9 Decision Tips

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Everyone has individual taste preferences. That's why there isn't ONE coffee for everyone. However, there are criteria that can help you find your favorite coffee. In this article, we give you 9 decision tips.

1. Which coffee suits you? Espresso, Mocha, or Filter?

If you're sure you only want espresso, you can also jump to the section "Which coffee for espresso."

Every coffee drink has a psychological and social dimension. An espresso rounds off a delicious meal or provides a refreshing short break. For longer conversations, filter coffee or latte macchiato is more suitable.

Espresso

A concentrated espresso feels creamy and thick in the mouth. 7-10% of the drink consists of dissolved coffee particles. A flavor explosion in 25ml.

Filter Coffee

Filter coffee consists of only about 1% dissolved coffee particles and 99% water. It feels silky and smooth in the mouth, like tea. The flavor doesn't explode—it unfolds slowly.

Remember where you fit in. Espresso or filter? Or somewhere in between, with Americano or Café Crème

2. Light, Medium, or Dark Roast?

Rule of thumb: The lighter a bean is roasted, the more differences you can taste. The darker the roast, the more similar the different beans taste.

Light roasts are more complex and contain sweet, fruity notes. If they're too light, these coffees taste grassy and grainy. Dark roasted varieties emphasize chocolatey, roasted notes. Over-roasted coffees taste burnt.

The range between light and dark roasts is very broad with many nuances. These descriptions simplify the complex topic, but they give you good guidance.

3. Coffee Beans for Your Happiness: Arabica or Robusta

There are two dominant raw coffee species: Arabica and Robusta (also called Canephora).

Robusta

Strong, earthy, and full-bodied—that's how you can describe the taste. It has a higher caffeine content and tastes more bitter. It's traded at lower prices and often forms the basis of instant coffees and inexpensive espresso blends. But that doesn't have to mean anything. As a strong coffee or as a base for milk-based drinks, robusta beans or blends are suitable. However, robusta beans have developed enormously, especially in the area of processing methods after harvest, and promise many exciting roasted coffees in the near future.

Arabica

Less bitter, fine acidity, and more complex—that's arabica. It's good for filter coffees or espressos. You can find it as a single origin or as blends.

4. Which Coffee for Filter Coffee and French Press?

For French press or plunger pots, you can use the same coffees as for filter coffee. Since filter coffee consists of only 1% dissolved coffee particles, its flavor variations are more subdued. We recommend lighter roasts, which allow you to explore the flavor profiles of different growing regions very well. Central America or Papua New Guinea, Kenya or Ethiopia—it all makes a difference in the cup. However, it depends on your own taste! Try, try, and try again!

5. Which Coffee for Espresso?

Since espresso is so concentrated, it forgives few mistakes in preparation. If it's too bitter, that bitterness runs through you. If it's too sour, it's almost shocking. But if the espresso is just right, then it's phenomenally delicious!

The art is to integrate the acidity into the espresso and balance all flavor notes in an interesting, well-proportioned way.

What type of espresso lover are you?

If you like espresso like from an Italian vacation, then blends with robusta content, or pure robusta coffees, are what you're looking for. They taste dark, rather bitter, and strong. You'll usually find these descriptions on roastery packaging as well. To perfect the Italian feeling, the shot should be short and snappy. 7-8 grams of coffee to 15-18ml of drink.

Slightly longer and more balanced espressos stand in contrast to Italian roasts. These often lighter roasts should be brewed with longer drink ratios of 1:2.5 or even 1:3. 9 grams of coffee become 22.5 or even 27 grams of drink. This preparation brings out many nuances, and this is where you can hit the "sweet spot" of your coffee.

6. Reading Coffee Labels Correctly or What You Shouldn't Buy

The back of coffee packages reads almost as poetically as a love poem. But don't be deceived. The more precise information you find, the better.

The minimum standard for coffee purchases should be the roast date (not older than 2 months), origin information, and the composition of the beans. Beyond that, there can be information about processing, coffee variety, and even specific plantation details.

Unfortunately, this is no guarantee that you'll like the coffee, only that you've bought high-quality coffee. Now it's up to you: Train your palate. Try to taste precisely whether the coffee is too sour or too bitter (these are often confused!). If this isn't due to preparation errors, you can talk to the roaster and include their recommendations. Some roasteries also offer tastings where perfectly prepared coffees can be tested. That's how you'll quickly find your favorite variety nearby! If you really want to know, you can also take a sensory training course.

7. Which Coffee Is Healthy and Easy on the Stomach?

Whether coffee is explicitly healthy or unhealthy is a matter of debate. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. There are health-promoting aspects as well as potentially harmful ones.

Whether the coffee is easy on the stomach depends a lot on the quality of the coffee. Coffee should not be picked unripe or overripe. The ripeness of the fruits should be as homogeneous as possible to avoid follow-up problems (uneven fermentation, etc.). Roasting unevenly ripened beans is also more difficult. Your coffee should not be roasted too quickly or too lightly. Roasting that's too long or too dark also makes it less palatable.

8. The Best Coffee Is Freshly Ground

One of the most important points near the end. Coffee should be ground fresh right before brewing. And really fresh at that. Grinding the coffee bean makes the coffee extremely susceptible to reactions with its environment. The aroma disappears within minutes. The second advantage of fresh grinding is that you can perfectly adjust the grind size and thus the flow rate and extraction of your coffee. So never buy pre-ground coffee. Instead, invest in a grinder, enjoy the aroma of freshly ground coffee, and prepare perfect drinks.

9. The Best Coffee in the World

You've probably already heard about Kopi Luwak cats that eat coffee beans and supposedly have the perfect sense for the exact right ripeness. But this "cat coffee" is, like Monsooned Malabar or Jamaica Blue Mountain, primarily very well marketed. These coffees aren't objectively the best in the world—rather, they've managed to establish themselves as exclusive luxury goods through partly quirky stories. But with our tips in this article, you'll also find very good coffees from local roasters that won't break your budget!