About the Best Coffee Beans
Brazilian Arabica is the best coffee beans one can taste. Well managed, Brazilian coffee can’t be outmatched by any other in the world!
Of the two main types, Arabica and Robusta, the first one is the best tasting option by far.
Grown in higher elevations, Arabica is a smoother type of coffee.
Within the Arabica type produced in Brazil, you can also classify it by region and, at the end of the process, by roasting degree.
Region by region, the production and climate conditions will affect the final quality as well. Brazilian coffee producers from my area (and others) are always very careful with production quality, but, unfortunately, and agriculture being a weather dependent system, not everything is under control.
Fallen or Not Fallen; That is the Question
To achieve the best coffee beans, the first thing a coffee producer here in Brazil is always worried about is not letting coffee beans fall and rest on the bare ground.
From a manual harvesting point of view, the ideal situation is to strip the ripe (to slightly over ripe) coffee beans from the covered ground and pick and clean them up quickly to send over to the drying system (natural or mechanic).
Naturally, that can’t be achieved all the time. Once, because the coffee doesn’t stay there waiting for us to collect it during work hours and it falls on the ground 24 hours a day. Secondly, because it is impossible to raise the whole farm areas at the same time.
On a mechanical harvesting scenario, similar variables also apply. It simply isn’t economically viable to collect it all at once. And, from a harvesting point of view, when the machine passes through, some of the coffee also falls on the ground and will only be able to be picked up on a re-pass.
All this is to explain that “ground-fallen” coffee, due to humidity, has worse, more acid taste and, although not desirable, it is unavoidable and will be marketed at a lower price.
Every farmer will harvest different qualities of coffee every year, and all that will be marketed for different uses and destinations.
The great thing about Brazilian coffee is that we produce and market a great variety of types and roasts.
Careful, and just a bit educated, buyers, or a reliable dealer, will be able to find their way around. You can also stick to a well-known brand if you want, but I strongly recommend experimenting. If not for anything else, just for kicks. And don’t forget:
Grinding and brewing also come into play. More about this on future proper articles.
And – Hey! – Don’t just try the Brazilian options! Please take my word just as a leading windsock.
I advise you to experiment all possible types to confirm that Brazilian coffee is just the best coffee beans in the world like I say. 😛
Coffee Roast
Basically, with sub-degrees, there are three general types of roast:
- Light
- Medium
- Dark (like Starbucks)
Light is smoother and has more caffeine; dark is more bitter with less caffeine. None is better than the other.
It’s simply a matter of taste, and you should try them all to see which fits you better. I prefer medium and very sweet (forgive me, fundamentalists).
I cannot avoid commenting that from all of Brazil’s great coffees, the best coffee in the country, to my taste, come from the central-west region of São Paulo, around my town, Garça.
Please leave a comment about the Best Coffee Beans.
I love coffee, but I only drink the cheap coffee in my local supermarket, as trying to cut back on shopping costs.
would love to try a Brazilian coffee.
I enjoyed learning about the different roasts and what affects the quality of coffee, as while I am a coffee drinker I don’t know anything about the subject so I am glad I stumbled upon this site. I have learnt a lot.
Makes me want to go and try a Brazilian coffee now.
Hello, Jenny,
Thank you for your kind words. I suggest, if I may, that you try other types of coffees and recalculate your expenses. Some lower priced coffees actually make you spend more since you will need a higher coffee to water ratio to brew. I bet some experimenting will show you new ideas. Darker roasts can help with that. Brazilian coffees may still be a bit expensive, depending on where you live. But, if imports in your country scale up, that price will surely drop down.
Cheers!
I love coffee but I don’t drink it much these days because lol it makes me sleepy oddly. I have to agree with you that Arabica is the best. I used to drink espressos often, but now and again I’ll have a small Americano because the added water makes it less harsh on my stomach. I am like you, medium strength is the way to go.
Hello, Sharon,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving your impressions. Haha. Really? That’s quite odd indeed. I, myself, can drink coffee anytime at night and it won’t bother my sleep. My wife, on the other hand, doesn’t drink it after around 2PM. Seems to that you and I like all types of coffee brewing, but my preferred ones are manual pour over and espresso.
Cheers!
Caio,
Very coincidentally I recently ordered a Brazilian type which I believe is the Arabica for my Nespresso machine. It is now in my top favorites! I don’t care for dark roasted coffees at all because they seem very acidic.The only Starbucks coffee I will drink is the Blonde Veranda. Thanks so much for the education here. I found it very interesting. I hope you will be getting some of the traffic from the Olympics with your business!
Erica
Hello, Lynn,
Thank you so much for your words of support.
Cheers!
Hi Caio, wow. I don’t think I’ve ever tried Brazilian Arabica, and now I’ve read this article I must try it somehow. Is Brazilian Arabica different from other “Arabica” coffee? I just checked my kitchen cupboard…what I have now is Ethiopian Arabica. Should it be completely different, or similar in taste because of the name?
I also didn’t know that light-roast coffee has more caffeine than dark-roast. Which is good for me, as I tend to prefer dark roast but tend to drink too much of it.
Thanks for the great info.
Ray
Hello, Ray,
One thing is for sure: 100% Arabica coffee is better than anything else. Now, in my personal opinion, Braziian Arabica is better than the rest. haha. And yes, there is diference between them, affected by water, weather, soil and management. Thank God, in fact.
But don’t take my word for it. They are all fantastic if well managed, so I suggest you try them and decide for yourself. After all, taste is such a personal thing, isn’t it?
Have a great experimentation tasting quest!
Mmmm… coffee! I love it – and this was an interesting read as my husband and I have just recently switched to being dark roast lovers, as opposed to medium. For some reason it seems to be a more consistent taste! Not sure why that is.
I used to drink a fair bit of coffee every day, but during my first pregnancy, I cut down to 1 cup a day as it made my little one BOUNCE AROUND like crazy inside me. I couldn’t give it up all together though. After she was born, I decided to stick to the one cup a day and drink more water instead (help cut back the pregnancy pounds). I do miss having more, but now if I give in and have a 2nd (or 3rd, who are we kidding), I can NOT have it passed 4:30pm or I’ll be awake til midnight! Funny how caffeine affects everyone differently!
Hello, Marlaine,
Haha! Tell me about it! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Cheers!
I am a coffee junkie and I really enjoyed reading this. It’s interesting to see that the lighter coffee has more caffeine. Most people assume that the darker is stronger. I know I always did.
I have always wanted to visit a place like this that grows and harvests the beans. Very interesting.
Hello, Scott,
Maybe in taste, yes, but on caffeine. I have to confess that I was also surprised the first time I read about it. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!