coffee that has notes of chocolate from bakers sweet syrup and mild vanilla.
This coffee is fantastic by itself or blended with other fruity varieties. It is also able to stand up to milk well making it a perfect espresso or cafe creme coffee. It is also an extremely popular choice for pour-overs like in a Bialetti Moka pot. Because of unroasted coffee beans is able to stand up to heat too.