There are people in the world who cannot drink coffee, even though they would very much like to. After having a small black coffee, they experience stomach problems, heartburn, or other unpleasant symptoms, or a chronic condition (such as acid reflux or IBS) prevents them from enjoying this black gold.

However, this does not mean they have to give up coffee forever. Years of research, along with the experience of various roasteries, have made it possible to develop a method of producing coffee that is suitable for people who previously did not drink it because of stomach-related problems.

Coffee has many positive properties: it stimulates, improves mood, boosts metabolism, reduces the risk of heart disease, as well as certain types of cancer, especially pancreatic, bladder, and colon cancer. What is more, it improves circulation and is an excellent antioxidant. In other words: coffee — consumed in reasonable amounts of 2–3 cups a day — is genuinely good for you.

Why coffee can irritate the stomach?

For many decades, it was believed that coffee had irritating properties because of its caffeine content. However, more recent studies have shown that it is primarily the naturally occurring acids in coffee, as well as the waxes found on the surface of raw beans, that are responsible for the irritating effects of this black brew.

While most people have no problem with them, in more sensitive digestive systems they may irritate the lining of the stomach and/or intestines, causing various kinds of discomfort, increased bowel activity, or even digestive issues.

On average, coffee may cause mild or more noticeable digestive discomfort in 2 out of 10 people. These effects are not particularly dangerous, but they do make drinking coffee unpleasant. For those who are not especially fond of a small black coffee, this may not be a problem, but for lovers of dark beans it can feel like a small tragedy. That is exactly why, over the past several years, research has been carried out to find a solution to this issue.

The solution, then, is quite simple. If green coffee beans contain waxes and acids on their surface that may cause discomfort — let us remove them! That, in a nutshell, is how our Low-Irritation Coffee is made.

Green beans (high-quality 100% Arabica from Colombia) are sent to a facility in Germany, where they undergo a multi-stage treatment with high-pressure steam. That is all — and yet a great deal — because no chemicals are used in this process, only water steam. The beans are then dried again to their original moisture level and delivered to my Single Origin roastery.

The second stage in preparing Low-Irritation Coffee is the proper roast level, which must be followed very precisely for these beans, as it is part of the entire process of removing their irritating properties.

Vienna-roasted coffee, meaning dark roasted, has lower acidity. That is one thing, but research shows something more. It turns out that the longer and darker coffee beans are roasted, the higher their content of N-methylpyridinium. This is an organic compound which, once in the body, helps block excessive production of stomach acid.

The roast level of our Low-Irritation Coffee can be classified as Dark (Vienna roast) — although it differs quite significantly from similar roast profiles used for regular Arabicas, the final result in terms of bean color and flavor notes can indeed be described as Vienna roast.

What does Low-Irritation Coffee taste like?

As befits a good-quality Colombian Arabica, it has a classic profile, a creamy and fairly heavy body, and dominant nutty-chocolate notes with a clearly present caramel sweetness.

In other words — it tastes like good coffee :) It is hard to notice any real difference in flavor between Low-Irritation Coffee and a typical Colombian Arabica.

Those with a more developed sensory palate may perhaps detect it, but the difference is comparable to that of a good-quality non-alcoholic beer — almost imperceptible in taste, while not causing any special or side effects.

How to brew Low-Irritation Coffee?

Just like any other coffee — in an espresso machine, a moka pot, brewed the classic way in a mug with hot water, in a drip brewer, in an infuser… exactly like any other coffee. You can add milk, sugar, cinnamon, honey, or anything else that brings you pleasure.

Brew Low-Irritation Coffee exactly the same way you would brew regular coffee, because in fact it is regular coffee — simply without the properties that may irritate the digestive system.

Coffee doesn’t have to taste “sour”

If you do not experience any digestive issues after drinking coffee, and your only reason for wanting to try Low-Irritation Coffee is that you dislike acidic coffee, be sure to try other beans from my roastery’s range as well. Very often, people who used to complain about discomfort after supermarket coffee found that, with good-quality beans roasted properly using artisanal methods, they experienced no such problems at all.

I especially recommend coffees from Central and South America in a dark roast. These beans have very low acidity and are full of sweet chocolate-and-nutty flavor notes.

The stereotype of “sour coffee” is caused primarily by low-quality raw material used by large coffee corporations for industrial production. In the mass-market approach to coffee, bean quality is of secondary importance, and coffee often ended up containing beans from unripe or rotten cherries, parts of the plant, or other elements that had very little to do with actual coffee beans.

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Good acidity can be a good thing!

Acidity in coffee (not “sourness”!) is actually highly desirable — it is a carrier of flavor. That is why it is often very welcome, especially in lighter-roasted high-quality Arabicas (such as African Yirgacheffe or Kenyan Grand Africa) brewed using alternative methods. It helps bring out the coffee’s natural flavor notes more clearly and gives the brew a pleasant, refreshing character.

Just as the acidity of currants or gooseberries can be enjoyable, the acidity in coffee can also be pleasant and refreshing — but that is a topic for a separate article, which you will be able to read from me very soon.

I have often written on the blog that there are 2 coffee species cultivated in the world: Arabica and Robusta. The former is considered better, and its cultivation accounts for around 70% of global harvests, while Robusta, which makes up 30% of harvests, is regarded as an inferior coffee. This is generally true, but… not entirely. First of all, Arabica cultivation accounts for about 70% (but not the full 70%), while Robusta accounts for about 30% (also not the full 30%). Around 1–2% of global cultivation consists of lesser-known species: Liberica and Arabusta (a cross between Arabica and Robusta). Secondly, and this is what this article is about, Arabica has at least 120 different varieties and cultivars, such as Bourbon, Caturra, or Mundo Novo…

The situation with coffee is similar to, for example, apples. One might say that an apple is just an apple. But an apple can also be an Antonovka, Cortland, Gloster, Jonagold, or McIntosh. Coffee, or more precisely its species known as Arabica, also has many varieties. Not all of them are suitable for cultivation everywhere coffee can be grown. Some are similar to each other, while others are completely different. Some varieties may produce coffee that is slightly acidic, with citrus notes, while others produce coffee with chocolate notes and natural sweetness. Some varieties came into being as a result of natural evolution and the adaptation of coffee shrubs to the conditions in which they were planted, while others are the work of human hands.

