Many people enjoy coffee based on the roast: light, medium, or dark. But there’s so much more to coffee flavours than that. Beatnikolas is a U.S.-based coffee savant and friend of fair trade who agreed to sit down with us to talk about the many different ways in which coffee beans are given their unique tasting notes. 

As soon as we sit down, Beatnikolas begins by saying, “The first thing I like to think of is where the coffee was grown and processed.” He goes on to explain that different tasting notes can be attributed to the region in which the beans were processed. For example, Central American coffees often have citrusy acidity to them, African coffees often feature more notes of berries and chocolate. Coffee grown and processed in Asia is typically more earthy.

Some coffee buyers might also be interested in how the coffee bean is processed, which refers to how the coffee cherry is removed from the seed or bean. The specific method also influences the tasting notes.

Natural Processing: Ripe cherries are sun-dried with their outer skin and pulp intact. This process is what lends the cherries their sweet, fruity, and full-bodied notes.
Washed Processing: The fruit flesh (the pulp) is removed soon after harvest. This process highlights the clean, acidic notes of the cherry itself.
Honey Processing: This method is a hybrid between washed and natural processing. The outer skin of the cherry is removed, but the sticky, sugary mucilage layer is left on the bean while it dries. This process is what gives the cherries their sweet, balanced notes.

Then finally comes the roasting: the how and how long. Beatnikolas says the main thing to remember is that: 
Longer roast = darker beans = less caffeine = more burnt flavour.
Shorter roast = lighter bean = more caffeine = more original bean flavour.

There are also several bean roasting methods that can be used. The most traditional method is Drum Roasting, where a rotating metal drum is heated from below. This conduction roasting method results in denser, fuller-bodied cups of coffee with deeper flavours. Then there’s Hot Air Roasting, also known as Fluid Bed Roasting. Beans are suspended in a stream of hot air, using convection to roast them. This method produces a cleaner, sweeter, and more consistent flavour with less acidity.

There’s also the Open-Fire Roasting method that’s used for a rustic, smoky flavour if you like to imagine yourself sipping your cuppa as a trapper in the mountains. And finally, there are the smaller, home roasting methods like Stovetop and Popcorn-Popper Roasting.

After that, Beatnikolas concludes with the customer’s preference for buying ground coffee or whole bean. If the bean is sold ground, it has to be ground especially for whichever brewing method they want to use: medium ground for pour-over and drip, coarse ground for French press, and fine ground for espresso. And after all that, you get your perfect cup of coffee.

If you liked this interview and you’d like to learn more about our guest, you can find Beatnikolas over on Instagram at @beatnikolas.