Recommendation of Specialty Coffee Beans: Ten Pour-Over Coffee Beans
Contents:
1. How to choose specialty coffee beans?
2. Ten Specialty Pour-Over Coffee Beans.
How to choose specialty coffee beans?
How to choose specialty coffee beans? Preferences for flavors vary from person to person when selecting pour-over coffee beans. For those accustomed to pour-over coffee or newcomers entering the world of specialty coffee, here is a recommended and highly representative list of ten specialty pour-over coffee beans, all acclaimed for their high quality and unique flavors.
Ten Specialty Pour-Over Coffee Beans
1. Ethiopian Coffee
2. Panama Geisha Coffee
3. Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
4. Sumatra Golden Mandheling Coffee
5. Guatemala Huehuetenango Coffee
6. Kenyan AA Coffee
7. Costa Rican Honey Processed Coffee
8. Brazilian Pulped Natural Coffee
9. Colombian Coffee Specialty Processing Methods
10. Taiwanese Alishan Coffee
Ethiopia boasts a millennia-old legend in coffee and is the birthplace of coffee worldwide. The country hosts a variety of coffee tree species, cultivated at an average altitude of 2000 meters, making it a significant region for producing high-quality coffee beans. Common Ethiopian coffee regions include Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Guji, and the renowned Gesha Village in recent years. Ethiopian coffee beans typically offer unique floral and fruity flavors, making them among the favored choice of specialty coffee beans for Taiwanese coffee enthusiasts.
In Ethiopia, grading of coffee is based on physical characteristics and cupping scores, spanning nine grades from G1 to G9. This is part of the grading system by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). The commonly heard G1 (Grade 1) represents the highest grade in Ethiopia's coffee grading system.
Panama Geisha coffee stands as one of the world's highest-quality coffees, renowned for its unique floral aroma and rarity. Positioned on the east side facing the Caribbean Sea and the west side adjacent to the Pacific, Panama benefits from abundant rainfall ideal for coffee cultivation. The unique microclimate of the highlands in Panama is a critical factor distinguishing Panama's coffee. The term "Geisha" derives from Geisha Mountain in Ethiopia, phonetically similar to the Japanese Geisha, hence called Geisha by Chinese speakers. Geisha coffee boasts a delightful aroma, hinting at jasmine and the bright acidity of fruits like raspberry, lychee, apple, and orange, with a sweet and clean aftertaste, offering a very smooth mouthfeel.
Rated among the "world's ten most expensive coffees," Panama Geisha coffee was, at one point, the most expensive coffee globally! In the latest Best of Panama (BOP) coffee auction in late August 2023, the winning bid for the washed Geisha lot GW-01 set a record with a staggering price of $10,005 per kilogram, approximately NT$320,000. This calculates to almost NT$8,000 for 20 grams of roasted coffee beans for a cup!
3. Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
Blue Mountain Coffee refers to high-quality coffee specifically cultivated in the Blue Mountains of eastern Jamaica. Surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, when sunlight shines on the vibrant blue ocean, the mountain peaks reflect a radiant blue hue, inspiring the name. Coffee grown on the Blue Mountain isn't equivalent to "Blue Mountain Coffee." Only within the designated growing area and between altitudes of 915 to 1675 meters can coffee rightfully be called Blue Mountain Coffee.
For half a century, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee has been the world's most successful and highest-priced coffee. Its flavor profile is sweet, smooth, mellow, full-bodied, with a clean finish and a lingering sweet aftertaste. The grading of Jamaican "Blue Mountain Coffee" ranges from the highest to lowest quality: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and Round Beans. Justin Coffee uses the top-grade Blue Mountain No.1.
4. Sumatra Golden Mandheling Coffee
Mandheling appears synonymous with Indonesian coffee, yet Mandheling is not a region, place, or variety but a mispronunciation of the Mandailing people from Sumatra. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II, a Japanese soldier tasted incredibly aromatic coffee. Curious about the type of coffee, he asked the shop owner, who mistook the question for asking where he was from and replied, "Mandheling." Post-war, Japanese traders brought the coffee to Japan, where it gained immense popularity, thus creating Mandheling coffee.
To address Mandheling's bean defect of excessive size, the Japanese implemented stricter quality control measures many years ago. Through four rounds of manual bean selection to remove defective beans, they produced the uniform and larger-sized "Golden Mandheling." Does larger bean size necessarily mean better taste? It seems so from experience! Larger beans may imply better appearance, more careful handling during processing, ensuring higher quality, and more uniform roasting, resulting in a stable production of superior flavors and mouthfeel!
