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Know the flat beans, round beans and elephant beans of coffee

Published: 2026-08-23 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/08/23, Usually we buy coffee beans, one side is flat, there is a crack in it, this is the coffee cherry in the two seeds (that is, coffee beans) side; this kind of normal beans, we call flat beans (or lentils, flatbeans). Some berries contain only one seed (for unknown reasons), which takes up the internal space of the whole berry and looks like two smaller flat beans.

Usually we buy coffee beans, one side is flat, there is a crack in it, this is the coffee cherry in the two seeds (that is, coffee beans) side; this kind of normal beans, we call flat beans (or lentils, flatbeans).

Some berries contain only one seed (for unknown reasons), which takes up the internal space of the entire berry and looks like two smaller flat beans glued together; this bean, called peaberry, often appears on the tops of young coffee trees.

Usually a bag of coffee beans will be more or less mixed with some round beans, like a pile of mochas. But there are also people who pick out round beans and sell them. The most common one on the Internet is TanzaniaPeaberry, which is also common in Hawaii.

As far as I know, although some people think that round beans are fragrant, the mainstream opinion on the Internet still thinks that there is no difference between taste and flat beans. Round beans are more expensive just because they produce less. However, if you use a popcorn machine to bake, the beans will roll around and bake faster and more evenly, which may affect the taste, while the beans are usually smaller than the flat beans of the same tree, which may make the beans stronger and tighter ──. Of course, it may also be malnourished.

Now that we're talking about size, let's mention elephant beans (or giant soybeans, Maragogipe) by the way. In the past, when I saw some cafes offering "Malabee" or "Mara" Colombia, it was a bit frighteningly large, which always reminded me of my fingers, but I couldn't find a similar place name on the map of Colombia. Recently, when I looked back at Kummer's book, I suddenly realized that "Mara" only refers to elephant beans. Although Maragogipe is in Brazil, the term can refer to elephant beans from any place of origin.

For the same kind of beans, the bigger the beans, the more advanced they are, the more expensive they are, but the quality is not necessarily proportional to the quality. We have mentioned that the night in the coffee producing area had better be cold, so that the coffee beans do not grow too fast and become a loose inferior product (by the same token, the quality of summer tea is not good). However, the taste of smaller beans is not guaranteed to be mellow, it may just be stunted. So the size of the grading as a reference, do not be too serious, the final referee is still his own tongue and nose (and purse).

FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。