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Green Beans Is The Place For Me......

© Katherine Austinson

Everybody sing along......no, no, no! That's Green ACRES, isn't it?! Anyway, this week, as promised, we are learning about good quality green coffee beans!

Let's start where we left off last week, with CoffeeBeanCorral, the "First dedicated green coffee bean supplier in Cyberspace". They supply roasters and green coffee beans. The beans come from Africa, Hawaii, Jamaica, South America, Central America and Southeast Asia.

Kenyan green coffee beans come from Africa. "Generally, they are medium-bodied with a moderately bright aroma and medium acidity. One of the favorites for applying some extra fire to "put a shine on it". Kenyans are named for the region from which they are grown."

For Hawaiian beans, CoffeeBeanCorral has "ended up with a blend of Malulani peaberry from Molokai, Kona Kulana peaberry from the big island and Mocca from Maui; not in equal proportions. What you get is good acidity and some citrus overtones from the Maluani, wonderful fragrance and body from the Kona and a hint of chocolatey sweetness from the Mocca."

The Jamaican beans are headed by Jamaican Blue Mountain - "widely regarded as the finest coffee in the world, although it does have its naysayers; none here, however. It is truly a treat, but somewhat fragile, so don't overroast it and lose all those sweet, complex undertones."

Their Central American beans come from Costa Rica, a country that "produces almost 2 ½ million bags of coffee a year through a well-designed system of cooperative mills. The majority of their coffee is grown by small farmers and processed by co-ops in each region. Two of the most widely known are Tres Rios and Tarrazu."

Brazilian coffee beans and Colombian beans are imported and sold through CoffeeBeanCorral, also. Oh yes, don't forget Southeast Asia and beans they import from Timor. "TIMOR is the southernmost island in the Indonesian chain and the site of recent and bloody civil unrest as the Timorese people voted to become a sovereign nation, declaring their independence from Indonesia. Unfortunately, the farmers were in fear of their lives harvesting their crops and transporting it to the mills, so the availability of this years Timorese coffee remains in question. We do have some of the 98 crop, which is very good!"

So, there's our bean lesson from CoffeeBeanCorral. You can also find green bean info at Coffee.com . They can fill you in on beans from Ethiopia, Guatemala and Panama, too. Also, Kaldi Gourmet Coffee Roasters has information about beans from Tanzania, Mexico, Zimbabwe and El Salvador.