The Art and Craft of Coffee Read Online Free PDF Page A

with their focus on commodity coffee, has gone head to head with Brazil in an attempt to unseat them as the leader of large-scale coffee farming. Time will tell if the specialty beans will grow here as they do in Brazil.
    Burma
    Burma grows a tiny, yet significant amount of coffee called Myanmar. So far, it is only available in northern Europe and Japan, but it may end up in other markets.
    Laos
    Laos produces Liberica, a rare commodity coffee said to make a distinctive espresso coffee. It can take a variety of roasts. Laotian coffee is difficult to find, although on occasion, a smattering goes to home roasters via online auctioneers.
    Vietnam
    Vietnam produces a huge amount of commodity coffee but no specialty coffee. The vast majority of its crop is Robusta, no doubt a strategic decision to capitalize on its position behind Brazil as the second largest coffee producer.
    Indonesia and Oceania
    Indonesian coffees are generally big-boned, flavorful coffees with huge body and a subtle acidity. Even the beans themselves can be oversized. These coffees may be best defined as big but never bland.
    Hawaii
    Hawaii has great volcanic soil, but historically Hawaiians placed more importance on sugar plantations. To the United States, sugar cane was a worthier investment than coffee.

Sumatra coffee trees amidst taller shade trees.
    Hawaii has a good climate and volcanic soil. There is some fine coffee grown there. But, demand is so high that in the 1990s a scandal rocked the coffee world involving coffee imported from Costa Rica that was simply re-labeled Kona.
    There isn’t enough great Kona. Its wine flavor rivals the best Kenyan, and its subterranean body approaches the best Jamaican Blue Mountain.
    If buying for roasting, start light and go just deep enough to Full City. Roast any darker and you’ll lose the acidity. Use the same advice for buying Kona, although most pure Kona is roasted fairly light.
    Sumatra
    A high-humidity climate, volcanic soil, and dated ancient processing methods make Sumatra one of the most satisfying coffees. It has historically been underrated. Sumatran coffee was once sold as Javan, and the best Javan grade at that. Most of the finest Mocha-Java blends were likely Sumatran coffee as well. The gap widened even further when a leaf rust disease destroyed most good Javan coffee but skipped Sumatra altogether.
    Expect a good to colossal body. At its best, Sumatran coffee also has a muted spicy acidity that lingers at the back of the mouth. Mandheling and Lintong are two famous districts. The original vintage Sumatra taste depends on dry processing, though some wet processed coffees have the same profile. If buying green to roast, don’t over-roast.
    Sumatra Variant: Kopi
    This famous Sumatra coffee is fed to an Indonesian mammal called a civet and retrieved post-digestion. Despite its source, Kopi coffee is quite good, but it’s expensive. If you get the chance, try Kopi. You’ll be surprised by its body and acidity.
    Sulawesi
    In a quick taste snapshot, Sulawesi appears a refined Sumatran with more acidity, less body, and a cleaner, if sometimes less distinctive taste.
    Sulawesi seems a more consistent coffee than Sumatran. Whether this is due to farming practices, processing, industry, climate, or other conditions is unknown, but many in the industry say they buy Sulawesi coffees with more assurance than Sumatrans. A noted coffee shop owner once said, “Sulawesi coffee is Sumatra coffee with all its problems fixed.”
    Sulawesi is often labeled Celebes, which is not a region but actually the island’s original name. Reportedly, the best Sulawesi coffee comes from Toraja, a mountain in the island’s center.
    Papua New Guinea
    If Sulawesi is a refined Sumatran, Papua New Guinea might be considered a refined Sulawesi. It has the highest acidity of the Indonesian coffees. The balance definitely tilts upward, meaning more pronounced acidity than body—a rarity for Pacific coffees. The region generally