The original Arabica variety was Typica. At the beginning of the 16th century, it made its way from Yemen to Asia, and then to the countries of Latin America. Typica is the base from which many other coffee varieties were developed. Its shrubs have a conical shape with a vertical trunk and reach about 3.5–4 m in height. Typica produces relatively low yields, but their quality is very high. It is cultivated in many parts of the world, although for years it has been gradually replaced by more efficient varieties.

The second Arabica variety is Bourbon. Like Typica, it also comes from Yemen. At the beginning of the 18th century, it was taken from there to the French island of Réunion, located east of Madagascar. At that time, Réunion was called Bourbon — and that is where the name of this variety comes from. Bourbon produces around 20–30% higher yields than Typica, but they are still lower than those of more productive varieties. The fruit of this variety is red-yellow, and the beans are relatively small. Their quality, however, is excellent. Bourbon itself also has several sub-varieties, such as Red Bourbon or Yellow Bourbon. In the постоян offer of Single Origin roastery we have an excellent Yellow Bourbon from Brazil.

Typica and Bourbon are the 2 main Arabica varieties. Other varieties, as well as all hybrids, are derived from them. As I mentioned at the beginning, there are more than 120 of them. Below I will describe the most interesting ones.

• Mundo Novo – a natural hybrid between Typica and Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in the 1930s. It is a hardy, disease-resistant variety. Mundo Novo produces high yields, but it matures somewhat later than other varieties. It performs well on plantations located at altitudes from 1000 to 1700 m above sea level.

• Caturra – also a Bourbon mutation discovered in Brazil in the 1930s. It has small shrubs, which is why it is sometimes considered a dwarf variety, although it produces higher yields than Bourbon. Its beans have light acidity and moderate flavor intensity. It can grow at lower altitudes: from 500 m to 1700 m above sea level.

• Catuai – a cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra. It produces high yields and is popular in regions with strong winds because its fruit holds onto the branches very well.

• Catucai – a cross between Catuai and the Icatu variety. Hardy and resistant to various diseases, including so-called “coffee rust,” which is the bane of many growers. It performs well in places with periodic water shortages.

• Pacas – a Bourbon mutation similar to Caturra, discovered in El Salvador in 1949.

• Pacamara – a cross between Pacas and Maragogype (the so-called “elephant coffee”). It originates from El Salvador. It produces low yields, but the beans are relatively large.

• Maragogype – the so-called “elephant coffee.” It is a mutation of the Typica variety, whose shrubs have huge leaves but rather low yields. Maragogype is sought after by connoisseurs, however, because its beans are very large (up to 2.5 cm), with a balanced flavor and natural sweetness. In the offer of Single Origin roastery we have a wonderful Maragogype from Mexico.

• Maragaturra – a rare cross between Maragogype and Caturra. It was created to obtain a cultivar with large beans and high yields. However, it is not particularly popular.

• Ethiopian Heirloom – a collection of varieties originating from Ethiopia, from the Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, and Harrar regions. These are bright coffees with a complex flavor profile and citrus notes. All of these varieties are the legal property of the Ethiopian government and cannot be cultivated anywhere outside that country. In the Single Origin offer, there is Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Sidamo.

• Charrier – an exceptionally interesting variety, discovered recently in Cameroon. It is probably the only naturally caffeine-free variety in the world (normally decaf coffee is obtained through a decaffeination process). It was named after Professor André Charrier, who spent 40 years working in the coffee agriculture sector on behalf of the French Research Institute for Development.

• SL28 – created in the 1930s by researchers working for the Kenyan government, whose task was to create a coffee of high quality and high yield. They succeeded only halfway, because SL28 is rather low-yielding, but of excellent quality. At the same time, it is both acidic and sweet, and enjoys great popularity among connoisseurs.

• Geisha – a variety grown mainly in the Boquete region of Panama, of very high quality and with an enormously complex flavor profile, with notes of tropical fruit, citrus, plums, and chocolate. The highest-rated coffees of this variety reach prices of up to $400 per 1 kg (of green beans).

As you can see, there are quite a lot of Arabica varieties (and I have listed perhaps 10% of them). Today, the deciding factor when a farmer chooses which variety to plant is disease resistance, especially resistance to so-called “coffee rust” (the fungus Hemileia vastatrix, which destroys coffee leaves), which is a major problem. Other factors include crop size and quality (in general terms, whether the coffee tastes good), resistance to pests (some varieties are more popular with all sorts of bugs, others less so), as well as the speed of ripening.

The age-old question asked by overprotective aunts and nosy strangers: you’re pregnant and you drink coffee? Can you still allow yourself a morning espresso or an afternoon latte while expecting? My short answer is: yes, you can. I have checked the current state of knowledge, and below is a brief summary.

There is a great deal of research on caffeine and pregnancy, although many studies contradict one another and do not provide a clear-cut answer in every respect. Some point to specific risks, while at the same time noting that it is not certain whether those risks are directly caused by coffee itself. Nevertheless, most of them conclude that coffee can be consumed during pregnancy, although some moderation should be observed.

How does coffee affect a pregnant woman?

