Coffee varies from country to country, from region to region. Exactly like wine, there are different species of bush, and enormous variations in soil and climate. There is, however, a very general rule of thumb, which can be applied to the most important producing continents.
- Africa
- Central and South America
- Indonesia and South East Asia
- United States of America
- India
- China
- Blends
African coffees are generally spicy and bright, with a very good level of 'coffee acidity'. Their 'point' or piquant flavour will hit the tip of your tongue. It is therefore true to say that Kenya, Mocha and Tanzania will all have hints of the same spicy tang. South and Central America coffees are altogether smooth, suave and elegant, with lovely hints of nuttiness. Indonesia coffees are the heavyweights of the coffee world. They are rich, rounded and most exotic, with dramatic aromas of hazy tobacco and aromatic tropical spices. They have a flavour full enough to support milk, have a good balance of acidity and usually served French-roasted.
Mass-market coffees will be blends, origin often unspecified. Some quality coffees are sold simply under their country of origin (i.e. Costa Rican). Speciality coffees usually have a specific regional descriptor (e.g. Costa Rican Tres Rios). But even that regional label gives nothing of the accuracy of wine labelling, which may be specific to the town and the river bank. Coffee Arabica is the variety that came from the Yemen and is the coffee of the highest quality.
Coffea Robusta came from the Congo , and it is a sturdier, high-yielding plant. The quality is not as good, but its advantage is that is grows easily and uncomplainingly almost anywhere, and is often used to make instant coffee. Whittard only uses the best Arabica beans.
Africa
Mocha
The name has also come to mean coffee flavour, for chocolate flavour, and also a type of espresso.
Mocha develops a unique flavour from the time it spends maturing in the sun. It is one that is best described as winey and gamey. Given that the brew has a distinctively thin body, it is a drink with powerful attitude which some prefer to soften by blending, often with the second-oldest coffee in the world, Mysore, from Southern India. Even a small amount of Mocha in a blend will add a definite richness. STRENGTH 6
Kenya
At its best it is distinctively rich and aromatic, with pronounced coffee acidity, but not as challenging as Mocha. Usually sold medium roast; its natural acidity would turn sour if high roast. Certain Kenyan coffees are so spicy they curdle the milk. The better coffees come from the slopes of Mount Kenya and Elgon, and are graded from top quality downwards: AA, AB, B. STRENGTH 5
More recently Kenya has been growing some of its own Blue Mountain coffee from plants imported from Jamaica. Very quickly the influence of climate and soil take over; any semblance of Blue Mountain is suppressed by the Kenyan character. STRENGTH 6
Tanzania
Tanzania shares many similarities with Kenya, in history and in coffee. The best Arabica beans come from the mountain slopes and are graded AA and so on. Of the well-known names Chagga is a growers' group; Mbeya, Moshi and Arusha are towns. Milder than Kenya, and can tolerate a darker roast. Work in recent years on planting and processing is paying off in terms of quality coffee. STRENGTH 5
All of the central African states, including Burundi, Cameroon, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Zaire, also grow a little Arabic and lots of Robusta.
Jamaica
There is more Jamaican Blue Mountain sold than there are trees to create the bean. But this is one area where there are named estates to look out for: Wallenford, Mavis Bank, Silver Fern. The best Blue Mountain, benefiting from volcanic soils, has a full body and sweet flavour with only moderate acidity. No wonder it has become the Bordeaux of coffees. But, like Bordeaux, it has also become staid. Obscurely exotic beans promise much more fun. Espresso drinkers certainly don't need it, because it does not benefit from a high roast, while cappuccino drinkers need a bolder coffee to dominate the milk. Blue Mountain is a mild coffee; don't try to drink this strong.
Dominican Republic and Haiti
Careful work in the Dominican Republic to control planting, harvesting and processing, and to take advantage of a superb humid climate and fertile volcanic soil is producing some excellent quality coffees. Haiti has its own special classification system for its small output of Arabica, its best product being 'strictly high grown washed'. These both produce medium-bodied, rich, flavoursome coffee, which is French-roasted to bring out the best.
Central and South America
Mexico
Coffees from Mexico have much in common with those from Brazil; they are generally light and mild. The best Mexican coffees come from the south.
Guatemala
The wild forests on steep volcanic slopes are the home of the high grown 'strictly hard bean', the top quality coffees which have full body and acidity. There are delightfully warming hints of honey and black chocolate in the best Guatemalan.
Nicaragua
The climate and dramatic mountainous terrain places Nicaragua alongside Guatemala as a producer of excellent coffee. A rich, spicy and powerful coffee.
Costa Rica
Full-bodied, full of flavour, mush-prized coffees. Top districts are Heredia, Tarazu and Tres Rios. Costa Rica also uses the 'strictly hard bean' classification for its top beans. Medium roasting brings out a perfectly balanced coffee with the right aroma, body and flavour, and the typical spicy notes. A good starting point against which to measure coffees from around the world.
