What is coffee? We've compiled 30 frequently asked questions. The answers should help you gain a comprehensive understanding of coffee, its history and future, the coffee plant, different types of coffee machines, preparation, the most common mistakes, its history and origins, and enjoyment.
History and distribution
1. What is coffee?
The term “coffee” often means different things: On the one hand, coffee is a caffeinated beverage, and on the other hand, it is a plant genus with more than 120 species. Depending on who you ask in the coffee chain, someone will have a different explanation of what coffee is. In cultivation, coffee is a fruit that is picked when ripe. In processing, or so-called preparation, coffee is technically a seed that is dried to 10-12% residual moisture. In trade, coffee is a commodity , a raw material, a commodity that is shipped from one port to the next. For roasters, the still-green coffee is the raw material that releases the already present aroma precursors during the roasting process. And for consumers, coffee can be the reason for a meeting, a ritual, an experience, or even an addictive substance.
2. Where does coffee come from and how was it discovered?
Coffee originates from the sub-Saharan region, which is now part of Ethiopia and South Sudan. The catchment area extends into the Congo Basin. Coffee originally grew in forests and is accustomed to growing alongside trees.
Where coffee originally comes from: between the Congo Basin and present-day Ethiopia, the highest genetic diversity of coffee varieties can still be found today.
Only later, when coffee was cultivated for commercial use, did intensive cultivation in densely planted plots begin. The transition from mixed to monoculture favored the spread of plant diseases , such as the infamous coffee rust, or roya . Many myths surround the discovery of coffee – whether it was goats that first ate coffee cherries and then danced, or whether it was a monk, a prophet, or someone else, will never be conclusively proven. Most legends agree on the region where coffee was discovered.
More about Roya, the devastating coffee disease: to the blog
3. Distribution of the coffee plant
Today, coffee is produced in more than 60 countries around the globe in the so-called Coffee Belt (approximately 23 degrees north and south of the equator) . Until a few years ago, the Coffee Belt had a relatively stable, subtropical climate, which the sensitive coffee plant needs. In all countries except present-day Ethiopia and South Sudan, coffee was not originally a native plant, but was imported by administrators and missionaries of the colonial powers. Thus, coffee did not spread on its own, but was actively transported through the "New World" by the colonial powers. The economic exploitation of coffee was the primary goal. This also went hand in hand with the botanical research of the coffee plant, which was foreign to the European colonial powers. Scientists from Great Britain, Holland, and France primarily analyzed and typologized the coffee plant.
More on the spread and colonial history of coffee: to the blog
Botany and Agronomy
4. How much coffee is produced worldwide?
In 2022, 171 million 60kg coffee sacks were produced worldwide ( ICO.org ). Of these, 58% were Arabica and 42% were Robusta (Canephora). Since coffee grows in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, it is subject to different growth cycles.
For example, while coffee is just beginning to bloom in Mexico, it is already being harvested in Peru, and vice versa. We see that some countries like Brazil, Vietnam, or Honduras produce more coffee each year, while others gradually produce less. The reasons are socio-demographic and climatic. In Nicaragua, for example , more and more young people are leaving the country to seek their fortunes in the USA. Since coffee is picked by hand – except in Brazil – and labor will be scarce in the medium term, there will be a decreasing supply of coffee in many parts of the world.
5. What is the difference between Arabica and Robusta?
Arabica and Robusta (botanically correct: Canephora ) are the two best-known and most widely planted coffee species. As of 2021, 124 different coffee species have been catalogued. Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora are just two of them, but they are the ones that are found globally today and together account for more than 99% of the global coffee supply. Both species are further divided into varieties—for example, Coffea Arabica var. Caturra or Coffea Canephora var. Robusta.
"Robusta" is a variety of the Canephora species —when we say Arabica and Robusta, we're essentially comparing apples and oranges. However, the term has become firmly entrenched in everyday language. "Robusta," as the name suggests, is significantly more resistant to disease, has twice the caffeine content, and a different aroma than Arabica. Arabica grows in cooler climates, develops brighter and more floral aromas, and is more susceptible to disease and pests.
More about the coffee plant and its taxonomy: here
Cultivation and processing
6. Where is coffee grown?
Today, coffee is grown and processed in approximately 60 countries. However, the five largest coffee-growing countries (Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia) produce more than 75% of the global coffee supply, resulting in highly consolidated coffee production. The majority of producing countries export coffee, but generally the highest grades. The lower-quality coffee often remains on the farm or in local markets. Meanwhile, however, the demand for high-quality coffee is also increasing in producing countries, often in line with a country's economic development and changing consumption patterns. Climate change has a huge impact on coffee-growing regions – Brazil and Central America will be hit hard by 2050: in some places it will become much hotter, in others it will become drier or wetter.