During pregnancy, metabolizing and eliminating caffeine takes about twice as long as usual, which means the fetus is exposed to certain amounts of it. However, studies have not shown any direct impact on fetal development or on the occurrence of any defects. On the other hand, it is generally accepted that EXCESSIVE coffee consumption may have a negative effect on fetal development. The exact mechanism is not entirely clear, but the most popular theory is that large amounts of caffeine increase catecholamine levels, which disrupts blood flow in the placenta and thus reduces the amount of nutrients the fetus receives.

Coffee, as most of you probably know, also flushes out magnesium and calcium, which is undesirable for anyone, and even more so for pregnant women, who often already have reduced levels of these minerals (especially calcium, which is used for the development of the baby’s bones). Coffee may also reduce iron levels and thereby contribute to anemia.

It is also worth mentioning that during pregnancy, metabolizing and eliminating caffeine takes twice as long (up to 12 hours), so if until now your last coffee at 5:00 PM did not cause any trouble falling asleep, during pregnancy such problems may already begin to appear.

Do you have to give up coffee during pregnancy? Not necessarily!

The official position of the World Health Organization is that pregnant women should not exceed a daily intake of 300 mg of caffeine.

This amount should not cause any negative effects. It is worth remembering, however, that caffeine is also found in tea, cola, energy drinks, and cocoa (which, on the other hand, provides quite a lot of magnesium). And of course, not all coffee is equal. A small espresso contains about 30 mg of caffeine, but 200 ml of traditionally brewed coffee can contain even more than 200 mg, which uses up around one third of the daily limit. A can of Coca-Cola contains 40 mg of caffeine, while a bar of dark chocolate may contain as much as 120 mg.

Already on Saturday, October 1st, the entire coffee industry will celebrate International Coffee Day, established on this day by 49 countries affiliated with the International Coffee Organization (ICO). As always, at Single Origin, you can expect many delights on this occasion!

Poland, as a member of the European Union, also belongs to the ICO (which includes 49 countries, including the entire European Union). Nevertheless, in Polish media, we can still see that Coffee Day is on September 29th - it's not clear to me, but what can you do? The International Coffee Day designated by the ICO falls on October 1st every year - and for me, that settles it.

You can find more information about the ICO here, but it's worth knowing that this organization has existed since 1963 and practically encompasses all coffee exporters and importers worldwide.

International Coffee Day 2023 - the theme

This year's edition of International Coffee Day is themed around safe and healthy work at all stages of the coffee chain.

Here you can see the leaflet for the current edition, and here is the official International Coffee Day website.

Enjoy your coffee - changes are ahead of us!

The past two years, led by the famous frost in Brazil in 2021, have shown how suddenly the coffee market situation can change - its quality and availability depend on many factors. And although humans have influence over almost all of them, it is usually a decidedly negative influence.

Progressive climate change (by the way, when was the last time you remember 28 degrees in October...?), political and geopolitical factors, as well as local (and global) economic conflicts can lead to us being cut off from coffee, and it may become a luxury good.

Therefore, it is all the more worthwhile to enjoy good-quality coffee while it is still readily available and at a normal price.

And during our celebration of International Coffee Days, you can even reduce the purchase price by up to 25%! Such and even more promotions have been prepared for you at Single Origin Roastery (all special offers and the competition is available only on polish website).

We start on Monday, September 25th, and celebrate throughout the week.

May coffee be with you!

I have previously written about green coffee in the context of its alleged weight-loss properties and my opinion on the matter. As you know, I have been and still am a staunch opponent of attributing any health benefits to raw coffee beans that roasted coffee does not possess. Therefore, we have not offered you raw coffee in Single Origin until now.

In recent times, home roasting has become increasingly popular - the art of roasting coffee in the comfort of your own home. But you can't roast coffee if you don't have... green coffee beans.

With this article, I want to announce the retail sale of green coffee in Single Origin and provide you with some insights into the subject that I have been passionate about since 2009. I will also share some tips that will undoubtedly help you avoid many mistakes and disappointments, saving you a lot of nerves and money.

Why shouldn't you roast coffee at home?

I'll start with a somewhat unconventional question to outline all the negative aspects of home roasting from the very beginning. There aren't many, but they can influence your decisions:

1. An ocean of aromas - home roasting releases a plethora of odors throughout your home, which can linger for several days. I personally love this aroma, but as they say, tastes differ. The less professional the roasting process (e.g., using a pan), the more aroma is released.

2. Coffee Chaff - when roasting coffee, the silverskin, a thin membrane, detaches from the beans and tends to float around; it is highly flammable. Professional coffee roasters have special containers for it, but at home, it's likely to float around your kitchen, and you'll need to figure out how to deal with it.

3. Unbearable Odor If You Overroast - the roasting process requires constant monitoring and active participation (stirring). If something distracts you and you overroast the beans, it's challenging to get rid of the horrible smell of burnt coffee in your home. It's truly unpleasant and has nothing to do with the wonderful aromas released during proper roasting.

4. Results May Not Meet Expectations - this is the most common issue I encounter when talking to people who practice home roasting. Don't let this discourage you, but be aware that it's challenging to achieve the same results as professional coffee roasters or the tools we use every day in the roastery.

5. Temperature Risks - coffee roasting is inherently associated with high temperatures (around 200°C) and materials that cool relatively slowly (the beans). This always carries the risk of burns or even fires, so it must be done consciously.

6. Technical Requirements - while a pan doesn't require much, home coffee roasting devices may sometimes need exhaust ventilation and/or 380V three-phase power supply instead of the standard 230V electrical outlets.

So, let's roast! But where can you get green coffee?

Subjectively (but also objectively) - from the Single Origin Roastery, where, as mentioned earlier, we have started selling green coffee, raw, unroasted beans from around the world.

Objectively, buying green coffee online is possible, but most of the time, it is labeled only with generic information like "Arabica from Brazil," without specific details, parameters, or harvest dates. Often, raw beans can have distorted moisture content due to washing or other preparation processes that define them as "for consumption."

