Chapter 4 – Coffee The What and How

A blog about Colombia would be incomplete without a chapter about Colombian coffee. I had done some research about coffee in Panama several years ago before coming to Columbia, but I visited some coffee plantations and processors last week in order to fill in any coffee knowledge I had forgotten. Many people believe that the only differences in the taste of coffee lie in the way we prepare it. For example, we know that coffee made with an espresso machine will taste differently from coffee made in a french press. In fact, many differences in the flavor of coffee are determined by the way coffee is grown and processed long before it arrives at our coffee pot or espresso machine. The most basic difference in various coffees begins within their genetic make-up. There are two major varieties of coffee that you will find in your grocery store: Robusta and Arabica. (There is a third variety grown in South-East Asia that is a cross between these two, but its cultivation is very limited, is rarely sold in the United States, and adds nothing to the story about Colombian coffee). The Robusta variety is more disease resistant, produces a shorter bush which is easier and cheaper to pick, and can grow at lower altitudes. As a result of these advantages it is easier to produce abundant harvests quickly, and costs much less to produce than Arabica. You will often find Robusta coffee as the cheaper canned coffee at the supermarket. Coffee sold for espresso, frappacinos and for instant coffee, is also usually made from the Robusta variety.

In South America, only Brazil grows substantial amounts of Robusta coffee. (It also grows Arabica.) The rest of the coffee producing countries in Central and South America specialize in growing the Arabica variety. It might simply be a matter of the expensive cache attached to Arabica coffee, but coffee connoisseurs insist that Arabica beans make a more subtle and complex coffee. They claim that Robusta beans produce a heavier, less refined taste which might work for espresso based mixed coffee drinks, but not for sipping the pure unadulterated product itself.

Although all the Colombian fincas grow Arabica beans, there are still many differences among them in the flavor and quality of the coffee they grow. One reason for this variety of flavor involves the altitude where the coffee grows. Lower altitude Arabica grows faster but is more susceptible to damage by fruit flies, and some growers have moved their coffee groves higher up the mountains to avoid this problem. Some growers also believe that coffee grown at higher altitudes tastes better than its low land sister because the cooler temperature of the mountains forces the coffee berry to grow more slowly and allows the plant to infuse more flavor into its fruit.  This idea is further implemented when coffee plantations also slow down the ripening process by planting shade trees among the coffee bushes. Unfortunately, a fungus is now attacking the Arabica bushes grown in these cooler locations, which is further driving up Arabica prices.

The next variable that affects a coffee’s taste involves how it is picked. A coffee tree’s berries do not all ripen at the same time. A lower quality coffee results when pickers harvest all the coffee berries at once, (strip picked), the ripe along with the unripe. Strip picking reduces labor costs, but produces insipid coffee. Since Robusta coffee bushes are shorter and of a more uniform size than Arabica bushes, some Robusta growers actually use machines to strip the bushes of their berries. The only good thing that can be said about coffee picked in this manner is that it is cheap. The best plantations, Robusta and Arabica, schedule their pickers to return to the coffee bushes every ten or twelve days to pick only the ripest berries.

When you buy coffee, you cannot, of course know how the coffee was picked. You have to rely on trial and error tasting. If a coffee is suspiciously cheap, however, you might want to avoid it and save yourself some time and money.

The next variable involves how the berry’s pulp is separated from the bean. Up to now I have been speaking about the coffee fruit as a “berry”. The part of the coffee fruit that we consume isn’t called a “bean” until the fleshy pulp has been removed. There are two general ways of doing this. Coffee processors can either ferment the pulp off the bean, or dry it naturally and use mechanical methods to rub off the remains. The most traditional method requires the berries to dry in the sun on screens in greenhouses or on rooftops with workers regularly turning them over so they don’t become moldy. Those on the rooftops also need to be covered when it rains or at night to keep moisture off of them. Again, this is a very labor-intensive process. Once the pulp has dried and shriveled to a thin shell, the beans are tumbled and screened to remove the crusty remains of the pulp. The second method of removing the pulp ferments the berries in large vats where yeasts and other organisms digest the pulp, but leave the bean.

This fermentation process takes from 12 to 48 hours. The beans are then dried on tables or on the floor until they contain no more than 11% water content. They too are tumbled to remove any remaining residue.

There is a third method, (honey-wet method), which combines the dry and wet methods described above. The pulp is only partly fermented off before it is dried. After the remaining pulp is dried to a 11% water content, it is tumbled and screened to remove whatever pulp remains. All three methods end with inspectors removing shriveled or moldy beans, and any foreign material as the beans pass by them on an assembly line that ends with the beans being dumped into 130 pound bags for shipment.

