How to Select Good Coffee Beans
 My husband is a coffee freak. He's so particular about roast, freshness and origin of beans, I have all but given up buying them myself. "Coffee Snob" rarely buys whole coffee beans at the grocery store, claiming they are stale and flavorless. I've argued this point with him, buying a fancy labeled bag or two off the shelf for large sums of money, and Mr. Smarty Java pants is almost always right. The beans are *stale* and lack character. However, sometimes we get lucky and our local store will carry Peet's Coffee (Whole Beans), and we stock up, at least for the week.
Here's a little information on WHY choosing the correct bean, and roast can be SO important to your morning cup o' joe.
There are two commercially cultivated species of coffee tree: arabica and robusta. Both species are tropical evergreens, are intolerant to frost, and belong to the family Coffea.
Our fave, Peet's coffees, are made purely of arabica beans. There is a wide range of quality among arabicas due to differences in altitude, soil, weather, and processing. The finest arabicas are grown at elevations of 4,000 to 6,000 feet in rich volcanic soil and harvested with selective picking practices. The arabica species is indigenous to Ethiopia, but has been successfully transplanted to the rest of Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
Many variables affect each roast. Beans from different regions require different techniques, and every nuance of weather affects a roast. Only a highly trained roaster can monitor air temperature and humidity, and make adjustments for the desired results. To guarantee quality, roasters sample each batch of coffee to make sure the roast tastes right.
Skilled coffee roasters have what is called a "Palate memory" . This skill is one of the most important when it comes to roasting, as it tells the maker how blends should taste in order to achieve a consistency of taste, which can be an enormous challenge since beans can change harvest to harvest!!
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