They may also be old or improperly stored warehouse leftovers that no roastery wants to buy, and various amateur sellers attempt to market them differently.

On the other hand, reputable European importers and distributors of green beans, from whom we purchase fresh harvests, usually require pallet-sized quantities or at least sacks of 60-70kg.

At Single Origin, you can buy as little as 500g of selected raw beans, ensuring that you receive our quality (because we offer you the exact same beans that we roast for you every day).

What green coffee beans should you choose for Home Roasting?

The answer is simple for beginners - the cheapest ones. Your initial attempts are unlikely to yield excellent results, and there is a high probability that you will use this coffee more as a mosquito repellent than for your espresso. The cheapest option in terms of green beans is Indian robusta (or Brazilian Santos if you want to start with arabica right away - which I suggest, as it has a significantly milder and more pleasant aroma during roasting than robusta).

Once you determine that your roasting skills allow you to produce coffee that you enjoy drinking, you can choose beans more consciously for specific purposes.

The choice of beans based on their aromatic and flavor profile is up to you. You can read about the characteristics of individual beans in the descriptions on SingleOrigin.pl. Below, as a reminder, are some aspects (in a very generalized form with many exceptions) that influence the "natural" properties of beans, independent of their roasting:

1. Terroir - the soil, climate, and surroundings, i.e., the region of origin! African coffees usually have a slightly drier profile, with more citrus acidity, and are often used for lighter roasts. American coffees are more likely to resemble the classic coffee flavor and are easier to roast (more on this below).

2. Processing method - dry-processed (natural) coffees tend to have lower acidity, heavier body, and more fruit notes in the aftertaste, which can be a bit "dirty." Wet-processed (washed) coffees generally have more acidity, but their profile is typically nobler and richer than dry-processed ones.

3. Altitude of cultivation - the higher, the better, starting from 1200 meters above sea level. We begin discussing SHG (Strictly High Grown) when we talk about coffees at these elevations.

In addition to the above, I would add one more criterion, keeping in mind the topic of this article - ease of roasting. How do I understand this?

There are beans that require a lot of attention and are very sensitive to even the slightest temperature anomalies and roasting errors. These beans may have an uneven structure and/or moisture content, resulting in uneven roasting (here, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and various African naturals are at the forefront).

On the other hand, there are beans on the opposite end of the scale - those that roast easily and pleasantly, do not generate problems, roast evenly, and can forgive mistakes, shortcomings, or equipment deficiencies. These are the beans I recommend for home roasting, as they will provide you with a greater sense of satisfaction when experimenting with beans that are more cooperative. In my opinion, in home conditions, Colombian Supremo, Dominican Ocoa, and Nicaragua Finca el Limoncillo from the Single Origin offer the best results.

Of course, I encourage you to verify this proposition through sensory evaluation and try different beans. However, it's worth keeping in mind not to get discouraged by a series of unsuccessful roasts - there are beans that are challenging to roast correctly even in a professional roastery.

Equipment for Home Roasting - What to Use for Roasting Coffee?

In Vietnam or Africa, coffee is still roasted on plates over an open fire, which makes sense in those settings. However, you probably prefer other methods, so I will briefly describe the potential advantages and disadvantages of each method of home roasting.

I strongly advise against using an oven for roasting coffee for two main reasons:

1. During coffee roasting, you need to regularly and constantly stir the coffee, which will be very challenging in an oven without destabilizing the temperature (which will adversely affect the coffee).

2. During coffee roasting, coffee chaff (the thin, dry skin) detaches from the beans, and it will be challenging to remove it from the oven (it must be removed because it can even catch fire).

A frying pan can be a great option for beginners or for fun experiments with friends, although dealing with the chaff it produces can be problematic - it will definitely float around your kitchen. In this version, your home will undoubtedly smell the most like roasted coffee.

Use thick and heavy pans with high sides for roasting. You need to heat it to about 200°C and position the heat source so that the temperature remains relatively stable throughout the roasting process (a thermometer is highly recommended). Then, spread a thin layer of beans (to avoid creating layers) so that each bean has contact with the bottom of the pan. Stir regularly! After a few minutes, you will start to smell the roasted beans, and after another 2-3 minutes, the beans will start releasing chaff.

Around 15-18 minutes after the start of roasting, you will hear a distinctive cracking sound - the first crack, an internal explosion of the bean caused by the increasing pressure inside generated by the water vapor. During the first crack, the beans significantly increase in volume (sometimes doubling), and magical processes begin that largely define the future flavor in your cup (caramelization of carbohydrates, the formation of aldehydes, simple sugars, melanoids, etc.).

Now is the time for the main part of the experiment because these few moments from the first crack to the end of roasting will determine the flavor of your coffee. There is no set time here - simply observe the color of the beans and decide when you think the color is most suitable, bearing in mind that the beans will continue to roast for several seconds after you remove them from the pan due to accumulated heat, so they will darken slightly.

It's essential to cool the beans to room temperature as quickly as possible after roasting. A stainless steel kitchen colander works well for this purpose, but you must continuously move the beans with it for a few minutes - remember that these beans are around 200°C. That's really hot and can cause burns or even ignite if left uncooled in a pile.

A thicker metal sheet (at least 0.5mm) over an open flame may be a better alternative to a pan, and it certainly has more entertainment potential. It's better because it eliminates the two main problems of strictly home roasting:

1. The odors disperse into the fresh air, not throughout your home.
2. You can easily blow away the chaff that is produced, and it doesn't cause any other cleaning or fire hazards.

The issue with an open flame is the fluctuating temperature, but at the scale we're discussing, you can address it with more frequent and intensive stirring - it's achievable, and the memories of roasting coffee over an open flame will be priceless. It's a good idea to prepare a metal tool to collect the beans from the sheet and a container in which you can cool the beans.