More about the future of coffee: here
7. How is coffee grown?
Coffee is primarily grown in three different systems: no shade, partial shade, and shade. Shade, in this case, implies the presence of trees. In Brazil, for example, production is largely shade-free. A whole industry has developed based on the sun-grown coffee approach: coffee is planted in precise rows so that it can be harvested mechanically. Shade trees "disrupt" this process. In mixed systems, trees provide shade and thus reduce the plant's metabolism, causing less stress and requiring fewer inputs (fertilizers). The soil is less exposed to UV rays and more covered by organic matter that falls from the trees.
Coffee grown in partial shade, Honduras
In the agroforestry system, i.e., the planting of coffee plants in forests, the coffee plants benefit from high biodiversity, natural barriers against disease, and a high humus content. In this full-shade system, harvesting is exclusively manual.
8. How is coffee harvested?
In the shade-free system described above, which is practiced in Brazil, mechanized work is possible. Branch pruning, the application of fertilizers and pesticides, and harvesting can all be mechanized using specially designed harvesters. This increases efficiency and reduces production costs. Wherever coffee is hand-picked, production costs are higher. Manual harvesting is the only method of picking coffee in hilly topographies and mixed forest systems. Pickers are close to the plant, quickly see what a plant needs, and can visually assess the point of peak ripeness for each tree individually.
So which red is the right red?
Both harvesting systems have their advantages. Uniform cherry ripeness requires either a perfectly planned and uniform ripeness stage of the trees, which can be picked mechanically, or trained pickers who assess the color of the cherries.
9. How is coffee processed?
As soon as the coffee cherries are picked, the clock starts ticking. When the coffee pod detaches from the tree, metabolic activity in the coffee seed, which will later become the bean, increases. The coffee must then be processed quickly to avoid any off-flavors. We broadly distinguish between two fundamentally different processing methods: either the pulp remains attached to the seed and is dried. This method is known as dry processing or natural processing. If the pulp, along with the pectin-containing mucilage ( mucilage or miel ), is removed by friction with a pulping machine, we speak of depulped coffee.
A pulping machine on Santa Rita, Nicaragua
Between these two extremes - leaving all the pulp on or dissolving all the pulp - there are now hundreds of different intermediate stages that work with more or less fermentation and thus create flavors that were not present before.
Coffee, climate, sustainability
10. Climate change and coffee
Coffee is subject to climate change. It's difficult to predict exactly where and how it can be grown in the future. A 2022 study by the ZHaW (University of Applied Sciences and Arts) shows where climate patterns are continuing to shift.
The crux of the matter: Coffee relies on stable weather patterns so that the plants don't get confused and can simultaneously feed fruit and develop new flowers. Coffee trees planted today will face increasingly adverse conditions in the future. Producers are already faced with the decision of whether growing coffee makes long-term sense or whether to abandon their farms. The general taste of coffee will also shift – on the one hand, there will be more Robusta, because it tolerates high temperatures better. On the other hand, the aroma will become increasingly daring, because new fermentation techniques allow flavors to be introduced into coffee that would otherwise not be present.
More about the coffee of the future in this video
11. What is sustainable coffee?
The simpler question would be: which coffee isn't sustainable? These are coffees that are sold far too cheaply. If you think something is too cheap, then it's probably not sustainable because someone else has to bear the costs. But if we assume that sustainable coffee should create a long-term livelihood for everyone involved, including the environment, the soil, and the actors involved in the chain, then we can ask coffee roasters the following questions: where exactly does the coffee come from? How was it grown? Were the prices set by the producers themselves? But we can also ask ourselves at the preparation level: do I boil exactly the right amount of water for my filter coffee, or far too much? Do I let my espresso machine heat up for 30 minutes for an espresso in the morning? Sustainable coffee has many faces - by keeping a critical eye on our own actions, we can constantly question ourselves.
12. How can I consume coffee sustainably?
As a rule of thumb, we like to give you this: if you buy double-certified coffee, i.e. FairTrade and Organic (FTO), you are hardly doing anything wrong. More and more roasters are buying double-certified coffee, and it is now also available in supermarkets. The cooperatives that offer this type of coffee are inspected by two different auditing bodies. This means that good intentions are sometimes behind double-certified coffee. There are always flaws in the system, such as the illegal excesses of so-called combos , where Fairtrade coffee is sold too cheaply. But it is even more sustainable if buyers - that is, traders and roasters - take responsibility themselves and address individual challenges in the respective coffee-producing countries . It is therefore worthwhile for consumers to ask coffee roasters where exactly the coffee comes from, how the price was determined, and whether the coffee was grown using natural methods.
