About Green Coffee Beans FAQ
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About Green Coffee Beans
What is the best tasting coffee bean with high caffeine?
I like a very strong coffee -- are these strong coffee beans?
What is a "peaberry" coffee bean?
Why do you charge more for your decaf compared to your regular coffee?
I don't understand the difference between green coffee beans and brown coffee beans? What does GREEN coffee beans mean?
Green coffee beans is the industry name for raw, unroasted coffee. You need to roast these beans before they smell and taste like "coffee". Green coffee beans are undrinkable; roasting green coffee beans is what brings the aroma and flavor that we associate with the coffee drink. However, once beans are roasted, they begin the process of going stale. Freshly roasted coffee is best drunk within a week or two. Green coffee beans, properly stored, can be stored for up to a year before roasting for optimal freshness.
What is the best tasting coffee bean with high caffeine?
There is no significant difference (less than 0.01%) in the amount of caffeine between different Arabica coffee beans. Robusta beans (bad tasting coffee; don't buy it) have 20% more caffeine. So don't worry about the caffeine content and go for the best tasting Arabica coffee that you can get.
I like a very strong coffee -- are these strong coffee beans?
"Strong" coffee does not depend much on the degree of roast or type of beans, but more on the amount of ground roasted coffee that you mix with water. The stronger the coffee you want, the more ground coffee you mix with the same amount of water.
You say that robusta is higher in caffeine than arabica. At the risk of sounding crass, one of the reasons I drink coffee is for the caffeine. Does some arabica coffee have a high caffeine count also?
Yes, on average, Robusta coffee beans have twice the amount of caffeine as Arabica beans. Some Arabica beans (also depending in the processing method) show more caffeine than others, but not to the order of magnitude when compared with Robustas. The problem with Robusta beans is that they also don't have much flavor. They have good body, however, and are mainly used for inexpensive, ungraded commercial coffee, but also often for espresso blends, because they help produce nice, thick crema. One of the reasons that Robustas are not good tasting is because they are not as processed carefully and diligently as specialty Arabicas. There are a few people that claim that well processed Robustas (washed, properly dried) are not quite as good as the best Arabicas, but just as good as a decent Arabica. Robusta usually sells for about half price of Arabicas. At the end, the proof is in the pudding -- whether or not you like a coffee's taste.
Can your coffee beans be planted as seeds? And how long does it take for a coffee tree to grow, until first harvest?
No. In order to prepare them for export and consumption, green coffee beans have been processed (dried, milled, vacuum-packed, etc) which causes the seed germ to die and not be able to germinate. If you want to grow coffee trees (we are growing some in Boston, outside in the summer, inside the rest of the year) you need to get unprocessed raw beans "en pergamino" (in parchment) with the outer protective skin still on the bean. Coffee beans do not germinate easily outside their natural habitat (between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn) and it takes a long time (60 days)! A coffee plant begins bearing fruit only after three years healthy of life. Enjoy! -Nelson
What is a "peaberry" coffee bean?
The coffee fruit (cherry) has seeds that split into two "coffee beans," like Siamese twins, upon maturity and processing. However, a few beans do not split and mature into a single, small berry, called "caracol" in Bolivia, and peaberry in the international coffee markets. Peaberry beans are unique (the most common is the Tanzanian peaberry, which commands a premium price) with intense flavors. Some people love Bolivian peaberries (especially in Japanese & Korean markets), and some people prefer only the larger, separate beans. We like to roast them for single-origin espresso.
Why do you charge more for your decaf compared to your regular coffee?
All good decaf coffees are significantly more expensive that their equivalent-quality non-decaffeinated ones. This question is commonly asked and easily explained. Most quality coffee shops and coffee merchants charge on average additional 10 cents per cup and $1/lb more per pound on all comparable-quality decafs. The explanation is quite simple. Decaffeination is a complicated, expensive industrial process that also requires and additional trip to the decaffeination plant from the farm and back to the importer. Decaffeination plants are large and there are only a few strategically located across the globe. It stands to reason that if one uses the same (or same quality) green coffee bean, the decaffeinated one will cost more. Roasters or green coffee sellers that charge the same for regular and decaf are simply compensating the higher cost decaf by using lower quality (and lower) price beans. This is why decaf has gotten its reputation as not being very good. Knowledgeable customers understand that if you want to drink good decaf, you need to pay the additional cost, and they gladly do it!
What is Bolivian coffee like? I was going to use Chiapas coffee as my base, and then mix in some Indonesian and African beans, but the Chiapas coffee is hard to get right now. Is your Bolivian coffee at all similar to Mexican coffee?
Bolivian coffee shares many of the attributes of South and Central American coffees: refined acidity (flavorful, not bitter), delicate body, fruity (berries, bananas, oranges) and chocolatey overtones, and a very pleasant aftertaste. Because our Bolivian coffee comes from high altitudes, it is very comparable to a Mexican Chiapas, or a Costa Rican Huehue.
Hi, I recently purchased 8 lbs. of your AAA coffee beans and am quite pleased with them. Can you tell me the actual difference in the cupping of the AA verses AAA? Is there really much difference in flavor? Please try to explain, thanks.
I believe only the trained coffee drinker can find much of a difference between our Superior (AA) and Cumbre (AAA) beans. A trained professional cupper can find enough nuances and taste attributes that induces her/him to rate the Cumbre higher in the cupping score. Usually the difference in those attributes are the intensity of the fruity flavor, the depth of the cool down (as the coffee swirls around cooling off in your mouth), the aftertaste sensation and the different flavor modalities as the coffee cools down. When cupping, you will notice that different coffees change flavor as they cool down (some get better, some get worse). All this makes a difference for the ultimate cupping score. I would recommend that you try both. At the end of the day, you drink coffee because you enjoy it, not because an expert tells you that this coffee or that coffee is good. If you can't really tell a difference, buy the Superior and save yourself some money!