You can certainly use any sheet over an open flame, and your imagination is your only limit.

A popcorn machine may seem like a good idea at first glance, and I've seen videos showing successful coffee roasting at home with such machines. However, I see problems. Firstly, popcorn kernels are much smaller, lighter, and more round than coffee beans, so the thermal efficiency of such machines may not be sufficient. Additionally, they may not handle the mixing of coffee as well as popcorn.

Secondly, the roasting time for popcorn is shorter, and prolonged exposure to high temperatures beyond what the manufacturer intended can, in the best case, damage the machine (and in the worst case, lead to an electrical short or user burns).

Finally, if you have a slightly larger budget for home roasting, you can purchase a dedicated coffee roaster. These devices can be divided into three groups:

1. The cheapest, anonymous devices from China in the range of 300-1000 PLN. I strongly discourage them in every aspect; it's not worth the money, and you risk your health and home electrical installation.

2. Budget roasters from more recognized manufacturers (Hario, IKAWA, Kaffelogic, Behmor, Gene) - they cost around 1500 - 5000 PLN and typically offer basic functionalities such as temperature control, autonomous and continuous stirring of roasted beans, and the removal and collection of chaff, allowing you to roast several hundred grams of coffee at once.

3. Professional micro-scale coffee roasting devices, usually intended for conducting trial roasts and building roasting profiles by professional roasters. Prices for basic electric devices start at a few thousand PLN (e.g., Aillio Bullet), and there's no upper limit. Virtually all recognized coffee roaster manufacturers offer sampler versions (with a capacity below 1kg of beans) for roasting samples, but they usually require technical installations for exhaust ventilation, gas supply, or 3-phase power supply. They also take up more space than the devices described in point 2. However, they provide greater control over the roasting process and its parameters, with the option to connect to a computer and control the roasting process using dedicated roasting software.

Is it worth roasting coffee at home - by yourself?

In my opinion - yes and no.

If you have high standards for your coffee and a discerning palate, it's unlikely that you will be able to roast coffee at home as we do in a professional roastery, especially for lighter roasts or more demanding beans.

On the other hand, home roasting can bring you a lot of joy and be a spectacular addition to family or friends' gatherings. It can also significantly reduce the cost of the coffee you consume if the taste is acceptable.

My advice is to give it a try and form your own opinion. Even if you don't succeed, you will be richer and wiser for the experience! And there's nothing stopping you from regularly purchasing coffee roasted by professionals while treating home roasting as a weekend hobby.

Please remember to prioritize safety - 200°C is no joke, and a moment of distraction can lead to harm and significant damage. Roast responsibly!

Recently, many people have been asking me, whether green (unroasted) coffee can have any positive effect regarding weight loss. The answer is: no, it can't. Actually, I should've ended this article right here. Drinking green coffee makes as much sense as eating raw potatoes, which at most causes a stomachache. Anyway, let me explain everything step by step. . .

For some time now, in both lower and higher tier press (usually the lower tier one), the Internet and some shops, you can find "green coffee for weight loss". Sponsored articles of this type brag "how a cup of green coffee per day makes you lose a few kilos in just one month". Green coffee is supposedly the newest discovery of American scientists and apparently a revolutionary weapon against unwanted kilograms. On the market, besides ground and whole bean green coffee, you can find pills with its extract. Of course 1 or 2 of these pills are enough to reduce your size from XL to S or even M in no time. . .

How does it work in practice? Let's start with explaining what exactly green coffee is. Well, it's just the same regular coffee that we all know of, but the difference is, that it did not undergo thermal treatment, i.e. roasting. Coffee roasteries (e.g. Single Origin) bring raw, green coffee beans (several dozen kilograms packed in large jute sacs). Roasting these green coffee beans is a task of specialists working at roasteries. Raw coffee beans are put into special machineries, where they are being exposed to air heated up to about 250°C. As a result, coffee beans undergo many different processes that completely change their properties. Suffice to say, that green coffee beans have a dozen aroma-flavor compounds and their roasted counterparts have around 700 of them! So, green coffee is a material used in roasteries and as I mentioned at the beginning, drinking it makes as much sense as eating raw potatoes. If I had to compare the taste of green coffee to something, I would've compared it to the taste of mud. Even though, I've never tried to drink mud, that's how I imagine its taste.

However, it seems that something's up, since someone had to put this product on the market and start advertising it. There is some truth to this whole situation and it's called chlorogenic acid. It occurs in coffee beans and for example architokes and plums. It has an antioxidiant effect and it hinders absorbtion of carbohydrates, which makes organism use fat that it stores. Extracting chlorogenic acid from green coffee by pouring it with hot water (regardless of it being ground or whole bean coffee) is so ineffective, that there's no point doing it. You can find pills with extract from green coffee on the market and they might actually have some kind of a positive effect, but let's make it clear: green coffee doesn't have any magical properties, that will make you lose weight easily and without any effort. If someone wants to get rid of unwanted kilos, he has to be active and needs to follow a reasonable diet. There aren't any special pills or other medicines, that will make the problem solve itself... Now, summarizing:

- Can green coffee (or its extract) help me lose weight?  No. You won't lose your weight, unless you follow a reasonable diet and start some physical exercising. Green coffee can be some kind of an addition, but you might as well drink green tea instead (at least it tastes better) as it also has antioxidiant properties.

- Does green coffee tastes good? No, absolutely not. It tastes like mud.

- But maybe it's worth to give it a try? No, it's not worth. Better make yourself an espersso from normal, roasted coffee (e.g. genius arabica, Tarraz from Costa Rica) and go for a long walk. You will feel much better and you will burn some callories.

The wording "specialty coffee" has appeared on the blog more than once. In many articles I wrote about such coffees, as well as I mentioned that in the Single Origin coffee roastery we use such beans and we offer them to our clients. However, no article has appeared so far that would be entirely and directly devoted to this topic. So: what is specialty coffee?

