What is the effect of altitude on coffee flavor? What is the reason why the higher the altitude, the better the coffee quality? What is the best altitude for coffee beans?

The quality of coffee beans is mainly determined by the content of precursors in the beans that are converted into aroma substances when roasted. Coffee is a kind of plant, so in addition to the variety and treatment, the planting environment of coffee is also very important to the quality of coffee. Among a number of factors (latitude, climate, soil, etc.), the "altitude" of coffee cultivation can be said to be the most intuitive and relatively fixed factor. Because of this, in a variety of articles about coffee, we can often see the existence of the word altitude. Even, some coffee-producing countries in Central and South America use the altitude of coffee beans as the grading system. It can be seen that the altitude of coffee beans has a great impact on the quality of coffee.

Well, today, let's share with Qianjie why the altitude of coffee planting can determine the quality of coffee (mainly around temperature).

How does altitude affect coffee? "altitude" refers to the height of a location relative to sea level. The higher the altitude at which the coffee is grown, the better the flavor of the coffee. I believe you are already familiar with this sentence! The reason why the higher the altitude, the more coffee can give birth to delicious, mainly because coffee feels the pressure of survival.

For every 100 meters above sea level, the temperature drops by 0.6 °C. the higher the altitude of coffee cultivation, the lower the ambient temperature and the greater the temperature difference between day and night. Although coffee can survive comfortably during the day, when night falls, the ambient temperature will plummet.

A low temperature environment causes coffee to produce and accumulate many small molecules in order to resist the cold. The existence of these small molecules can make coffee less easy to freeze. At the same time, the low temperature environment will slow down the growth rate of coffee, and the ripening period of coffee fruit will be relatively prolonged, which means that these coffee fruits need to bear longer survival pressure.

Although it may seem unfriendly, it is precisely because of this that the final coffee has an excellent flavor performance. Because the small molecular substances produced by coffee in the fight against cold damage are the important substances that produce rich aroma when we bake coffee. The ripening time of coffee fruit is prolonged, which means that coffee will have more time to accumulate flavor substances. So there is a good saying in the book the Science of Coffee Flavor: it is impossible for plants to create aromas in order to please the human sense of smell.

Also, when coffee is grown at high altitudes, the caffeine content decreases relatively. Because coffee secretes more caffeine to ward off pests, and when coffee is planted at higher altitudes, pests are more difficult to survive and therefore fewer. When coffee suffers from fewer pests, it naturally doesn't have to produce too much caffeine to resist it. Caffeine is one of the main contributors to bitterness, and its reduction will make the sweet and sour taste of coffee more prominent. Therefore, when coffee is grown at high altitudes, it will naturally perform better under the superposition of these triple buff. Because of this, some coffee-producing countries in Central and South America set grading standards based on the altitude and hardness of coffee beans: the higher the altitude of coffee cultivation, the more substances the coffee accumulates, and the harder the beans are, the better the flavor is, and the higher the grade is.

But the effects of high altitude are not all good, such as reducing coffee production. Not only will the growth cycle of coffee be extended, but also the output will decline, and the price will rise with the scarcity of coffee, which is unfriendly to wallets.

! Just kidding, not all coffee grown at high altitudes is very expensive. For example, Ethiopian coffee, such as Sakuran, Kafa Forest, Guodingding and other well-known coffee beans, although they are planted at a high altitude, the price is very close to the people, and the flavor performance is very excellent, not only with elegant flower fragrance, but also full of fruit rhyme, it can be said to be the king of performance-to-price ratio!

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