All, Learning

The complete guide on how to choose the best coffee bean types for your specialty café

The brew duration, boiler temperature, steaming, etc – there are a lot of things that join hands together to form a perfect cappuccino. But above all, there’s one significant ingredient that becomes the show-stealer. And it’s none other than the right coffee bean.

Coffee bean types 

There are four different types of coffee beans for brewing purposes. These include Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa. 

1. Arabica

Arabica is the most commonly used coffee bean type and popularly marketed coffee bean in the world. Arabica has a delicate sweet flavor and the coffee tends to be less acidic. Arabica beans are cultivated in hilly areas where rain is available almost every day. Considering the soft and sweet taste of this coffee bean, the price is comparatively high for Arabica coffee beans. When served with hot milk or cream, the coffee tastes fantastic. 

2. Robusta 

Robusta is a coffee bean type that contains 2.5% more caffeine than other types. Robusta comes with a strong, pungent taste, which is why it is one of the readily available coffee beans in the grocery stores. Best quality robusta coffee bean will have hints of chocolate and rum blended in their flavor. 

3. Liberica

Liberica is yet another delicious coffee bean type, which is rare and not available in plenty. They are grown in a specific climate to get that authentic fruit and flower enriched coffee taste. 

4. Excelsa

Excelsa comes from the Liberica coffee bean family, which is also another distinct species of coffee beans. Excelsa has a unique fruit flavor, which is ideally used in both light and dark roast coffees.

Where to buy the best coffee beans for your café?

Buying the right coffee bean type is essential for your café to build up its brand and business. And the best place to buy is from your specialty grocer. If you have a good connection with your roaster, then that would be the ideal choice. You can cut out the middleman and buy directly from them to keep fresh coffee beans in stock. Those who cannot get access to a good coffee roaster can buy premium coffee beans online. Many roasters provide online business and international shipping, so it is good to contact them to know whether they deliver to your area. 

Choosing from the coffee bean types

Among the four coffee bean types, Arabica stands on the top as it comes with a sweet soft texture and taste. Robusta, on the other hand, is ideal for coffee lovers who need high caffeine content. 

Coffee roasting

Though there is no specific industry standard for coffee roasting, it is generally distinguished based on the color – light, medium, medium-dark and dark roasts. Depending on the texture, bitterness, and caffeine content, you can choose your preferred coffee bean. 

How much to buy? Buying coffee beans in bulk can result in losing the freshness of the coffee bean. To know how much coffee to buy, first, know how much coffee on an average is sold per day. So you can calculate weekly and buy accordingly.