The short answer is that this is the highest quality coffee. However, this answer is too short to satisfy you and your eagerness for knowledge, dear Readers, as well as my willingness to share information with you on this topic.

Specialty coffee = highest quality

Specialty coffees are the professional term for the highest-quality coffees throughout the supply chain: from the farmer, through the supplier (e.g. a reputable broker of high-quality coffees), to the roaster where qualified roasters roast them. They are often referred to as "single origin" or "single estate".

The former refers to one specific place where a given coffee is grown, e.g. the Yirgacheffe region in Ethiopia. The coffee, which is called Yirgacheffe, comes from this area, but not necessarily from one specific farm (this is due to the fact that coffee farms in Ethiopia are very small, have 1-1.5 ha, and the harvest of hundreds of individual farms is processed and segregated at local processing stations).

Single Origin & Single Estate

Anyway: single origin is a coffee that comes from a specific place on Earth (ergo: it is not a mixture of different beans). The Single Origin coffee roaster offer includes a lot of such coffee, for example the aforementioned Yirgacheffe coffee.

A less frequently used term is "single estate". It means "single estate" / "single farm". Single estate coffees are coffees that not only come from a known, specific place, but also from which plantation exactly. This term is used to describe coffees from larger farms, several dozen or more hectares, but also focused on the production of high-quality coffees.

An example of such coffee is the coffee offered by us from Nicaragua - Finca El Limoncillo. We can say that she comes from Nicaragua, from the Matagalpa region, and more precisely from the renowned El Limoncillo farm owned by the Mierisch family.

Where the "specialty" born

But let's come back to the term "specialty". It was first used in 1974 by Erna Knutsen in the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. Knutsen used the term "specialty coffee" to describe the highest quality coffees, growing in specific microclimates, which have unique aroma and taste notes, so different from those found in industrial coffees. In those days, coffee was just coffee, nothing special was found in it. It was treated like an ordinary everyday product.

It turned out, however, that coffee grown in very good climatic conditions and treated with due care can have a whole range of fantastic flavors and aromas. Just like wine. Since then, from the mid-1970s, coffee began to "jump" to a higher level, both in production and in the perception of consumers: from a completely ordinary product (like a not very sophisticated table wine), it has become, or at least part of its world production. has become a kind of luxury product - specialty coffee.

Whether a coffee qualifies for the specialty segment is determined by the SCA score. SCA is the Specialty Coffee Association. SCA, in turn, is a union of SCAA and SCAE, which are the industry specialty coffee associations of America (SCAA) and Europe (SCAE). The above abbreviations may complicate the view of the matter for people who are not experts in the subject, so it can be briefly written that whether a given coffee is specialty or not, it is decided by the trade association of growers, producers and sellers of high-quality coffee.

Specialty coffee grades

Specialty coffees (like all other coffees) are tested for quality, the quantity of defective beans in the sample, the quality of the water used on the plantation and the soil on which they grow, and finally the aromatic and taste parameters. These tests are carried out by the so-called Q-graders, i.e. coffee sommeliers or tippers. Q-graders, in turn, must have the appropriate knowledge and experience, certified, of course, by the SCA certificate.

Each coffee can score a maximum of 100 points in such a study. In fact, getting more than 95 is very, very rare. Specialty coffees are those which score at least 80 points out of 100. The precise definition of the quality of such coffees is as follows:

• 80 – 84,99 points – very good
• 85 – 89,99 points – excellent
• 90 – 100 punktów – outstanding

The difference between specialty and common coffee

What is the difference between specialty coffee and "regular" coffee from the store? For example, regular coffee will never score 80 points on the SCA scale - and these points are followed by a lot of factors that affect its taste and quality. Starting from the climatic conditions (high quality of water used for growing and processing specialty coffees), through the quality control of beans (the maximum amount of defective beans in a batch of specialty coffee is 1 - 1.5%, and in the case of a large European producer of ground coffee - attention, a shocking curiosity. - that's 30%), right up to fresh firing in traditional cast iron drum kilns, not turbo firing in huge heat pipes.

Specialty coffees are fresh coffees from the last available harvest. "Store" coffees are coffees that could have been harvested 3-4 years ago and have been stored in factories of large producers. Specialty coffees also include freshly roasted coffees, no more than 4-6 weeks after roasting. Large companies for coffee beans have a 2-year expiry date and often in stores you can find coffee from well-known Italian companies, for considerable money, which still has six months until the expiry date. Of course, an average Polish household will consume 1 kg of coffee for six months, but it also means that such coffee was roasted 1.5 years earlier.

Specialty coffees also include coffees that are enjoyed by the whole world. For many people, coffee is just coffee. This is the taste of ordinary industrial coffee. Sometimes it is better, sometimes it is worse, but it is difficult to find the fantastic aromatic and flavor notes of specialty coffees.

And there are plenty of them: from classic nut and chocolate coffee, often found in coffees from Central and South America, through citrus-floral flavors of African Arabica, to slightly forest and earthy coffees from Southeast Asia. And this is just a small example of how specialty coffees can taste. At the Single Origin roaster we currently have (but unfortunately it is about to end) a phenomenal controlled fermentation coffee from the Brazilian grower Pedro Bras, which smells like fruit marmalade and tastes both fruit and a hint of whiskey or cognac. This is what specialty coffees are like.

Why specialty coffee is so popular?

In the last dozen or so years, a significant increase in specialty coffees can be noticed. This is due to the so-called The "third coffee wave" that we are currently experiencing (I have already written about it on coffees.guru).