Coffee and quality
13. How is the quality of coffee assessed?
Coffees are sensorially assessed using the cupping process. They are rated on a scale of 0-100. This rating system dates back to 1984 and will be replaced by a new rating system starting October 1, 2025. We have discussed and analyzed the Coffee Value Assessment, or CVA for short, in detail here .
The hundred points are divided into 70 points awarded for positive qualitative characteristics, and 30 points for the intensity of sweetness, uniformity, and a clean and well-structured cup profile. Attributes examined include aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, and the balance of the various attributes. It is also assessed whether a coffee is free of sensory defects. One bean with a severe defect, such as phenol, can render a liter of coffee undrinkable.
More on tasting and specialty coffee: read the article
14. What is good coffee?
Short answer: the coffee you like is good. In a somewhat longer answer, we would have to address three different perspectives : those of the producers, those of the retailers, and those of the roasters. From the producers' perspective , it seems that coffees without defects and those with a good balance of sweetness and acidity are valued more highly by buyers and thus paid more. From the retailers' perspective, higher-quality coffees sell with the so-called differential and are priced higher – a special aroma and uniformity in the coffee are emphasized. Roasters, in turn, often opt for quantity or quality. Those who want quality buy coffees that producers, quality laboratories, exporters, and importers have labeled as good coffee. The roasting language of each roaster emphasizes the character of the coffee or adapts it to suit their customers. And ultimately, it is the roaster who decides what is good – even if everyone has done their best beforehand.
One thing is crucial for us: good coffee is not only sensory, but also involves people and the environment.
You can read more about how we understand sustainability here .
15. Do coffee varieties from different regions differ?
Yes. But: there are no "best coffee beans from the best growing regions in the world" – as with any food product, there are good and less good coffees everywhere. What matters are the cultivation, the consistent degree of ripeness, the clean and meticulous processing, and then the sorting of the coffee . If these factors are present, you can already have a rock-solid coffee. After that, it's all about the finer details.
Coffee drying at BridAzul in Ocotal, Nicaragua
And the more small puzzle pieces that come together, such as varieties, local growing conditions like altitude, temperature, and shade, post-harvest processes like targeted fermentation, and then the slow and monitored drying, the more complex the coffee becomes. In addition, one can – somewhat cautiously – speak of general flavor profiles. Nadja Schwarz keeps a record of coffees from various countries. In her blog articles, she also discusses the respective flavor profiles.
Trade
16. How is coffee traded?
The vast majority of green coffee purchases and sales are conducted on the coffee exchange, where exporters, importers, and trading houses do business via futures contracts. The reference price in this trading system is the coffee exchange price, the Coffee C Futures, which primarily aligns supply and demand. The exchange price is further influenced by harvest forecasts and currency fluctuations, particularly in the US dollar and Brazilian reais . Speculation, in which more coffee is bought or sold than necessary, is the third factor in determining coffee prices on the exchange. These "reference prices" do not reflect production costs and therefore remain fictitious, but are binding for more than 90% of coffee producers unless they can establish their own sales channels and partnerships.
17. Coffee and Fair Trade
In 1994, the first green coffees were imported under the TansFair seal. Other seals and organizations were to follow, and in 2022, 17 organizations agreed on a common logo. Since then, Fairtrade has guaranteed a minimum price, which increased from 140 cents per pound to 180 cents per pound in March 2023. Previously, the 140 cents per pound for Arabica coffee had been in effect since 2011. For a long time, these 140 cents were considered the cost of production—however, this price did not take into account real living costs and inflation. At the same time, the minimum price postulated a somewhat higher income from coffee because, with a few exceptions ( price increases due to frost or a roya outbreak ), the coffee market price was lower. Unfortunately, the Fairtrade seal does not guarantee 100% protection that the Fairtrade price was paid. Combos , a reprehensible practice by buyers to haggle down the price of Fairtrade coffee, occur repeatedly. Furthermore, the market for Fairtrade-certified coffee is still far too small: in Germany, only 5% of total coffee consumption was Fairtrade-certified in 2021, despite the apparent high level of awareness of the issue.
Roast
18. How is coffee roasted?
A green coffee bean, or raw coffee, is the dried seed of the coffee cherry. Depending on its origin and processing, the coffee arrives at the roastery with 9–12% residual moisture.
