There are a lot of myths and misinformation that gets circulated about coffee, which I suspect is at least in part driven by market forces that rely on the perception of roasted coffee as a non-perishable bulk good, rather than as fresh produce. However, anyone who has had the opportunity to taste high-quality beans roasted within days cannot help but perceive a stark contrast when compared to the vast majority of stale, over-roasted and haphazardly brewed coffee that is the standard fare. But the thing that surprises me the most is how many people I meet who have never seen green, unroasted coffee. This seems to me to be just another artifact of an industry that is built on keeping people uninformed about the true complexity and depths of flavor that can be exhibited by properly handled beans. Otherwise, coffee is little more than a caffeine delivery device. So people, here is what it looks like before and after roasting.
Honduras COSAGUAL Coffee
So what are we seeing here. Before being roasted, coffee is green or greenish-blue, small, dense and about 20% water. During roasting, the coffee turns yellow and then brown, begins to expand substantially and loses 15% to 18% of its mass, mostly water. The roasted beans in this picture are roasted to Full City, just before the beans begin to develop fissures that allow flavor oils to escape and caramelize (or what is unfortunately more common, burn) on the surface of the bean. Because coffee is a natural product, there is often substantial variation in the size and shape of the beans. Generally speaking, in higher-quality coffees, the crop is carefully screened to ensure more consistency. However, for some coffees, the heterogeneity of the beans yields a more exotic flavor. Even in the beans in this picture, which are relatively homogeneous, there can be seen a small variation in size and shape.