The first wave of coffee took place after the Second World War and was due to the huge interest in instant coffee. This coffee was patented by Nestle (Nescafe coffee) just before the war. A moment later it became part of the food rations of American soldiers, who willingly exchanged it for other products with the inhabitants of Europe (known story: an American soldier exchanged several cans of instant coffee with Pablo Picasso for one of his paintings). After the war, many Europeans remembered this fantastic invention: just pour hot water and it's ready. It was the first coffee wave.

The second coffee wave took place in late 1980s and early 1990s - and continues until today, parallel to the third wave. The second wave of coffee is the popularity of Starbucks or Costa Coffee, i.e. the possibility of buying coffee in a cardboard mug "on the road". Even in the 1990s, coffee in a cardboard mug was an inseparable element of American yuppies, and this way of drinking coffee is popular until today.

Over the last dozen or so years, however, the approach to coffee has changed. What Erna Knutsen noticed in 1974 came out of the niche and began to appear in the mainstream. The third wave of coffee is the return to coffee from small plantations, roasted in small, local roasters, using traditional methods and respecting the quality of the product and the principles of the art of roasting coffee.

It is also coffee drunk in black, often brewed so-called with alternative methods, e.g. in dripp or Aeropress. The third coffee wave also means an increase in the popularity of cafes where you can drink such coffees. Both in the world and in Poland there are more and more places where the waiter or barista will not ask: "white or black coffee?", But: "Costa Rica from Aeropress or Ethiopia from Chemex?".

This is what specialty coffees are and the third wave of coffee, which results from their popularity. Specialty coffees are quality, care for the raw material and the entire process it goes through, as well as craftsmanship and brewing using various interesting methods.

You often ask me what differs African arabica from American arabica, how to grind coffee so it matches a specific brewing method or which roasting level will be the best for you.  So, this article will contatin some information, that can help you answering these questionns.

Arabica or robusta?

There are 2 different variations of coffee that are cultivated worldwide: arabica and robusta. The first of the two is considered a higher quality than the second. Arabica accounts for about 70% of world's coffee cultivation and robusta around 30%. Robusta is sometimes added into mixes of other variatons of coffee to make them "stronger", but it's not necessary. In Single Origin roastery, we only offer arabicas.

What's different between coffees from different world regions?

Both arabica and robusta have their own variations. The most popular method of dividing coffees is by originating country and region. Coffee is cultivated in so called coffee bean belt defined between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Arabica has lots of variations, but coffees cultivated in same regions have some similar features:

- Africa – coffees from this continent are slightly acidic (but they are not sour - you don't need to worry!), they have citrus fruit notes and are rather delicate. I highly recommend Ethiopian arabicas from Sidamo and Yirgacheffe regions - these are the great coffee classics, which are worth a try.

- Central and South America – American coffees are low acidic, have nut and chocolate notes. Their flavor and aroma are considered as "classic coffee". Brazilian arabica „Santos” is very popular, but there are equally great coffees coming from small New World's countries, e.g. Costa Rica Tarrazu.

- Asia – Mostly Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and India. Asian coffees are very low acidic, have "ground/earthy" and "forest" notes. Even though novice coffee drinkers often don’t like their "muffled" character, they have many admirers.

How important is fresh roast?

Coffee is a long term product. Most of big producers determine coffees expiration period for 2 years. However, there is a huge quality gap between coffee roasted a week ago and coffee roasted a year ago. It can be compared to bread. Most of you, probably, like bread straight from the bakery - fragrant, crunchy, just fresh. The same bread can be eaton 2 or 3 days later, but will it still be the same?

It's similar with coffee - you should drink it in 4 weeks after roasting, during this time it will taste the best. Single Origin roastery doesn't roast coffee to store it for later - every kilogram of coffee is roasted for a specific customer.

Coffee roasting types:

1. Unroasted coffee, raw green beans.
2. Light (New England)
3. Medium (American)
4. Medium dark (Vienna)
5. Dark (French or Italian)

In roasteries, raw, green coffee beans undergo thermal treatment (even 250°C), thanks to that we can extract their flavor and aroma. Raw coffee beans have only a several dozen aroma-flavor compounds and their roasted counterparts above 700! Every variation of arabica, depending on many factors, has a roasting level, that enables to unleash the specific coffee beans potential.

General rule is that, the more delicate roasting level, the more noticeable natural flavor notes of specific coffee are.

Stronger roasting levels minimalize acidity, but at the same time make different coffee beans more similar to each other. Single Origin roastery allows every coffee lover to experiment with roasting levels. However, if coffee roasting levels are still a mystery to you, rely on our recommendation

Buy ground coffee or grind it yourself?

Of course grind it yourself! Whole bean coffee can keep it's high quality for a long time, but ground coffee loses it's flavor and aroma quick. Grinding coffee just before brewing is the easiest method to make your coffee even 50% higher quality.

If you have a coffee maker with built-in grinder, then you don't have to worry and if you brew your coffee in a different way, you should consider buying a coffee grinder and grind your coffee beans yourself. It's worth to remember that different brewing methods need different grinding levels:

• fine – for espresso machines.
• medium – for percolators, drippers, filters and AeroPress.
• coarse – for French press and jugs.

At Single Origin we offer grinding coffee for you - we are aware that not everyone has a grinder or wants to do it by him/herself. But I will always encourage you to grind coffee yourself, because it's the easiest method of improving it's quality.

In a fridge? In a jar? Maybe under your quilt? There are many myths and legends surrounding coffee storage. I would like to explain some of them and tell you how to properly store coffee, so it keeps its taste and aroma as long as possible.

What is the expiration date of a coffee?

Coffee is a food product, that can be stored for a quite long time. Most coffee producers say that coffee can be stored up to 2 years. (in case of whole bean coffee).  Indeed - coffee roasted 2 years prior can be safely grinded, brewed and drank, but its taste won't be first-class. It will still be a coffee, but you won't notice any nut, chocolate or citrus notes, that are heavily desired by real coffee lovers.

