Basics of Coffee

Drinking coffee has become an intricate part of our daily routines for most of us. And it takes much more than a simple equipment to get a nice cup of steaming aromatic coffee. In few countries drinking coffee is supposed to be an art, and its preparations involve dedication, time and unusual coffee blends.

Coffee is basically a brewed beverage prepared with the roasted beans or seeds of the shrub known as a coffee plant found in tropical areas of Asia and Africa. It may also be found in South America. Few species of this plant have seeds known as coffee beans.
The seeds undergo a long and carefully performed process. The berries from the coffee plant are handpicked one at a time, and then the flesh is removed leaving the seed. Before the roasting process, beans look grey-greenish in color and are therefore known as green coffee. As the beans have a good shelf life at that time, therefore, they are shipped and sold in this green state.
Once the beans are ready, they are used to create the most popular products of our society.

Coffee is very similar to wine; it’s a general label given to a whole set of different drinks.
The basic drink we call coffee:
Calling something coffee is similar to calling something wine. It’s a common label applied to different drinks. Similar to a wine which differs based on the type of bean used for preparing it, coffee is also affected by the type of bean used for making it. Flavor of a coffee bean depends on the type of plant it’s originated from and which part of the world it was grown, ripeness of the bean when picked.

Flavor of coffee is also largely dependant on the process of the roasting of beans and how recent it was. The average time of bean roasting process is between 12 to 30 minutes resulting in a light, medium or full roast.

Taste of coffee depends on soil, climate and cultivation methods used during the production of beans. Coffee beans have hundreds of compounds providing them aroma and flavor. There are two types of coffee beans basically, Robusta and Arabica. Type of bean you choose has a huge impact on the quality and taste of the coffee. Arabica beans are considered to be better than Robusta beans as the later is used mostly as filler in cheaper coffees. Brewing and roasting process also greatly affect the quality and taste of coffee. As a result, they are used to determine whether a coffee is great or not.
But the most important factor to determine the greatness of a coffee is the person drinking it. Not everyone has the same choices and taste preferences in a coffee, some prefer it mellow and light, while others prefer it all dark and heavy. So while choosing which variety to buy, you have to find out what your dislikes and likes are!