S1: Episode 2: Finding Your Coffee
When you’re trying to find a good coffee to brew at home the world of specialty coffee can be an impenetrable and confusing place. This episode cuts through snobbery and marketing to suggest ways to find a coffee that you’ll love. This week’s FACQ answers the question of why the altitude that a coffee is grown at has a profound effect on its flavour.
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Email: thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com
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1/ The country and region within the country where it was grown
2/ The variety of coffee bush
3/ A number with the letters m-a-s-l after it which is telling you the altitude or metres above sea level that it was grown at
4/ The processing method (such as: washed, natural, honey, anaerobic)
5/ The level of roast (light, medium, dark - or in the case of a supermarket coffee the ‘strength’ number on the packet)
6/ The farm name or Co-op if buying a roaster’s relationship coffee (where the roaster has an on-going agreement to buy coffee from the same supplier)
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Hello and welcome to The Coffee Drinker’s Guide, a podcast for the coffee curious where I explore and explain the world of specialty coffee to make your daily coffee better and more satisfying.
I’m Angela Holder a coffee roaster and writer on a mission to fight back against bad coffee by giving you the knowledge you need to help you get good coffee and a happier (coffee) life in coffee-break sized episodes. So grab your coffee, pull up a chair and take a break…
This week's episode aims to help you discover the best coffee for you. How hard can it be to find the perfect coffee? Well, the sheer variety of coffees can be both wonderful and frustrating. Wonderful because there is so much to explore and learn about, frustrating because there is so much to explore and learn about. Coffee can be confusing, opaque and difficult to understand. If you are looking for your coffee nirvana it may require some effort but I’ve got some tips to help you begin the search…
… and later….I’ll answer a question about how the altitude a coffee is grown at has a big impact on its flavour…
I first got interested in specialty coffee in my late teens, when I wandered into a shop selling coffee beans. I was drawn in by the lovely smell of coffee wafting out of the door - and by the brightly coloured plates in the window. I knew nothing about coffee really but intrigued by the names of the different coffees on offer I started buying random coffees to brew at home. My choices were based on nothing more than whether the names of the coffees caught my eye and some light guidance by the assistant. This trial and error approach certainly helped me discover what coffees I liked and perhaps more importantly what I didn’t like, but it didn’t help me understand why liked or didn’t like a particular coffee. I know now that there’s a smarter way of going about it so lets get into it…
Firstly searching for the perfect brew
When trying to pin down what type of coffee you like, a specialty coffee cafe is most definitely your friend. Most of these offer a range of drink preparations and often a choice of coffee beans to try. So for the price of a cup you can explore the many different flavours to be found in coffee - and learn the effect that the brewing method can have on a coffee’s flavour. Take note of any strong reactions you have to the flavours you taste - whether it's good or bad. If you really like a coffee, ask the barista for its details and the supplier. Specialty coffee roasters often supply independent cafes. If you can’t buy the coffee beans from the cafe you may be able to buy them direct from the roaster to brew at home - or you can use the information you just discovered to look for an equivalent coffee elsewhere.
Next searching for the taste
Coffee can range in flavour from smooth, chocolatey and rich to light, bright and citrusy. It can be straightforwardly comforting or complex and challenging to drink. So there should be a flavour style of coffee out there to suit everyone - even hardened tea drinkers, believe me! Despite the specialty coffee world’s current preference for bright, fruity and funky flavours in coffee, it’s important to note that one flavour or style of coffee is not ‘better’ than another and what really matters is what you like. Also, you are not necessarily tied to one flavour style full stop. Different times of the day and different brewing methods call for different flavour styles. I like to drink a bright complex coffee in the morning to wake me up, but it can be too challenging later in the day. My afternoon coffee is often on the chocolate spectrum and it’s also when I can appreciate coffees with funkier flavours which I would find less palatable earlier in the day. Try mixing up your coffee style and see what works for you.
Finally searching for the bean
As a rule of thumb, the better the quality of the coffee, the more detail will be given about it by the roaster or on the packet as evidence of provenance. This is a good thing but it can also oddly get in the way of appreciating the qualities of the coffee itself. Along with naming the country and the grower, farm or co-op conscientious roasters will volunteer information about how the coffee was grown, with a twist of environmental or social proof to demonstrate how Ethical the coffee is. While these considerations are important they don’t actually tell you anything about the flavour of the coffee itself. From the point of view of understanding what coffee rocks your tastebuds as well as your conscience, note the following about the coffees you like the taste of: the country, the variety of coffee bush, a number with the letters m-a-s-l after it which is telling you the altitude or metres above sea level that it was grown at, the processing method and the level of roast. These are the things to look out for the next time you are selecting a coffee. Don’t worry about keeping all of this in your head as I will put it in the show notes. Tasting notes may also be useful but can be fanciful. The chances of you tasting the ‘pomegranate’ described on the packet are quite slim but you should expect to experience some refreshing fruity acidity in the coffee rather than nuts, for example. Noting a farm or co-op’s name is useful when buying from a roaster who has a policy of developing relationships with their suppliers, as they will buy coffee from the same farms year after year. However as an agricultural product coffees are never actually exactly the same from year to year even when you buy from the same farm. The very best coffees are truly ephemeral pleasures. And this is why the quest for great coffee never ends…
Each episode I also answer a Frequently Asked Coffee Question and…
This episode’s question is:
Why is it useful to know the altitude a coffee is grown at?
The altitude a coffee is grown at is an important aspect of its terroir, or in other words the unique combination of environmental factors that affect how a coffee plant grows and ultimately how its beans taste. Altitude is important because the higher up the coffee is grown, the longer it takes for coffee cherries to ripen due to the cooler temperatures experienced at higher altitudes. This slower ripening of the cherries creates more complex sugars in its seeds which become the coffee beans we drink - ultimately producing a more interesting, complex and fruity coffee. So that’s the science-y bit, but what does it actually mean for you? Well broadly speaking the higher the altitude, the more sharp-sour flavours the coffee is likely to have. In the coffee industry we call this sharp-sourness ‘acidity’ and although it may not sound pleasant it is a good thing, believe me! So coffees grown at high altitude will have more bright, complex, definable, fruit flavours than coffees grown at lower altitudes which are more likely to be described as smooth and chocolatey. If you know what kind of flavours you prefer in your coffee, a quick glance at the altitude a coffee was grown at is a useful steer.
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Coffee Drinker’s Guide and that was all about how to find the right coffee for you. I hope you found this useful. Let me know if I helped you find your perfect coffee! If I did you’ll want to hit play on the very next episode which is all about how to keep coffee tasting good before you drink it. Also help a friend find their perfect coffee by telling them about the show and rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts to help other coffee curious people find the show too. If you have a question about coffee or a topic that you would like me to cover please get in touch. I’m on Instagram @thecoffeedrinkersguide or email me at thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com. Thanks to my executive producer Viel Richardson at Lusona Publishing and Media Limited. You can find him at lusonapub.co.uk. Until next time I’m Angela Holder thanks for taking your coffee break with me - the best way to tackle life is one coffee at a time and here’s to better coffee!
The Coffee Drinker’s Guide is a Blue Sky Coffee Project