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Coffee - Words And Flavors
Author: Valerie T
Today there are dozens of coffee brews, blends, roasts and countries of origin available. But making sense of the variety is more than an intellectual exercise - it's a tasting adventure!
Gourmet
This catch-all term means all things to all people. Often it'sjust another name for anything except what you find in thegrocery aisle. But it needn't be completely meaningless. Just asit's possible to distinguish truly gourmet food from junk food,gourmet coffee can be the genuine article.Often blended with spices or fruit flavors, gourmet coffeeranges from that found at specialty coffee shops to the trulysuperior bean from online sites. In every case though, whethermixed with chocolate or cocoa, oranges or bananas, or simplymade from a very fine Galapagos Island bean, gourmets are therare and the delicious.
OrganicCoffee
plantations see the risks and benefits of growing beanswithout the aid of artificial pesticides and fertilizers. Thoughmore costly, organic fertilizers and organic pest controlmethods can help produce a bean high in flavor and low inresidues.The result is, just as one example, a Peruvian blend grow in theAndes. Cultivated by methods developed by the native populationcenturies ago, the brew is mildly acidic but full of flavor.
Espresso
Espresso is nothing more than a method of making coffee,regardless of the coffee grinds used. But traditionally, and forgood reason, espresso is most often made with darker roasts. Thelonger roasting time reduces acidity and brings out all the richflavor of the bean oils.Typically produced from French or Italian roasts finely ground,then mixed with steam and hot water under high pressure, theresult is a heady brew. Espresso is designed for those who liketheir coffee to announce itself boldly.
Unroasted or 'Green'
Centuries before the coffee drink was invented, physiciansrecommended sucking on the coffee bean for health purposes.Given the range of conditions, the results would had to havebeen mixed.
Today, green beans are sold in order to keep theoils and other compounds fresh in a naturally preservativepackage.The beans are sold 'green', i.e. raw, with the expectation thatthey will ultimately be roasted before being ground and theresult used for a fine cup.
Blends
In days past, 'blended' meant 'mixed with milk'. Today it canmean any combination of beans, or beans and other organicproducts.Just as fine wines are often made from a mixture of grapes fromdifferent types, sometimes even different regions, blendedcoffees are the result of joining grinds from a variety ofbeans. Balancing body with acidity is just one of the goals.Central and South American are often mixed together, even in thebean stage, to make a heady brew from Latin America.The next step was to create the Mocha Java, a mixture ofone-third Yemen Mocha with two-thirds Java Arabica fromIndonesia. More exotic mixtures may range from blendingEthiopian with Tanzanian Peaberry to blending Turkish withMoroccan Marrakesh.
Bon cafetite!
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