There are many factors influencing the coffee flavor and aroma but how do you know that what factors influencing the coffee falvor? Well in this blog post i had summarised different factors that are important and affect the properties of the coffee which includes the coffee growing region, its processing method, roasting of the coffee beans, coffee grinding size and finally the brewing method lets take a look on these factors in detail.
Growth Regions and Conditions
Soil, climate, altitude and shade, all play important roles in creating a different coffee aroma and flavor profiles through influences on temperature, light availability, and water during ripening. Elevation influences the fat and cholorogenic acid in Arabica coffee and rich volcanic soils produces acidic coffee . Coffee that is grown in high altitude usually comes with high quality as higher altitudes increase berry ripe time resulting in a better tasting coffee bean. In general it is stated that a temperature average of 16 to 20 relative humidity 75% to 95%, naturally precipitation of 2000mm to 3000 mm and rich nutrients in the volcanic soil are needed to produce high-quality coffee.
Physiology
Physiology changes happen during growth and development of coffee beans. Maturation indicated by color development from green to ripe has a strong influence on the coffee quality. For instance, green beans have lower quality grade than red ripe and over ripe beans. Green beans lack the important aromatic development in the last stage of ripening As the silver skin disappears from the cell wall a higher quality of coffee is achieved.
Harvesting
Harvesting usually involves traditional hand picking or mechanical harvesting. Traditional hand picking using husbandry labor produces the best quality of coffee by decreasing the defect percentage in coffee batches . During hand picking, only ripe coffee should be picked while immature, overripe and raisin cherries should be separated. On the other hand, mechanical harvesting is more advantageous due to speed. Ethophon, a natural hormone, is applied to cherries before harvesting to unify maturity of cherries to make harvesting easier. In general, the yield depends on the harvest rod, speed, and frequency of rod vibration. Hand picking has been defined as a better harvesting method to provide the best coffee for processing.
Picking
Picking or post-harvest was defined as either the dry methods or the wet methods.
Dry methods are treatment consisting of drying coffee cherries to give husk coffee, followed by mechanical removal of the dried pericarp to produce green coffee or natural coffee.
The wet method is a method of processing coffee cherries into dried parchment coffee. Treatments consist of mechanical removal of the exocarp in the presence of water, removal of all the mesocarp by fermentation or other methods, and washing followed by drying to produce parchment coffee .
The wet method enhances the acidity of the coffee bean which interacts with the coffee body, while the dry method makes a sweet complex and heavy bodied coffee. All the process is important, however, once the beans have been harvested and prepared, the quality of the coffee is mostly influenced by the roasting process.
Roasting
The most significant development of flavors occurs during the roasting process. Roasting influences aroma and flavor of coffee. During roasting, at least 600 new volatile compounds that influence the aroma are produced . it is observed green coffee has fewer volatile compounds than roasted coffee.
Brewing
The pleasant aroma released from roasted coffee beans during grinding are attractive as well as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee .However, because those fresh and pleasant aromas are highly volatile and unstable compounds, these are also easily lost easily during grinding .The International Coffee Organization (ICO) found that the concentration of acid compounds in final coffee is influenced by grind size. Larger grind size (particles size) produces a higher amount of acid compounds. Brewing temperature and time also influence coffee aroma and flavor. The optimum amount of acid was found during brewing at 94C and began to decrease when brew temperature was at 100 C or higher that coffees brewed at lower temperatures had less aroma, flavor and body fullness, whereas coffees brewed at higher temperatures had higher burnt/roasted flavor. Brewing time of more than 5 minutes was found to reduce some acid compounds, but increased quinic acid content responsible for unpleasant flavor. Holding coffee for longer than 20-30 minutes has been shown to develop sour or bitter tastes with smoky overtones.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that Coffee is very popular all around the world. However, there are some differences between the way that people like their coffee in different countries. There are different types of coffee beans that are produced in different places in the world. These beans are then processed and roasted in different ways. Roasting is a process that can change the flavors and aromas of coffee beans. Different roasting techniques also have an impact on how strong the coffee will be. The first thing that you should know about coffee is that it is an herb. Coffee beans are not a bean at all. They are actually seeds that grow in the fruit of a coffee plant. Coffee plants can grow in either trees or bushes. The beans that are produced from these plants are then processed and roasted to make a delicious beverage.
