Bracing taste: unusual and rare coffee varieties
What could be better than a cup of fragrant, slightly tart drink early in the morning? Only coffee, the taste of which is unique.
The usual Arabica and Robusta are the most common varieties of coffee. This coffee can be bought around the world for relatively little money. But connoisseurs of these varieties will seem banal and simple, because there are elite, unusual and just rare types of coffee, for which it is not a pity to pay crazy sums. These are really special varieties.
Old Java
The name of this variety speaks at once about the place of its origin, and about cooking technologies. Ordinary coffee beans are grown on the island of Java in Indonesia, but before the beans are sent to gourmets, they are artificially aged.
Ripe berries are cleaned, dried and packed in textile bags, and then stored in strictly verified conditions for 2 years. If the coffee lasts longer – it will only become more expensive.
The taste of Old Java seems a little sweet, with pleasant hints of sweetness in the aroma, and the consistency of the drink is more dense and thick.
Jamaican Blue Mountain
Coffee trees grow and are cultivated only on the island of Jamaica on the slopes of the Blue Mountains, which gave the variety its name. The taste of the drink is well different from traditional varieties – it is tender, thin, there is no bitterness, and instead – notes of cherry, chocolate, vanilla and licorice. Coffee leaves a caramel aftertaste with a hint of hazelnuts and sweet berries.
Jamaica Blue Mountain is the only grain that is packaged in wooden barrels. There are several varieties that differ in the method of frying, grinding and cost.
Galapagos
The uniqueness of coffee, which is made in the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, is that its cultivation is prohibited from using any chemicals. This is the most organic variety, the drink of which has a pronounced nutty aroma, mild bitterness and medium acidity.
Kenya Ruiruiru
In Kenya, coffee came from Ethiopia in the XIX century, but so well established in the hot climate and loved by the locals that it has become one of the key sources of income of the country, and even – one of the best varieties in the world.
Coffee from Kenyan plantations is usually sold at auctions at a high price, but the requirements for growing the crop are very strict – there is even a special Coffee Directorate that controls the quality of beans.
The taste of Kenyan coffee is orange-citric, berries. The aroma is layered: sweet caramel gradually turns into a cherry flavor with dark chocolate.
Kopi Luwak
Perhaps the most unusual way to process coffee beans is used in Indonesia. In the local latitudes lives a small animal lyuvak, who adores ripe coffee. The grains pass through the digestive system of lyuvak and return to nature unchanged, after which they are collected, thoroughly washed, dried and fried.
This “enrichment” of coffee gives amazing results – the usual drink has a delicate taste of butter, honey and nut nougat with a long aftertaste, which can not be achieved artificially. And it is expected that this variety is one of the most expensive in the world.
Of course, elite coffees can be bought only at a very high price. However, true gourmets and connoisseurs are not only ready to part with large sums for the sake of fragrant grains, but also collect the most rare and valuable flavor combinations. No matter how much it costs.