5. Guatemala Huehuetenango Coffee
Guatemala, boasting high-altitude microclimates and steady rainfall combined with fertile mineral-rich soil, is a prime area for coffee cultivation among Central American countries. Huehuetenango is a specific region in Guatemala, characterized by high altitude and dryness, making it one of the finest coffee-producing regions. The coffee beans produced here are celebrated for their refreshing taste and rich fruity flavors, offering citrus and chocolate notes among others.
Kenya is a significant producer of specialty coffee in East Africa, with coffee trees mainly grown at elevations ranging from 1400 meters to 2000 meters. The primary varieties in Kenya are SL28 and SL34, unique to Kenya, bred and named by Scott Laboratories in 1930. The AA grade represents the largest-sized coffee beans in Kenya's grading system. Kenyan AA coffee is characterized by bright acidity, notes of plum, blackcurrant, citrus, grapefruit, and a prominent floral fragrance.
Coffee in Kenya is graded in two ways: by bean size and flavor profile:
Bean size grading commonly includes three levels: AA, AB, and PB, with AA sizes of 17 and 18, AB of 15 and 16, and PB being peaberries.
Flavor grading consists of three levels: TOP, PLUS, FAQ.
7. Costa Rican Honey Processed Coffee
Costa Rican coffee has seven major coffee-producing regions. The coffee grown on slopes facing the Pacific tends to be of better quality than that facing the Atlantic. Some well-known regions include Central Valley, Tarrazu, and the Three Rivers area. Costa Rican coffee exhibits good balance, tasting mild, smooth, with fruity notes, sweet aroma, and a bittersweet chocolate flavor, making it a classic in specialty coffee!
Among the three primary processing methods, honey processing, a combination of natural and washed processing, originated in Costa Rica. Similar to the washed method, after removing the skin and flesh, it skips the fermentation tank, preserving the mucilage, which, though not honey, feels sticky like honey, hence the name "honey processed." The mucilage retains high sugar and acidity levels, defining the sweetness. It offers a richer syrupy sweetness, more noticeable acidity, but a bolder taste compared to the washed method.
8. Brazilian Pulped Natural Coffee
Brazil is referred to as the "giant and monarch" of the coffee world, being the world's largest coffee producer. There are about 3.97 billion coffee trees in Brazil, with small farms contributing to 75% of Brazil's total production. Brazil employs a low-lying area coffee planting approach, breeding improved Arabica coffee trees suitable for plains or grasslands, unlike the traditional shade-grown method used in higher-altitude regions.
Pulped natural is Brazil's traditional way of processng raw coffee beans. Using a pulping machine, the outer skin and some mucilage layers are removed, followed by sun drying, similar to the yellow honey processing. It features nutty aromas, smooth acidity, and a full-bodied sweet sensation. Due to Brazil's large production, prices are relatively lower. Though lacking the fruity notes of high-altitude regions, Brazil's coffee stands out for its balanced, smooth, and robust characteristics, commonly enjoyed by the public.
9. Colombian Coffee Specialty Processing Methods
Colombia is the third-largest coffee producer globally, with an environment well-suited for specialty coffee growth. The topography and latitude-high altitude combo in its southern regions provide great potential for specialty coffee. In recent years, various special processing methods have emerged, enhancing coffee uniqueness, such as rum barrel processing, carbonic maceration, winey natural, sweet natural, anaerobic and low-temperature washed methods. These methods enrich the flavor profile, attracting coffee enthusiasts seeking distinct tastes.
Taiwanese Alishan coffee originates from the Alishan region, one of Taiwan's famous high-altitude coffee-producing areas, with altitudes exceeding 1000 meters. Similar to Taiwanese tea, Taiwanese coffee is known for its "sweetness." To produce high-quality specialty coffee, stringent criteria are followed, including hand-picking the coffee cherries. Taiwan's coffee cultivation is challenging, requiring specific conditions like being between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, high altitude (around 1000 meters or higher), abundant rainfall, and fertile volcanic soil. Alishan coffee is recognized for its fruity flavors, hints of citrus, osmanthus, plum, and chocolate notes.
This is just a list of recommended specialty coffees. Preferences in pour-over coffee flavors vary, so it's recommended to try different beans according to personal taste. Also, ensure purchasing freshly roasted high-quality coffee beans for the best coffee flavor experience.
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