Juan Boillat from the roasting team
The green coffee is heated in a roaster – temperatures in the roaster typically range from 200 to 450 degrees Celsius. The residual moisture in the coffee bean transfers the heat into the bean's interior . During the roasting process, chemical and physical reactions take place: the bean turns brown due to the so-called browning reaction, it grows by at least 100% in size, loses weight (water loss), and the Maillard reaction converts the aroma precursors into flavors that we can then detect in the beverage. Shorter roasts (+/- 10 minutes) primarily emphasize the coffee's origin. Longer roasts of 15 minutes or more impart more roasted notes to the coffee. The signature and intention of a roaster can be discerned in the selection of green coffees and the roasting style.
19. What is gentle long-term roasting?
The gentle, slow roasting process is primarily a marketing gimmick. The term symbolizes a backlash against days gone by when large roasters roasted large quantities in a very short time. These green coffees were of mediocre quality, and the often overly rapid roasting didn't add anything positive to the final product. Therefore, those who roasted more slowly, in smaller batches, and thus more "gentle," would do much better than the large roasters.
To this day, the David vs. Goliath interpretation that smaller roasters have a qualitative advantage persists. But there are some arguments against it.
Roasting for longer than the often-despised "industrial roasts" of the early days makes sense in theory, but in practice, long roasts allow us to even out the coffees. While this reduces harsh chlorogenic acids, the texture, sweetness, and balanced acidity also suffer. Long-term roasting is also questionable from an economic and ecological perspective, as more coffee could be roasted in the same amount of time.
20. Roasting coffee at home
Since coffee roasting isn't an art but a craft, you can achieve excellent, and not just drinkable, results at home. Roasting coffee at home is a bit of an adventure: it crackles, produces a lot of smoke, and you should keep your kitchen well-ventilated. The foundation for a good roasted coffee is good green coffee.
We have a small selection in our online shop, where you can purchase our green coffee beans . Suitable roasting machines include popcorn pans, stovetop toasters, bread makers, or even small roasters for home use. In this blog , we summarize that roasting is primarily about time and energy. Over a certain period of time, we add a certain amount of energy to the green coffee beans. It's important that the coffee always stays in motion, otherwise, regardless of the roasting system, it will burn on one side. Instructions, tips, and plenty of motivation can be found here .
Drinks
21. What is the difference between an espresso, a long coffee and a filter coffee?
The size of the cup and the volume of the beverage seem obvious. What's in the brewed coffee is less obvious. And since Nespresso redefined espresso—5.3g of ground coffee to 40ml of water—there have been various interpretations of what exactly constitutes an espresso and what constitutes a longer coffee . We define espresso as a coffee beverage in which we compare 1 part ground coffee to 2 to 2.5 parts brewed coffee in the cup.
An overview of coffee drinks and their strength
For example, we take 18g of finely ground coffee, which we compact with a tamper and prepare in the portafilter machine. We measure the amount of coffee in the cup using a gram scale. For an intense espresso, we stop the extraction when we have 36g of coffee in the cup. 1:2.5 would then be 45g of brewing volume and slightly milder. For a long coffee, we use a standard 12g of coffee and brew it for 120ml of brewing volume in the cup, which corresponds to a ratio of 1:10. We often brew filter coffees at a ratio of 1:16—we pour 18g of coffee powder over 290ml of water to create a balanced drink.
22. How much caffeine is in a cup of coffee?
Arabica beans contain approximately 1.2% caffeine, while Canephora/Robusta beans contain 2.2% caffeine. Therefore, someone who wants to consume as much caffeine as possible would brew a large pot of filter coffee made from 100% Robusta beans. However, the type of beverage isn't important here – espresso and filter coffee have almost the same amount of caffeine, as it dissolves very quickly and ends up in the coffee during extraction. The decisive factor is the amount of ground coffee used. Brewing a coffee capsule with 5.4g of coffee, a double espresso with 18g, or a filter coffee with 40g of ground coffee will consume different amounts of coffee. The reverse calculation works like this:
Three coffee capsules of 6g powder each (=18g powder) have the same caffeine content as a double espresso, which was also brewed with 18g coffee powder.
And if you brew a filter coffee with 18g, you will also find a similar caffeine content.
23. Do dark roasts and strong coffees have more caffeine?
No. Caffeine only breaks down minimally during roasting. The coffee beans themselves, whether they are light or dark roasted, have the same caffeine content. However, darker roasts occur when the final temperature in the roaster is high and the bean is already in the light combustion process. Matter is burned and the bean loses weight. If we want to make an espresso with 18g of grounds, we need more dark beans to achieve the desired 18g of coffee. Lighter roasts pyrolyze less during roasting, so we burn less matter and the coffee retains more of its original weight. Thus, we need fewer light coffee beans to achieve the desired 18g of coffee grounds. Darker roasts have more caffeine in the coffee drink because more coffee beans are needed for brewing.
