Coffee Bean
Latest articles, industry insights and brewing guides
How Coffee Cherries Are Harvested & Picked for Specialty Quality
Learn how coffee cherries are picked—by hand or machine—and why selective harvesting matters for high-quality Arabica beans. Includes harvest seasons by region.
The History and Current State of Coffee Cultivation in China
China’s coffee farming spans over a century, with peaks in the 1960s and 1980s. Today, Yunnan leads with 200,000 acres under cultivation.
Bourbon Coffee: Origins, Traits, and Cup Profile
Learn where Bourbon coffee comes from, its genetic roots, and why it yields sweet, balanced shots—especially in red variants.
How Coffee Beans Are Washed During Processing
Learn the washed coffee process: fermentation, drying, and polishing steps that define washed beans like Guatemalan and Kenyan coffees.
How to Assess Coffee Bean Purity by Sight and Smell
Learn how to spot pure single-origin beans by checking color, size, and shape, and avoid blends that look inconsistent. Freshness matters too.
How Specialty Coffee Farmers Pick and Process Ripe Coffee Beans
Learn how ripe red coffee cherries are sorted, processed, and turned into high-quality green beans through methods like natural, washed, and honey.
How Wet Processing Prepares Specialty Coffee Beans
Wet processing removes the coffee cherry's flesh quickly after harvest, ensuring cleaner flavors and higher quality. Here's how it works step by step.
How Coffee Beans Are Dried in the Sun After Processing
After wet processing, coffee beans are dried to 11% moisture inside the parchment—here’s how long it takes, why it matters, and what can go wrong.
The Turbulent History of Indonesian Coffee
Indonesia once produced legendary Java coffee, but disease and colonization reshaped its coffee story. Learn how Mandheling and Kopi Luwak rose to fame.
What Makes Colombian Coffee Unique?
Discover why Colombia is the world’s second-largest coffee producer, known for its washed beans, diverse microclimates, and balanced cup profiles.
What Makes Colombian Huila Coffee Special?
Discover why Colombian Huila coffee stands out, despite regional variations and misleading export grades like Supremo or Excelso.
Washed Harar Coffee: Rare Ethiopian Specialty Bean
Discover Ethiopia’s rare washed Harar coffee: bright citrus, honey, and black tea notes at medium roast for best flavor balance.
What Makes Guatemalan Coffee Unique?
Explore the bold, smoky flavors of Guatemalan Antigua coffee, grown in volcanic soil at high altitudes with complex acidity and a tobacco finish.
The 10 Most Common Defective Coffee Beans
Learn the 10 types of defective coffee beans that affect flavor, roast safety, and cup quality — and why they matter to specialty roasters.
How to Identify and Remove Defective Coffee Beans
Learn how to spot and remove defective coffee beans during green bean sorting, including tray types, sorting order, and defect rate benchmarks.
How to Spot and Remove Coffee Defect Beans
Learn how to quickly identify and remove defective beans like fermented, immature, and insect-damaged ones to improve your coffee's flavor.
What Are Peaberry Coffee Beans and Why Do They Cost More?
Peaberry coffee beans form when only one rounded bean develops inside a coffee cherry. They’re rarer, smaller, and often prized for their concentrated flavor. Learn what makes them different.
Blend Coffee Beans Before or After Roasting?
Discover whether blending coffee beans before or after roasting yields better results, based on coffee type, density, and roasting goals.
The 10 Most Common Defect Coffee Beans You Should Know
Learn the 10 types of coffee defect beans that can ruin your cup, how they form, and why they matter for quality and grading.
How Coffee Beans Are Graded by Size and Altitude
Coffee beans are graded by screen size and growing altitude. Learn how mesh numbers and elevation determine quality, pricing, and roast suitability.