Coffee Beans from Around the World

Different Countries, Different Flavours

Coffee is grown in many countries around the globe. below we have described the types of beans and their characteristic and flavour that you can expect.

India

India is known for Monsooned Arabica, a coffee with a strong earthy pungent punch - it's an acquired taste, but is a perfect coffee to which to add cream and sugar. Plantation Arabica is a milder version, but still has a spicy earthy taste. Arabica from the islands of Timor, Flores and Papua New Guinea are mild, yet still earthy. Other countries in the region to try as a source of Arabica beans are Bali, which produces a mild, fruity, yet still spicy tasting bean, Sumatra, for beans with a bittersweet ginger taste, and Sulawesi, whose taste might be called a combination of floral and forest.

South and Central America

South American Arabica coffee beans create rich sweet coffees, with those from Brazil having a tinge of chocolate while those from Colombia have a nutty flavour. Bolivia produces Arabica beans with an apple/caramel taste. Peruvian Arabica has herbal hints, with tastes of vanilla and cedar.

Arabica beans from Central America have a general rich bittersweet taste. Costa Rica beans have a tinge of chocolate with melon. Guatemala gives you tastes hazelnut. Nicaragua has a floral taste with a hint of malt. Panama's beans taste like apple and cinnamon, while El Salvador beans tends to a brown sugar taste with hints of butterscotch.

Africa

Arabica coffee beans from Africa exhibit the most variance from each other - in fact, regions within a country will produce markedly different flavours, Ethiopia being the best example. One reason for this fact is that Ethiopia is considered the original ancient source for the Arabica plant and the species has had plenty of time to develop local varieties. The Yirgacheffe variety. named for the local Ethiopian village, has tinges of caramel and cedar; beans from the Sidamo Province of Ethiopia has lemon and wine over-tastes. Beans from the Harrar region of Ethiopia are considered the most ancient of the types of coffee beans and produces coffee with a fruity wine-like flavour - there are sub-types of the harrar bean called Longberry, shortberry and Mocha, each with their own slightly different taste qualities

In general, though, African Arabica beans produce citrus or floral flavours. Besides Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are major producers of Arabica coffee beans. Ugandan Arabica beans are said to add a lemony biscuit, cookie or biscuit taste. Kenyan Arabica beans have a clean fruity taste, much like cherries, apples, peach or pear. Tanzanian Arabica has a mild honey or berry taste.