24. Is coffee healthy?
In manageable amounts, coffee is harmless to the human body. We'll let Chahan Yeretzian, coffee professor at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Wädenswil, explain himself.
Coffee at home
25. How and where to store coffee?
Store at room temperature, away from sunlight, in the original packaging, and sealed. We do not recommend storing coffee in the refrigerator. In this video, Michel explains clearly where the
26. What are the most important tips for making the perfect coffee at home?
Making good coffee is like putting together a 100-piece puzzle. The more pieces fit together correctly, the better you get a complete picture of what the coffee can do. There are some pieces of the puzzle that you can determine yourself at home. The most important thing is to determine what the coffee beans (not ground) are intended for. Is it filter coffee, a fully automatic coffee machine, or espresso coffee? We recommend checking the roasters' websites to see which coffee is recommended for which preparation method. A dark roast will produce a strong espresso, but not a balanced filter coffee, and vice versa . To gain control over the preparation, we recommend always using a gram scale. Soft water helps bring out the coffee's aroma. Hard water dulls the coffee.
Information on the correct amount of coffee powder: Blog
To the article for the perfect coffee water: Article
27. What are the most common mistakes when making coffee?
The best way to make good coffee is to follow a recipe. Everything else would be left to chance—which is often done. "One to two spoonfuls of ground coffee" wouldn't be a precise recipe for filter coffee. "18g of polenta-finely ground, light-roasted coffee" is more precise.
If we follow a simple recipe for brewing coffee, just like we bake a cake, we will achieve much more consistency in the quality of the drink.
No recipe, no consistency. Simply using a scale to measure the coffee and the extraction quantity helps a lot. The right water temperature (for example, from a kettle with temperature settings) and a coffee grinder that produces a homogeneous ground coffee do the rest. The key is to only change one parameter of the recipe at a time, so we're not dealing with multiple moving targets.
28. What does coffee from different coffee machines taste like?
It seems like a new machine is launched every month that brews coffee even better. Essentially, each process involves forcing or passing hot water through ground coffee. Sometimes with more, sometimes with less pressure and temperature, sometimes with coarser or finer grinds—what sounds like nuances actually results in a completely different drink.
Lots of crema from a freshly roasted coffee from a portafilter machine
Pod coffee machines are primarily designed for longer coffees, as the ground coffee is quite coarse. Fully automatic coffee machines can brew both short and long coffees, although their strength lies clearly in longer extractions. Portafilter machines can theoretically do everything well, but only if all other parameters are finely tuned – there's a lot of room for error here. Filter coffee machines are available in every price range. The better machines differ in that they drip water at a constant temperature evenly and onto different spots on the coffee bed. Capsule machines produce significantly better short coffees than long ones – this is mainly due to the fact that the amount of ground coffee in the capsule is limited, rarely exceeding 6g. For many, the espresso maker or moka pot is the epitome of coffee or even espresso – in high concentrations, the drink produces a dense texture and high intensity, but has little in common with an espresso from a portafilter machine. Hand brewing methods allow us to play around with coffee and try out different recipes. The vast majority of these methods are designed for filter coffee, but some can also make espresso quite well - albeit a bit time-consuming - and are also suitable for use on the go .
29. Which coffee beans are best for fully automatic coffee machines?
As a coffee roaster, we differentiate and make recommendations as to which types of coffee we use for which purpose.
Fully automatic coffee machines vary enormously in their design – the ground coffee differs from machine to machine. The brewing groups are not the same, the brewing temperature is set differently, and the distance from the thermoblock to the brewing group varies in length. These are all factors that the specific coffee roast must cope with.
So you need a versatile coffee that can still deliver more flavor than just roasted notes. It's worth checking out the roaster's recommendations to see exactly which coffees they recommend. We recommend lighter roasts for longer cups, darker roasts for shorter extractions . We enjoy fruity coffees in the longer coffees brewed in fully automatic machines, while nuttier and more chocolatey coffees are more suitable for espresso. We've also set about developing a specialty coffee for fully automatic machines, but see for yourself in the video.
30. How can you enjoy coffee while traveling?
Sure, good coffee can be brewed on the go. However, you need the right equipment. A hand grinder is a must for anyone who doesn't want to miss out on good coffee on the go. Benjamin made a video about it in which he discovered his three favorite methods while on the go.
