If you want to roast and grind coffee beans at your cafe, you must strictly purchase top-grade dried coffee beans. When buying coffee beans, you will often find “specialty” or “premium” grade beans. However, upon closer inspection, you may find a good percentage of beans with physical defects that will negatively affect the flavour of your cup. These defects are easily identifiable and you should pick only perfect beans for roasting and grinding.
While it is much easier to purchase organic coffee capsules for a faster, more consistent brew, if you do decide to roast and grind your own beans, there are some things that you should look for.
Let’s take a look at some of the physical defects that you should look for when purchasing coffee beans for your café:
Faded Colour- faded colour happens if beans absorb excessive moisture. Beans with faded colour produce a dull roast and you get a cup with woody and musty flavours. The moisture content is high at around 12 percent. Instead of being properly dried, these beans may become mouldy.
Yellow Golden Colour- raw coffee beans with yellow golden colour may indicate soil with mineral (including iron) deficiency. After roasting, you get beans with dull colour and a cup with bitter flavour, flat harsh body and little acidity.
Sticky Silver Coating- this could happen if the beans are harvested from plants affected by drought. These beans also look rough and whitish. After being roasted, these beans will be soft and with excessive chaff. They will give you grassy or woody flavour, due to a high level of moisture and the development of mold during storage.
Greenish Colour- when hulled beans get in contact with water, a chemical reaction develops and they will turn into a greenish colour. When this happens, beans could become moldy and slightly toxic.
Burst Beans- when beans go through the pulping machine, some may get stuck. Excessive pressure by the machine could wound these beans. During the drying process, wounded beans may burst and they become oxidized. If contaminated with water, burst beans will have molds and over ferment. Before roasting, remove any burst beans that you can find. If not, your cup of coffee will have musty and earthy flavours.
Black Needle-Like Holes- holes on dried coffee beans could be caused by berry moths when they lay eggs inside the fresh coffee berries. Another insect called antestia may cause bruised beans with yellowish spots. Insect-damaged coffee beans will produce soft and shrunken roast. They give salty, alkaline and musty flavours to your coffee.
Stinker- it’s more difficult to distinguish stinker beans. They look normal outside but with yellow colour and dead embryo inside. These beans are badly over-fermented. When cut open, broken or crushed, they put off a somewhat unpleasant odour. Just having a couple of stinker beans during roasting could ruin an entire batch, giving you foul-tasting cups of coffee.
Contact Novell Coffee Trade
To learn more about the newest trends in coffee and café service and how some companies are choosing compostable coffee pods, contact Novell Coffee Trade and shop a wide selection of specialty coffees today!
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