Colombia
Colombia is the world's most important grower of quality large Arabica beans and second only to Brazil in volume of production. It is a pity the intense marketing of instant coffee has helped debase the name of Colombia. It has become renowned for mild coffee. Colombia's top quality beans take a medium to high roast, creating a well-flavoured coffee with more intensity than some other Central American Coffees.
Brazil
The largest producer in the world. When there is a catastrophic frost in Brazil, the whole world of consumers know it as prices soar. Its mass-market coffees are ideal for blending as they give body and smoothness at a good price. A generally light and mild, medium-bodied coffee with a good aroma, which makes it ideal for daytime drinking.
Indonesia and South East Asia
The quality coffees of Indonesia are among the best in the world, with a flavour full enough to support milk. They have a good balance of acidity and are usually served French-roasted. They are languid, laidback beans, the hammock-swingers of the coffee world.The quality coffees of Indonesia are among the best in the world, with a flavour full enough to support milk. They have a good balance of acidity and are usually served French-roasted. They are languid, laidback beans, the hammock-swingers of the coffee world.
Sumatra
The best coffees are Ankola, Blue (meaning best quality, and referring to the bluish tinge to the bean) Lingtong and Mandheling, all grown in the volcanic highlands around lake Toba in the north. Smooth, sweet and intense without the nutty spiciness of Colombian.
Java
One of the world's greatest coffees, it has beautiful long, flat beans, too large to become scorched or harsh if high roasted. There is an intense flavour and appealing dry earthiness in a good French-roast Java. In times past it was stored for as much as several years in warehouses to mature, over time losing acidity and acquiring sweetness, along with the name Old Brown Java. Today the beans are stored in underground pits to develop the typically rich, mature flavour, and then dark roasted.
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is a wild, untamed country, and a hint of that character shows in its coffee. Not yet as good as the other coffees from the area, but with many of their best qualities.
Bali
Here's a romantic spot of coffee bushes, clinging to the slopes of extinct volcanoes amongst the remaining mature forest, and they flourish on the island's volcanic soil. There is much more Robusta coffee in the low-lands, but the small quantities of Arabic in the hills make a rich dark roast.
United States of America
Hawaii
Here's another romantic spot. The coffee grows in the volcanic Kona district. Kona Hawaiian is rated by the Americans as the world's most luxurious coffee; just as British see Jamaican Blue Mountain. Arabica bushes were brought from Brazil in 1818. Kona is medium roast and a fraction fuller than Blue Mountain with which it has a lot in common. It has the particular sweetness of an island coffee grown coffee. Kona is rich, smooth, gently nutty, gently spicy. It is not grown in quantity and output is declining.
India
Mysore
The state in southern India whither Baba Budan brought his smuggled seeds in the seventeenth century. The best regular Mysore is grown in the Coorg and Nilgiri Hills. Mysore is not often sold on its own, because it is remarkably mild. The most famous coffee Indian coffee is Malabar. This is sold as Monsoon or Monsoon Malabar, which describes its ageing by exposure to the moist monsoon winds. This replicates the earlier effect on the coffee of a nine-month journey by sea to England. In the process the beans lose their acidity and mellow, and can be high roasted without acquiring the bite that black coffees can so often have.
China
Yunnan
China has leapt into the world coffee market with huge volumes of bulk Arabica coffee, so it is difficult to identify any regional specialities. Medium-roast Yunnan has a clean, fresh taste, a little like Central American.
Blends
There is a long tradition of blending coffees. Sometimes this is to keep the price down by mixing quality Arabica with cheaper Robusta beans. Or it may be to create a more appealing blend by making it richer or mellower. Blending also evens out inconsistencies in supply or quality for retailers who are looking to create their own house styles.
Kenya, Colombian and Costa Rica are all good candidates for blending, and they marry well with stronger coffees such as Mocha or Java.
Mocha & Mysore
This classic blend of the two oldest coffees in the world was being enjoyed in the 1600s. As recently as the 1970s it was being promoted as the 'perfect coffee for the proud hostess'. This is sales speak for a medium roast. There's good reason for the blend's popularity - the Mysore softens the Mocha's fiercest characteristics and gives it a fuller body.
Santos & Java
Another popular blend, although with a shorter pedigree. In this case the hard clean-tasting Santos from Brazil is softened by the smooth dark velvety texture of Java. With a continental high roast it takes milk well and is ideal for smooth espresso and brilliant cappuccino.
After Dinner
Read the small print: every producer has their own slightly different blend. A typical choice might be half Colombian and half Brazilian Santos, which is then roasted as dark as possible. A blend like this can tolerate a dark roast without becoming bitter. This roast is too dark to take milk well.
Breakfast Blend
The aim here is to produce a coffee for non-espresso drinkers, which is rich and strong, and able ot take milk, but does not need a continental roast. A typical blend might be Colombia and Ethiopia Mocha since the Colombian gives richness and body to the Mocha, and is just a little stronger than Mocha Mysore.