Coffee Tasting Event–7/20/24

At Hardy, we only source Arabica coffee. The other common species of coffee that is often used by low-end and budget coffee roasters is called Robusta. Robusta is a prolific, and sturdy plant. However, the flavor Robusta produces is...not good. Imagine the smell of a horse barn.

Additionally, we only source specialty grade coffee. This means that the coffee was scored to be at least 80 points at origin. Specialty coffee is very difficult to produce, so the onus is on us to be good stewards of the incredibly hard work invested into this crop throughout the supply chain.

Coffee:  Abyssinia

Coffee natively grows in Ethiopia, which used to be called Abyssinia. Over time, the plant was taken from the Ethiopian highlands across the Red Sea to Yemen, throughout the Ottoman Empire, to the South Pacific, and eventually into European
greenhouses. From a greenhouse in France, a pair of coffee trees was propagated many times over, and taken across the Atlantic ocean to colonies in South America.

As a result, coffee from Ethiopia (Ethiopia hosts 95% of the genetic
pool), and the Eastern hemisphere as a whole, has greater genetic diversity, and more discernible differences in flavor profile.  Coffee in the Western hemisphere
has a shallower genetic pool, which results in a more homogeneous flavor profile. There are certainly other factors the affect coffee flavor, but genetics plays a
large role.

Coffee: Agriculture

Coffee is grown between 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south of the equator, and high quality coffee is usually grown at high elevations. This band of earth has the ideal climate range for coffee to grow well, and high elevation causes the development period of the coffee cherries to slow down, which yields a better quality flavor in the seed. Farms that are located on flat land can use equipment to harvest the cherries, however, most high end coffee is picked by hand. As we can see in this image, the cherries ripen at different rates, requiring multiple passes to harvest the shrub. Once picked, the coffee undergoes additional sorting before it is processed. This is all very labor intensive, and one of the reasons why specialty coffee is amazing, and more expensive.
Once the coffee has been picked and sorted, it is processed, which is the removal of the seed from the coffee cherry. There are 3 basic methods for processing coffee: washed, natural, and honey.

Washed processing uses a short fermentation period and water to remove the cherry and mucilage. The coffee is then dried. This is a very controlled processing method that leads to very clean, defined tasting coffee with a stable and even moisture level. The acidity is usually crisper and more citrus-like when the coffee is
processed using this method.

Natural processing involves leaving the coffee in the cherry to dry, and then
removing the fruit after. This yields a fruit-forward profile due to the cherry juice
soaking into the seeds, and often increases a coffee's body. However, consistency
issues can arise as a result of natural processing.

Honey processing is a hybrid between washed and natural processing. The cherry mucilage is left on the seed for a controlled amount of time, and then removed and finished drying. Depending on the length of time the mucilage is left on the seed, honey processed coffee can lean either more similar to a washed, or a natural processed coffee.