Which method makes the best coffee? I’ve tasted coffee produced by all three methods, and frankly I can’t tell the difference between them if they have all been roasted the same way. I am, however, someone who can mistake Coke for Pepsi, and usually can’t distinguish great wine from the average stuff. So it is no surprise to me that I can’t taste any difference between these processing methods. People who are paid to taste differences in coffee claim that the “honey-wet” process produces a sweeter tasting brew, but I bet most of you, like me, can’t taste the difference.

The factor that does cause a very noticeable difference in the taste of coffees is its roast. Anyone can tell the difference in taste between a light roasted coffee and a dark roast no matter how dead his or her palate happens to be. While some processors roast their own coffee, most export green beans that are roasted closer to the consumer because the flavor of roasted coffee beans can be diminished by moisture in the air if they sit too long after roasting. Many high-end coffee shops do their own roasting so that their customers receive the freshest tasting coffee possible. I can’t tell you which roast tastes best because everyone has his or her own personal favorite. The lighter the roast the more forward on the tongue sits its flavor. You can experience a floral or vegetable coffee taste on the very tip of your tongue with the lightest roasts. You might also experience some bitterness there. When growers meet at the end of the season to grade each others beans, they use a light roast version of the beans to make their judgement since this reveals the greatest variety of flavors, both good and bad. As the roast becomes darker, the coffee flavors become mellower and heavier. You experience these on the middle of your tongue. Darker roasts produce a chocolate like taste that lie even further back on the tongue. The darkest roasts, such as a French roast, produce a vague aftertaste that sits at the back of your throat. These darkest roasts don’t provide subtle or complex flavors. Detractors call these roasts “burnt coffee”, yet they work quite well in espresso drinks like cappuccino because the heavy flavor at the back of the throat is strong enough to ensure a coffee taste in the face of the other ingredients.

Is it worth paying more for good coffee? Well, I think so, up to a point. Unless it has been hastily picked and sloppily processed, Arabica is noticeably better tasting than Robusta, and if you like a coffee that contains a taste of chocolate, and caramel, with a hint of cherry, then I am told, (by a grower), that you will love Colombian grown coffee, and will be willing to pay up for it. If you just need a cup of coffee to sober up from a long night of partying, well then maybe any kind caffeinated coffee will do.

You should keep in mind, however, that expensive coffee does not necessarily guarantee the best taste. The most expensive coffee in the world is “Kopi Luwok”, a coffee found only in Indonesia. It costs more because it uses a very unusual process to remove the pulp from the coffee bean. Wild civet cats eat coffee berries, digest the pulp, and then poop out the now naked beans. People then scour the forest floor for these pooped beans, gather them, and wash them off (I hope). These beans are rare because collecting them is extremely time consuming, and people seem to be willing to pay massive amounts to sample the brew made from them. That is, until recently, when it was learned that enterprising locals were raising captured civet cats in cages and force feeding then coffee berries. The civets would poop the cleaned beans onto screens where they were easily gathered. There is an outfit that claims that they only sell “naturally generated” Kopi Luwok, but I am not sure how the consumer could know for sure where they come from. (All right we know where they come from, we just don’t know how they are gathered). In any case, this is a case where I don’t believe that a higher price guarantees a better coffee.

Colombians are very proud of their coffee, and you can order a great cup of coffee in Colombian restaurants.\ and coffee shops. This is not always the case in other coffee producing nations. For example, in Panama its coffee producers sell nearly all the best coffee for export. Panamanian supermarkets sell  a low grade coffee that is even cheaper tasting than the coffee sold in cans here in the United States. High end restaurants in Panama that operate primarily for the tourist trade will sell decent coffee, but smaller restaurants sell the same cheap stuff the locals have to drink. Argentina, which is not a major coffee producer, may win the award for selling the worst restaurant coffee in the world despite its proximity to its excellent coffee producing neighbors. At one time its economy was in such bad shape that it could not afford to use what little hard currency it possessed to purchase luxury items such as fresh coffee beans. Instead it imported instant coffee, and for years that is all its people drank. Today Argentina can afford the real deal but many Argentinians have gotten so accustomed to instant coffee that they now prefer it. There are Starbucks in Argentina, and other high-end cafes, but if you eat in a small mom and pop restaurant, you’ll probably end up drinking Nescafe if you want coffee.

Fortunately, I’m living in Colombia for the moment and can drink excellent coffee whenever I please.

Hmm. I think I can now taste that hint of caramel…Yes…”Senorita me gusta mucho el café”.

Part two of this chapter about coffee will answer the question “Where?” It will consist primarily of photos taken in coffee country with bits of narrative to tie them together. I went a little camera mad, and it’s going to take me a couple of weeks to review, crop and edit these photos. Stay tuned!

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