Why do coffee beans at high altitude have higher hardness and the conditions for planting coffee trees?

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Why the hardness of coffee beans at high altitude is higher, the reason is that coffee beans have more nutrients and have a long fruit growth cycle, in fact, just like most plants, coffee beans themselves are the fruits of small shrubs, while coffee beans at relatively low altitude, fast-growing coffee beans have loose texture and are not resistant to high temperature baking.

Conditions for planting coffee trees

Rainy and dry season environment, annual rainfall of 1800 mm to 2500 mm

Plant shade among coffee trees and keep moderate sunlight

Annual average temperature 20 °C

The soil is fertile, well drained and slightly acidic.

Coffee trees planted in Arabica take 3-5 years from planting to harvest, and can produce high-quality coffee only if they grow in the right conditions. It is usually suitable for growing coffee in the tropics where the elevation is between 1000 and 2000 meters, where Rain Water is abundant and the temperature is moderate (the annual average temperature is 15-24 °C). These areas have a large temperature difference between day and night, which can prolong the ripening time of coffee cherries, make them save more sugar and develop complex and rich flavors.

Is altitude the only factor determining the main flavor of beans?

Coffee trees are at high altitude. coffee cherry seeds grow tight and hard, such as sour taste, aroma grows, and the flavor will appear more strongly. It is said that it is characterized by high quality, and the price also rises due to difficulties in cultivation and harvest, and seems to tend to become a high-end product. Such as low-altitude Brazilian beans and Ethiopian coffee beans over 2000 meters soar in taste, altitude will enable coffee beans to better play a complex and subtle taste, high-altitude beans are naturally more sour than those grown at low altitude

Which kind of beans grow at which altitude, the actual coffee producing areas, so many areas in the world, each producing area production is different, some producing areas have high mountains and deep valleys, great elevation drop, obvious three-dimensional climate, and relatively large elevation differences. even the coffee beans produced at the altitude of the same producing area are different, so the classification according to the elevation of coffee is very complex and tedious, even if there is a general range. Not an absolute value.

But surprisingly, there are still some low-altitude beans that are full of flavor. For example: island-type Hawaii Kona, Ecuador, about 1000-1100 meters above sea level, because of the island climate, the coffee flavor is also very good.

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