Best Coffee Beans: Only the good stuff

Best Coffee Beans – One of the worlds most widely consumed beverages, growing and exporting coffee is a big deal for many of the nations typically renowned for its production. In fact, it accounts for 50% of some developing nations’ foreign exchange earnings.

And isn’t it amazing how we both want to know – and then so often would opt for ignorant bliss instead of actually being aware of the true origin and production of so many of the worlds commodities we are free to purchase and enjoy. Sometimes it’s the ethical concerns regarding so much of the production the western world in particular finances abroad that is the subject of close scrutiny and debate and this curiosity and concern evidently stretches to coffee beans. But let’s leave the politics alone and concentrate on what coffee beans are going to tickle your fancy…

So, first what is a coffee bean?

What is a Coffee Bean?

A quick wiki search will inform you that the coffee bean is, in fact, the seed of the coffee plant and the source of coffee. Even though they are actually seeds, they’re referred to as beans simply because that’s what they look like.

Roasting…

So, the process between harvesting the coffee beans and the packets listed below is roasting.

It’s the heat process, which turns coffee into the aromatic, dark coloured beans we are accustomed to seeing. Before being roasted they are stored while green – as they undergo no loss in quality in this state, unlike after being roasted, at which point they immediately begin to lose their fresh, rich flavour. Roasting really is something of an art – learning the expertise of extracting all the aroma and flavour from the rather unappealing beans while green.

The Roasts:

• Light – light brown in colour and used for milder coffee varieties. They’re not usually oily as they’re not roasted long enough to extract the oils from the bean.
• Medium – as the name might suggest, medium brown in colour and packing a bit more of a punch in the taste department than the light roast.
• Medium-Dark – the medium-dark roast beans have a richer, darker colour, with some oil and a slight bittersweet quality.
• Dark – dark roasted beans tend to have a shiny, oily surface with a more pronounced bitterness to the taste.

So, now we’ve covered all the basics you need to know; let’s see what we’ve got on offer!

Kicking Horse Whole Bean Coffee

You come away from reading about a product like this one, really feeling like they know what they’re doing. Kick-Ass in name and nature – they’re not here to place, but unashamedly to win you over!

They’re committed to producing exceptional coffee that’ll satisfy even the most demanding of customers, while ticking every other box you could think of: organic (check), fair trade (check), super-premium bean (check – who knew super-premium even existed), no-compromise company (check), involved in local and global projects working to transform the planet as well as the rest of your day once you’ve had a hit of this stuff…CHECK!

→ Get the Kicking Horse Whole Bean Coffee on Amazon!

Features:

• Certified Organic & Fair Trade
• Dark Roast
• 100% Recyclable Packaging

Cafe Don Pablo Gourmet Coffee Medium-Dark Roast Whole Bean

It may be subtle earth organic but there’s certainly nothing subtle about their resolve to produce fresh, organic beans that you can trust. In depth description regarding their harvest – free from insecticides, apparently; roasting methods – fresh to order, resulting in less acidity and none of that bitterness, which is said to come from over roasting huge batches; something you won’t find going on within this family-run business that are clearly seriously committed to preserving the honest flavour and characteristics of real coffee.

And in my opinion, the best bit is the deep, rich chocolaty flavour with velvety body and clean finish – no idea what that description is really supposed to taste like, but aren’t you even slightly curious to find out?!

→ Get the Cafe Don Pablo Gourmet Coffee on Amazon!

Features:

• Chocolaty
• Low Acidity
• 100% Organic Certified

Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee

The experts at Starbucks have really gone all out with this French dark roast whole bean coffee. Claiming to be – brace yourselves, extra-bold, intensely smoky and uncompromising, this certainly doesn’t sound like just your ordinary Starbucks-brew but are you convinced yet?

What more can you add, apart from, and I quote, ‘Starbucks’ darkest and boldest brew’ – well you read it all here first folks!

→ Get the Starbucks French Roast Whole Bean Coffee on Amazon!

Features:

• Intensely Smoky
• Low Acidity
• Dark Roast

San Francisco Bay Coffee Whole Bean, Colombian Supremo

Single-origin, exotic regional and unique custom blend – all at a reasonable price at great value for money and widely available.

Closely inspected process form harvesting to roasting to shipping making this bean possibly the most environmentally and sociably responsible out there. And it’s the finest Columbia has to offer – well at least that’s what it says in the description!

→ Get the San Francisco Bay Coffee Whole Bean on Amazon!

Features:

• Columbia’s Finest
• Exotic Custom Blend
• Fair trade
• Mild Blend