Important to consider when choosing espresso beans!

You have now purchased a new bag of whole espresso beans and are wondering how it will taste or perhaps searching for new espresso beans for your espresso machine? Here we will share some important points to consider when choosing espresso beans. 

Roast Date

The absolute most important information on a coffee bag is the roast date. Depending on the roastery, the roast date is usually displayed in slightly different places on the bag, but make sure there is a roast date. DO NOT buy coffee that does not have a roast date. Old coffee is very difficult to work with and is almost About impossible to get good results with. Therefore, we recommend coffee that has been roasted within two weeks.

After the beans are roasted, they will start to release carbon dioxide that was formed during the roasting process and is present in the bean's cell structure. The carbon dioxide gas is released slowly over time and the process increases with contact with water or oxygen. The thick foam on top of your espresso is also called “Crema,” and this is the result of the carbon dioxide that was in the espresso beans, which gives the good aroma and texture. The older the coffee, the less crema there will be, and thus the coffee will become more watery and taste worse. Therefore, it is important to buy beans that are as freshly roasted as possible.

To extend the lifespan of the coffee, we recommend keeping the coffee in a cool and dry place in the coffee bag or in an oxygen-tight container.

Just because the coffee starts to get old does not mean it needs to be thrown away. Before you decide to throw away precious coffee, you can first try grinding it finer to extract more from the coffee. About If this does not work, you can try another brewing method that is not as affected by how fresh the coffee is.

Roast Profile

There is no established standard for how dark or light the coffee must be roasted. However, the roast level can drastically change the density of the coffee beans, how easily the coffee can be extracted, and how you need to adjust your brewing according to the bean's characteristics. The longer the bean is roasted, the more the bean will lose its structure and become drier, thus resulting in a darker roast profile. For those of you brewing espresso, you need to focus on the following aspects: brewing temperature, grind size, that is, how fine or coarse you grind your beans, and lastly, the ratio between water and coffee.

Brewing Recipe

Since lightly roasted coffee has a shorter roasting time, they have higher density and are therefore harder to extract all the aromas, flavors, and texture from the coffee. To counteract these difficulties, you need to brew at higher brewing temperatures, grind finer, and have longer brewing times. We recommend starting with a ratio of 1:2 to 1:3 between coffee and water, brewing temperature between 93 to 96 degrees with a grind size that allows you to achieve a brewing time of between 28 to 34 seconds.

For medium roasted coffee, we can recommend a ratio of 1:1.5 to 1:2.5, brewing temperature around 93 degrees, and a grind size that allows you to brew for 25 to 30 seconds.

For dark roasted For beans, we would recommend starting with a ratio of 1:1 to 1:2, a slightly lower brewing temperature of 90.5 to 93 degrees with a grind size that allows you to achieve a brewing time of 25 to 30 seconds. Just because it says dark roast on the bag does not mean that you will get the best result by strictly following our recommendations, but it is a good starting point for experimenting to find the best results for your specific beans.

Region and altitude

Often, the coffee is named after the region it comes from. The flavors of the coffee will also reflect the region it originates from. Generally, coffee comes from these three regions: Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, which are regions located near the equator. Coffee plantations require rich and fertile soil, mild temperatures, frequent rainfall, and protection from the sun and high altitude to grow.

The best coffee beans grow between 600 and 1850 meters above sea level. The reason is that the higher the altitude, the less oxygen there is, which in turn can slow down the growing process. The longer the growing process, the more time the coffee has to mature and develop complex flavors. When roasters write on the bag the altitude where the coffee was grown, it indicates how intense the coffee's flavors can be.

About If you see that roasters write that the beans have notes of chocolate, caramel, and blueberries, it means that with proper brewing, you can extract those flavors without adding anything. Brewing espresso and being able to taste these specific notes can be challenging and take some learning. You are always working against the natural bitterness and acidity that comes with coffee. The art is to achieve a balance between bitterness and acidity to bring out the good notes of the coffee by following the recommendations above and experimenting.

Espresso blend or single origin?

When choosing coffee, check About if the bag is an espresso blend or single origin. Single Origin means that the coffee comes from only one farm. An espresso blend may mean that it is a mix from different farms and regions. Roasters often create blends to achieve a good and well-balanced espresso bean and is a great starting point for those new to espresso brewing! Espresso blends are often easier to brew than a Single Origin and pair well with milk, such as in lattes and cappuccinos. Single Origin would be categorized more as nerd coffee where you really want to enjoy the unique and specific notes and flavors that this particular farm can offer and is therefore recommended to be consumed in pure espresso form or as an Americano.

The coffee processing process

After the coffee beans are harvested, they need to be processed before being transported to the roastery. How the coffee beans are processed can determine the flavors of the coffee. The most common processing method is dried coffee, also known as the natural method, and washed coffee. Coffee is originally a fruit. When the berries have turned red, sometimes yellow or yellow-red, they are harvested, and inside the berries is the coffee bean itself. In the natural process, the coffee cherries are sun-dried for several weeks until the berries are completely dry. Coffee that undergoes this type of processing often has the fruitiest flavors and is usually grown in African regions. Washed coffee is the most common method because it requires the least labor and is an efficient and quick method. By washing the cherries, you can separate the bean from the fruit. Washed coffee often has a rounder and more balanced flavor profile.

Summary

The next time you think about buying a new bag of coffee, be sure to check what the roasteries have written; there is a lot of valuable information About about flavors, roast date, roasting process, roast profile, and much more. By understanding what the different information means and how it can be implemented in your brewing, you can achieve rewarding results. Hopefully, this article has provided something that can help you brew even better coffee in the future.

About If you are looking for something new, we recommend our espresso beans on our website. We always sell freshly roasted beans from the finest roasteries in Sweden.