A coffee bean is a seed of the coffee plant and the source for coffee. The two most economically important varieties of coffee plant are the Arabica and the Robusta; ~60% of the coffee produced worldwide is Arabica and ~40% is Robusta. Arabica beans consist of 0.8–1.4% caffeine and Robusta beans consist of 1.7–4% caffeine.
The Coffee Junkie
Everything You Need To Know About Coffee
Coffee Beans
Types of Roast
Roasting is a heat process that turns coffee into the fragrant, dark brown beans we know so well.
It brings out the aroma and flavor that is locked inside the green coffee beans. Beans are stored green, a state in which they
can be kept without loss of quality or taste. A green bean has none of the characteristics of a roasted bean -- it’s soft and spongy to the bite and smells grassy.
Roasting causes chemical changes to take place as
the beans are rapidly brought to very high temperatures. When they reach the peak of perfection, they are quickly cooled to stop the process. Roasted beans smell like coffee, and weigh less because the moisture has been roasted
out. They are crunchy to the bite, ready to be ground and brewed.
Most roasters have specialized names for their favored roasts and there is very little industry standardization. This can cause some confusion when you’re
buying, but in general, roasts fall into one of four color categories — light, medium, medium-dark and dark.
| Light Roast | Medium Roast | Medium Dark Roast | Dark Roast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light City | City | Full City | High |
| Half City | American | Continental | |
| Cinnamon | Breakfast | European | |
| New Orleans | |||
| Espresso | |||
| Viennese | |||
| Italian | |||
| French |
