Coffee origins
find your new favorite single origin coffee:
How climate and growing regions affect the roast in your morning cup
It is remarkable to stand in front of coffee selections and realize that all of them have come from vastly different parts of the globe, from Mexico to Tanzania, each of them have their own story to tell. In our first article of this series we talked about coffee growing regions and their limitations around the equator. Here we are going to expand our discussion about the three main growing regions and their flavor trends.
A customer once asked why all the coffee shops use the same names. They were commenting that we and another well known brand both had Sumatra. Because all coffee comes from outside of the US (except for Hawaiian!) we often refer to coffees by the regions they come from. Because the growing conditions, such as rainfall and sunlight in these regions are similar they often have the same major flavors within coffee species. Similar to wine, single origin coffees typically come from a single farm or lot. Although many coffees are blends, you will often see single origin coffees from specialty coffee roasters. Their flavor profile is strong and pronounced where as a coffee blend is a mixture of coffees from different regions, creating layers of nuanced complementary flavors and body.
We will start with African coffees. Ethiopia is often called the birthplace of coffee. It’s said coffee was discovered in Ethiopia when herders noticed their goats “dancing” after eating the cherries of the wild grown coffee shrubs. The growing regions for coffee in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya see little rainfall and can be found high on mountain slopes. Both the cooler and dry conditions create a dense been with only one flowering and fruiting cycle per year. Because African coffee beans can grow dense, they withstand higher temperatures during the roasting process, leading themselves to darker roast profiles. Mike Safai, our Master Roaster, loves to roast these darker, pulling out a body that is full, thick deep stout, chocolaty, and blueberry notes.
The coffee growing regions in Americas, from Central and South American, range from southern Mexico to central Brazil. They will often be sweeter, with a light body. Compared to other growing regions, they have a higher amount of rainfall, with two crops produced per year. These conditions create a delicate density of the coffee bean. Mike prefers these for lighter roasts, making it easier to pick up on more nuanced flavors such as nutty or stone fruits, such as peaches or plums and citrus notes, like grapefruit.
Lastly, some of the oldest commercial coffee crops grow on islands throughout Indonesia. With their volcanic soil providing minerals and nutrients, coffees grown across Indonesia in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi have been roasted light or dark for us through out the years, bringing out dark coca, red wine and spicy undertones with a rich body at all roasting levels.
Generally speaking, each of the three coffee growing regions has its own overall traditional roasting profiles based on their density due to rainfall, sunlight and microclimates. Knowing the origin of a preferred coffee profile can lead you to try others from the same region. For instance, If you enjoy Ethiopia, you may want to branch out and try Tanzania or Kenya. Although each farm, lot, season and origin will have their own nuances, the over arching sweetness and body will be similar throughout the region. Branching out to try other coffees from the same region may lead you to find your undiscovered favorite!
Watch for our next article, where we will delve into the various separation procedures and how coffee cherry processing and de-pulping changes the flavor profile in coffees grown in the same regions.
