Choosing beans: origin and roast level

Start with the species: arabica and robusta

Almost all the coffee we drink comes from two species, arabica and robusta. Arabica has a richer aroma and more delicate acidity and sweetness, and it makes up most of what specialty roasters sell. Robusta is more bitter and heavier and usually carries around twice as much caffeine as arabica, so it is common in instant coffee and as part of espresso blends. That does not make robusta a bad bean. It keeps the coffee flavor from disappearing under milk and helps build a thicker crema. If the bag does not name the species, asking the seller is the surest way to find out.

What origins tend to taste like

Region, altitude, farm and each year's weather change the flavor a lot even within one country, so treat origin only as a tendency. It still helps you pick a direction at first. In general, beans grown at higher altitude ripen more slowly and tend to have clearer acidity.

• Ethiopia: floral, citrus and berry notes, light texture
• Kenya: bright, strong acidity with a juicy feel
• Colombia and Guatemala: balanced acidity and sweetness, caramel and chocolate notes
• Brazil: low acidity, nutty and chocolatey, a common base for blends
• Indonesia: earthy, heavy body, low acidity

Processing changes the taste too

Processing is how the seed is taken out of the coffee cherry and dried. Beans from the same farm can taste completely different depending on the method, so check it if the bag lists it.

• Washed: the fruit is washed off before drying, giving a clean cup with clear acidity
• Natural: the whole cherry is dried, giving strong fruit, sweetness and a heavy texture
• Honey: some fruit is left on while drying, landing between the two

Reading the roast level

Roasting turns green beans into the flavors and aromas we know. A light roast keeps the bean's own acidity and fruit; the darker the roast, the less acidity and the more bitterness, toast and heaviness. Labels vary from roaster to roaster, but thinking in three levels is usually enough.

• Light: bright acidity and fruity or floral notes, popular for pour-over
• Medium: a good balance of acidity, sweetness and bitterness, an easy starting point
• Dark: bitterness, roasty notes and heavy body, pairs well with milk

What to check on the bag

A coffee bag carries more information than it seems. Tasting notes such as fruit or chocolate do not mean flavoring was added; they only describe an impression, so take them as hints. Check these first.

• Roast date: with only a best-before date and no roast date, freshness is hard to judge
• Origin and processing: clues to the direction of flavor
• Roast level: match it to whether you prefer acidity or bitterness
• Whole bean or ground: ground coffee loses aroma much faster

Match the beans to the brew method

The same beans suit some methods better than others. Slow methods like pour-over show off each bean's character and pair well with single-origin coffee. Espresso extracts intensely, so very acidic beans easily taste sour; a blend at medium roast or darker is easier to handle. If you mostly drink milky lattes, dark roasts or beans with strong chocolate notes hold up under the milk. Stovetop pots and French presses, which brew strong, also do well with medium roast or darker.

Common mistakes

The most common mistake is buying too much at once. Grab a one-kilogram bag on sale, and the last few weeks are spent drinking beans whose aroma has faded. Beans brewed a day or two after roasting release a lot of gas and can taste unstable, so letting them rest a few days helps. Picking a very unusual coffee first can also be misleading, since the strange taste makes you think coffee is just like that. Before blaming the beans for a cup you do not like, try changing the grind size and water temperature.

An order for your first picks

When you do not know your taste yet, the fastest way is to set one reference point and move from it in small steps.

• Buy a small bag of medium roast as your reference
• If you want more acidity, move toward light roasts or Ethiopia and Kenya
• If you like bitterness and nuttiness, move toward dark roasts or Brazil and Indonesia
• Jot down the name of each coffee and how it tasted