By Juan Esteban Vasquez
If your passion is good coffee and you want to know more about how to buy the best coffee, it is important that you take into account the following information that the El Ocaso farm has prepared for you.
First of all, you have to know that there are different types of coffee grouped mainly into two classes. On the one hand we have the Arabica variety and on the other the Robusta variety. The first is the most commercialized in the world and is the one that almost all Colombian coffee shops bet on. Why? This type of coffee has a lower concentration of caffeine and this makes it softer and less bitter. In a cup of this type we can also find fruit and citrus flavors, such as the yellow tabi coffee that we sell on the farm.
However, the taste of coffee does not depend only on its type. Also keep in mind that the fermentation, drying and roasting process can change everything. Three methods are the usual worldwide for drying coffee: natural, washed and honey. In the first method, the beans are dried with the cherry before threshing. In the second, before drying, the grains are fermented to remove the pulp and mucilage. The third is a mixture of both in which, although the pulp is removed, the mucilage is left while the coffee dries.
The latter is a more difficult process but achieves a greater concentration of sweet flavors and balanced acidity. The clarity that this type of process gives to the taste of coffee makes it a higher quality product. It is necessary to clarify that in turn there are three types of honey coffee: yellow, red and black. They differ in the amount of mucilage that is left in the drying; 20, 50 and 100 percent respectively.
Regarding roasting coffee, it should be noted that it also modifies the flavor. Usually there can be three levels regarding the amount of time it is allowed to roast: light, medium and dark. The more roasted the coffee is, the more it loses caffeine levels. This could suggest that this will give more smoothness and therefore higher quality in the coffee. However, with roasting, other properties can also be lost. That is why specialty and original coffees are usually medium roasted. The medium level is also recommended because it gives hints of caramel, nuts or even chocolate.
We hope that this data can help you better choose the coffee you want to drink and enjoy. We also want to remind you that although prices in the international market can vary greatly, and depending on the varieties and processes can reach very high costs, excellent quality coffee can be obtained for prices ranging from $ 12 to $ 25 a pound. We also invite you to be intrigued by the Colombian coffee that hides so many stories behind its softness.