Thanks to running my own coffee roastery and drinking coffee, to put it mildly, quite often, I can tell that coffee tastes best in 3-4 days after roasting and starts losing its quality after 3-4 weeks after roasting. Why then? Well, after roasting, coffee needs to „rest” and degass carbon dioxide. It's an entirely natural process, that takes place as a result of partial coffee beans carbonization during roasting.

Coffee can be grinded and brewed directly after roasting, but it will reach its full potential after 3-4 days after roasting. But it shouldn't be stored  for too long as it will lose its flavor and aroma. When you intend to buy a coffee, look for its roasting date. Many producers don't include this information as it's not compulsory, but they specify the expiration date.

If you can see that some coffee has, for example, 1 year and 7 months till its expiration date, you can be 99% sure that the producer used a 2-year expiration period, which means that this coffee was roasted 5 months ago. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend buying this coffee, even if it was a product coming from a highly reputable coffee roastery.

In what packaging and where to keep your coffee?

There is a common opinion, which says that coffee should be kept in a fridge. I don't really understand where did this come from, but anyway: it doesn't make much sense. Coffee is a product, that easily acquires other scents. Most people keep meat, dairy products, fish in their fridges.

Do you want your coffee to smell like that? I doubt it. Even if it's tightly packed, low temperatures do not favor it. So - you should keep your coffee in a room temperature closet, so it's not exposedto sunlight.

In what to keep coffee? Some people suggest jars. Indeed, big jar of coffee beans looks nice, but in this case, it's not what we want to achieve. The disadvantage of using a jar is the lack of a vent, which let's the carbon dioxide, that can still eject from the beans. As I mentioned earlier, coffee beans naturally degass carbon dioxide after roasting.

The most intense ejecting takes time during first several hours after roasting, but this process still takes place (in a lower manner) for many days later. Professional coffee packaging have built-in vent, that lets the gas stored inside out, without letting the air in.

They are made in a way, where during normal conditions the packaging stays tightly closed, but when the pressure inside increases (as a result of ejecting carbon dioxide), the vent rises and lets CO2 out of the packaging. These types of packaging are used in our roastery.

On the outside they are paper made, but they are metallised from inside and guarantee that the air doesn't get inside. You can also see their vent in the photos below. Opened packaging can be later closed with an attached strip and put into a closet. You don't have to (and shouldn't) put your coffee in a jar or put it in the fridge.

Whole bean or ground?

Whole bean obviously! I always recommend buying whole bean coffee and grinding it at home. If you own an automatic coffee maker with built-in grinder, it will grind your coffee for you and if you use an espresso machine or any other method (AeroPress, Chemex or Bialetti percolator), then you should definitely buy a grinder and grind your coffee right before brewing.

Grinded coffee beans quickly lose their taste and aroma. Normally, I'm not a conservative person regarding any coffee topics and I don't mind experimating, I will always say: grind your coffee right before brewing, don't store ground coffee, buy a grinder (even a manual one), because thanks to that you coffee wil gain at least +50% on its quality.

The answer for the question I asked in the title of this article seems pretty obvious: put your coffee beans into the grinder, press the button or turn the handle and done... In reality it's a bit more complicated. People who work with coffee professionally could talk about coffee grinding for hours. I will try to keep everything short, give you some advices and present you some facts about coffee grinding.

When you enter a shop, most of the coffees you see offered are ground coffees. From market studies taken in 2013 we can see that 80% of coffee sold in Poland (as I'am from Poland) is ground coffee. In Great Britain, for example, it's the other way around - 80% of coffee sold is whole bean coffee and only 20% is ground coffee. Whole bean coffee sells are slowly rising in Poland, but a decent amount of time will pass, before Polish people start to appreciate the higher quality that whole bean coffees definitely offer.

Why is it better to grind your coffee yourself? The easiest answer is that grinding by yourself makes it at least 50% better than bought ground coffee. Regardless of how you make your coffee, even if you put it into a cup and pour it with water, grinding it yourself just before pouring is definitely worth it. I guarantee you that middle class coffee, but ground just before brewing, will taste better than high class coffee ground some time ago. That happens because grinding speeds up the coffee airing process. Whole bean coffee, if closed tightly, can keep its aroma, taste and quality (even up to 2 years). Ground coffee, even tightly closed, starts to lose its properties much sooner. So, if you like really good coffee, a coffee grinder (or automatic espresso machine with built-in grinder) is a must!

If you've already taken the first step and bought a coffee grinder, the second important step is to choose the right grinding level, so it matches the method of its brewing. General rule is that the longer ground coffee particles are in touch with water, the bigger they should be. Let's try to imagine it: on the one side we have finely ground coffee for espresso machine (because brewing process is short and takes from 23 to 28 seconds) and on the other side we have coarsely ground coffee for drip coffee maker (or for example Chemex kettle) where brewing process is much longer.

Which level of coffee grinding matches your method of making coffee?

Very finely ground coffee (consistency of flour or powder) - classic Turkish caffee, brewed in cezves.

Finely ground coffee (delicate and nice in touch, finer than sugar) - espresso machine.

Middle ground coffee (przypomina piasek) – moka pots (e.g. Bialetti), manual devices for brewing coffee (e.g. genius AeroPress, that you can read about here).

Coarsely ground coffee (size of a small salt crystal) - drip coffee makers, Chemex kettles, French presses.

Matching the right grinding level with the method of its brewing isn't compulsory! Experiment and try to find something you would love. Some people prefer using finely ground coffee with Chemex coffee makers. The list above is just a starting point, that should make it easier for you to find your favorite grinding level.

Soon I will pubilsh an article about coffee grinders: manual, electrical, cheap and a bit more expensive. Visit Coffees Guru regularly, sign for my Newsletter or join me on Facebook to get latest updates!