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Buy Arabica Coffee Online

Buy Arabica Coffee Online.

Plants, Types and Coffee Growing Areas

Plants, Types and Coffee Growing Areas The Coffee Plant Coffea grows as a bush or if left unchecked can turn into a tree. It is a tropical plant that can carry blossoms, fruits of differing stages of ripeness at the same time. The "coffee bean" as we know is the seed of the plant. The cherry like fruits contain two seeds that face each other on their flat side. The seeds are covered in a thin membrane. With over 80 types of coffee only two are most widely used.

COFFEA ARABICA is the older, more mature type and is considered to be of the best quality. Characteristically heavy aroma, smooth with slightly less caffeine content than robusta's. The bean is long in appearance with a more curved central cut. Arabica's take about ten months to ripen and today accounts for more than 60% of the world crop.

COFFEA CANEPHORA ( Robusta ) This is a very different bean. More hardy it is more resistant to heat and diseases. The bean is round in shape with a straighter central cut. A less aromatic coffee with twice as much caffeine content as arabic's. Ripening in only six to eight months the crop cycle is shorter.

Coffee is grown along the equatorial belt. A coffee plant takes up to four years before it matures an is ready for harvesting. The ideal climate is one that varies between dry and humid. The flowers need a lot of rain as well as sunshine. As has been well documented the coffee plant does not like frost and over the years great frost damage's have been reported. The higher grown coffees that mature more slowly give rise to the higher quality coffees with rich aroma's.

Green Coffee Bean to Cup of Espresso

Green Coffee Bean to Cup of Espresso The Coffee Harvest can vary slightly from in Brazil between May to September, Central America October to March, Africa October to April and in Asia November to April. The green bean is harvested by stripping the berries and manually collecting.

The first step in the processing is for the bean to be stripped of its outer pulp and skin as soon as possible after picking then cleaned and dried. Coffee is graded by size, density and colour before being packed into bags for shipping.

Original coffees are then shipped around the world to roasters. During the roasting process the bean is turned in a drum in temperatures of over 200 C. The tastes and appearance of the roasted coffees differ according to application of heat and the timing of the roast. With the longer roasts you get Continental style coffees which have a heavy black oily look with a sharp strength, with the medium roasts you get smoother, more gentle coffees which have that light brown appearance.

Many coffees are blend to bring the unique qualities of single origin coffees together to achieve coffees such as Breakfast Roasts, High Mountain Roasts and of course Espresso Roasts !

Coffee Shop

View our types of Coffee in our Online Coffee Shop You can Buy Espresso Coffee Online !

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