Know your coffee, from seed to cup.
Illustrated, plain-language guides to how coffee grows and how it gets to your cup. General coffee knowledge, with clear notes on what we have and have not confirmed about Monte Romo.
Understand coffee
What coffee is and where it grows.
Arabica and robusta, compared.
Arabica and robusta make more than 99% of commercial coffee. Arabica is milder and more aromatic; robusta is hardier, with about 50 to 60% more caffeine and a bolder, more bitter cup.
Read the guideWhere coffee grows: the Bean Belt.
Most coffee grows in a band around the equator, between about 25° N and 30° S, called the Bean Belt. Costa Rica sits inside it.
Read the guideAltitude and coffee: why elevation matters.
Higher ground is cooler, which slows the ripening of coffee cherries. Arabica is often grown at about 600 to 1,800 metres, and high-grown coffee is often described as denser and brighter, but elevation never decides flavour alone.
Read the guideInside a coffee cherry, layer by layer.
A coffee bean is the seed of a small fruit. Most cherries hold two seeds, wrapped in layers from skin to silverskin, and each layer is removed or dried at a different step before roasting.
Read the guideFrom cherry to roast
How the fruit becomes the coffee you buy.
How coffee is picked: hand, strip or machine.
Cherries on one branch ripen at different times. Selective picking returns about every 8 to 10 days to take only ripe ones; strip picking and machines are faster but mix ripeness unless the fruit is sorted.
Read the guideFrom cherry to green coffee: washed, natural and honey.
Processing is how the bean is freed from the fruit and dried. Washed coffees are often clean, natural coffees fuller and fruitier, and honey coffees sweeter, with some mucilage left on.
Read the guideRoast levels, explained.
Roasting browns the green bean and builds its aroma. Light roasts are more acidic; dark roasts have a more pronounced bitterness and less acidity. Dark roast does not mean more caffeine.
Read the guideChoose, brew and taste
Practical help for the cup in front of you.
How to read a coffee label, detail by detail.
A good label tells you where the coffee grew, how dark it was roasted, how much is in the bag and ideally a best-by date. Check each detail on its own, and ask about whatever is missing.
Read the guideHow to store coffee, and for how long.
Keep coffee in an airtight, opaque container in a cool, dark place, buy only one or two weeks’ worth, and grind just before brewing. Beans last about one to three weeks at room temperature.
Read the guideGrind size and brewing methods, at a glance.
Match the grind to how long water touches the coffee: coarse for French press and cold brew, medium for filter methods, fine for espresso. Treat the ratios and times as starting points.
Read the guideTasting notes and cupping, made simple.
Tasting notes are words for the aromas, flavours and feel you notice in a cup. Cupping is a standard side-by-side method: 8.25 g of coffee per 150 ml of water, four minutes, then taste with a spoon.
Read the guide