Posted on 08/02/2022 12:25:50 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Researcher Addis Alemayehu with collected coffee cherries drying on a wire mesh. A research group in Ethiopia studied production methods and bean processing methods of Arabica coffee to determine which factors influenced the flavor the most. Credit: Fikadu Ejigu But is it the type of bean, the way it is grown—or the way it is processed that makes the most of every last drop of coffee?
Researchers recently published a paper about this question in Agrosystems, Geosciences and Environment journal. The journal is a publication of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America.
Addis Alemayehu and a research team at Southern Agricultural Research Institute in Ethiopia studied Arabica coffee. Ethiopia is Africa's leading country for coffee bean production, and Arabica is the leading variety.
"Arabica coffee is an integral part of the southwestern Ethiopian tropical forest agroecology," says Alemayehu. "The forest ecosystems create conducive conditions for producing distinctive quality coffee. They also are a good source of income for farmers."
"Coffee production and processing systems are the primary factors that determine the overall quality of coffee produced in a specific environment," says Alemayehu.
Many factors influence the growth and development of coffee plants, including:
altitude, rainfall pattern, temperature, relative humidity, light, moisture, and soil nutrients These factors then influence the quality of the bean, and of the biochemicals inside the bean that influence the coffee quality.
Coffee cherries grow in various systems within the Kaffa Zone, in the southwestern part of Ethiopia. This photo shows coffee growing in semi-forest coffee system. Researchers collected the red coffee berries and studied various processing methods and how they influence coffee quality. Credit: Addis Alemayehu The research team studied coffee crops from three different regions. All the regions were within the Kafa Biosphere Reserve in Kaffa Zone, in the southwestern part of Ethiopia. The growing regions ranged from over 1,500 feet high (comparable to Arizona's Camelback Mountains) to over 11,000 feet (similar to the Wasatch Mountain Range in Utah). The temperature and rainfall varied at each site, as did some of the growing practices. This gave the team data on production and growth habits that may influence coffee bean quality.
To study bean processing's influence on bean quality, the team collected the ripe cherries (unprocessed beans) at study sites from October to December 2018. Each sample was divided into three equal amounts to apply the three processing methods: dry, semi-wet and wet processing:
Dry processing means coffee cherries were sundried. Wet processing means coffee cherries are pulped with machine. The beans are then fermented as part of the wet processing method. Semi-wet processing means coffee cherries pulped with machine and hand washed, then parchment coffees with mucilage cover were sundried. Professional coffee testers participated in the testing phase of the research. They participated in the physical, raw, and cup testing procedures.
"We need to keep bean moisture content high within the recommended range to get better cup quality, specifically coffee acidity," says Alemayehu. "The study confirms that better quality coffees come from selective hand-picking of red-ripe cherries. In addition, it is better to use the dry processing method within the recommended range of green bean moisture content."
Because of deforestation, the genetic material of Arabica coffee is stored in a preserve, called the Kafa Biosphere Reserve which was established in 2010 as a UNESCO site. The United States preserves both seeds and genetic materials in seed banks. In addition, some sites, like the Wild Chile Botanical Area in Arizona preserve live plants, similar to Ethiopia's UNESCO site.
I have also been a coffee connoisseur for most of my life until I lost my stomach due to stomach cancer. I was told not to drink coffee, decaf or regular as there was an acid that the lack of a stomach could not deal with correctly.
After a couple of years dealing with that loss of something I really enjoyed, I read a Bariatric Website bulletin that explained it. Dry roasting brings our five acids in various amounts. One of those particular acids was the culprit and shazam, Air Roasted coffee had little of that one acid. As the other acids remain, the taste is not impacted in my opinion.
I bought a small bag of what they had and sure enough it was something I could deal with. I happened to know an entire coffee line from my home town that was Air Roasted.
The Roasterie Coffee Company is exclusively air roasted and I used to buy it in Kansas City all the time and I knew blends of theirs I already liked. (They have dozens). I ordered a couple of pounds and problem solved. I still do black tea about 60% of the time but now I can have coffee again.
Of course, this article is dealing with dry processing, not the final roasting process, but there might be someone for which this is a useful find.
I had a point in life where I traveled five days a week. I would be in the same hotel the whole week and at that time I traveled by car most of the time. I would grind good coffee in perc grind and take an electric percolator my grandmother gave me in 1970. I would start it at 5:30 by a timer I brought with me and wake up to that old style percolator coffee smell pervading my whole room.
One hotel in particular had the staff tell me they loved it as that whole half a floor had a great smell each day.
I am a little bit of a coffee snob but I do think that is a pretty decent coffee.
Wonderful to know there is a coffee option available to you. Cheers to another satisfying cup of java!
There is a variety of coffee known as Indian Monsooned Malabar, which is known for its low acidity and full body. There was a particularly wonderful crop produced this year. They even had decaf available for a short time. The decaf old out quickly.
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Amazon has both -
Thanks; I’ll have a look, and at some of the reviews. Might even get the Kona Blend, just for a try.
What grind do you get?
The finer the grind — Turkish is my choice — the more flavor.
I once subscribed from a client of mine who imported Costa Rica coffee the best coffee I have ever had. $30 a pound, and two pounds a month. I now drink Folgers Breakfast blend. It’s not as good as the other. The Costa Rica has little acid taste and better flavor, but the dood went to prison (importers of coffee tends to also import other things). I don’t miss it, and Folgers has been fine.
You're welcome. And good luck!
It's certainly a very drinkable cup of coffee, IMO.
I loved Gevalia’s Cafe de Oriente. But they dropped it maybe ten years ago. Several people complained, and their answer to me was something stupid like wanting to give customers a wider selection. Gevalia’s Dark Royal Roast isn’t too bad, but doesn’t compare do Cafe de Oriente.
Wow, definitely bookmarking this thread. I was hoping it would generate some interest and we’d get lots of great tips for buying, grinding, brewing, etc., good coffee. And did we ever! Thanks to all.
BTW, did anyone ever watch “Dangerous Grounds?” Kind of gimmicky, but it kept me tuned in every week. The gimmick was that the host would travel to sketchy parts of the world to score what he thought were some of the best coffee beans in the world. Supposedly, you couldn’t get these beans anywhere else because few people were willing to risk their lives just to get a truckload or two of rare beans.
It only comes in one grind.
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Coarse, espresso, Turkish?
I’d regrind to Turkish, as the more surface exposed to water, the greater the flavor.
It’s much finer than their Columbian. I’m old enough to remember when all supermarket coffee was sold in fine grind for drip coffee makers, and regular grind for percolators.
Does anyone use those Italian coffees / cans or airtight packages/ in Italian food stores?? Our Italian professor said Italian coffee was better than any over
Here And she would buy a suitcase-full on her yearly trips home.
illy
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