S3: Episode 7: Is Bigger Really Better?
If you have never given any thought to it at all, you may be surprised to learn that coffee beans come in different sizes. And if so, you may perhaps be even more surprised to hear that bean size can affect the flavour of your coffee. In this episode we delve into why an understanding of coffee bean sizes and quality grading systems will help steer you towards better tasting coffee. This week’s FACQ explains why bean size matters to roasters when making their roast plan.
If you want more information on coffee bean sizes and grading coffee for quality this article by Tom Morris at Omani Coffee Co is a useful summary of coffee grading systems around the world.
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Hello and welcome to The Coffee Drinker’s Guide, a podcast for the coffee curious where I explore and explain the world of specialty coffee to make your daily coffee better and more satisfying.
I’m Angela Holder a coffee roaster and writer on a mission to fight back against bad coffee by giving you the knowledge you need to help you get good coffee and a happier (coffee) life in coffee-break sized episodes. So grab your coffee, pull up a chair and take a break…
This week's episode is all about how the size of your coffee beans influences the taste of the coffee you drink and why bigger is not necessarily better…and later I’ll be answering the related question of how bean size also affects the way coffee roasts so stay tuned for that…
Unless you are in the habit of closely inspecting your coffee beans before you grind them to brew, or have asked your bean seller about the curious codes attached to the names of the coffees they sell, you are possibly unaware that coffee beans come in different sizes. This is entirely understandable as whenever coffee beans are shown in photos they are always and without exception of the best quality with no defects and all the beans are of an even size. Honestly it wasn’t until I started working in the coffee industry that I finally really understood what the words ‘excelso’, ‘supremo’, AA, Grade 1 and so on actually meant. You’ve probably guessed where this is going. Yes they are all terms used to indicate the quality of the coffee in question - and part of that categorisation is based on the size of the beans. While it may seem a bit esoteric, understanding what these quality grades mean in terms of the bean size of the coffee you are buying is useful information, so lets get into it…
Firstly bean size and the bean
The general size of the individual beans of the coffee you buy is in part down to the variety of coffee tree they grow on. Each coffee variety has a natural optimal size for its seeds, around which there will be both smaller and larger seeds in the same crop. Since this optimal size differs between coffee varieties, different varieties of coffee tree will naturally produce different average seed sizes. The Brasilian Maragogipe variety is noted for its exceptionally large beans earning it the nickname ‘elephant bean coffee’ while heirloom varieties from Ethiopia have distinctively small and elongated beans. That said the main reason why the beans of a coffee you buy will be of a certain size is down to the grading for quality that the green beans go through after harvesting and processing. By grading I mean that the beans are sorted either manually or by machines to remove a certain amount of defective beans - and importantly for today’s topic are usually, though not always, sorted by bean size using industrial sized sieves, or screens as they are called. Traditionally batches of the larger beans are given the highest grading and therefore command the highest price - but as we will get into next, size can be misleading when it comes to the quality of the flavour.
Next bean size and the taste
We are often told that bigger is better but in the case of coffee bean size it really depends on what flavours you like. In my experience I’ve found that coffees with smaller beans tend to be more complex and bright, which I prefer. Larger beans tend to be less acidic and less complex, leaning more towards smoother chocolate and cooked sugar flavours. And if that’s what you like then go large! Traditional grading systems of coffee producing countries use the bean size to indicate the quality of a green coffee. In these systems, bigger is better: Colombian Supremo and Kenya AA coffees have larger beans than Colombia Excelso and Kenya AB coffees and so cost more to buy. For me the latter are more interesting coffees to drink than the former, but you do you.
Finally bean size and the brew
While the main impact of bean size is on how it tastes and roasts (on which more later), its influence on brewing is more nuanced. The main effect of bean size on brewing is in the way that it can influence the complexity and acidity of a coffee. As regular listeners know I often mention that the espresso brewing method emphasises the acidity of a coffee. So if you brew espresso, knowing that smaller beans are likely to be more acidic and larger beans less so, may affect your buying decision one way or the other! If this is not a consideration for you, its still worth knowing that coffee that has been graded by bean size will produce more consistent brews as the beans will have been developed to the same extent during the roast. This means that the coffee will grind and extract more evenly than a coffee with mixed bean sizes. So it pays to pay attention to the coffee’s grade.
And now its time for a Frequently Asked Coffee Question…
And this episode’s question is…
Does a coffee’s bean size affect how it roasts?
Yes it does, in two ways. Firstly, as a rule of thumb, smaller beans are more dense than larger beans. Denser beans require high heat early in the roast to cook them properly whereas less dense beans need a more gentle heat at the start to prevent scorching. So the overall size of the beans is one of the things that roasters take into account when making their roast plan. Secondly, if a coffee hasn’t been graded by bean size it will contain a range of different bean sizes from very small to very large within the same batch. This makes the coffee tricky to roast evenly as the different sizes of beans cook at different rates, leading to both undercooking and overcooking of beans within the batch. Which, as you can imagine, does no favours to the coffee’s flavour!
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Coffee Drinker’s Guide and that was all about bean size. If you want to hear more about how coffee is graded for quality let me know! You can get in touch on Instagram @thecoffeedrinkersguide, email me at thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com or leave me a text message using the link in the show notes. The next episode falls on Christmas Day 2024 and in a special story-based episode I am sharing a random selection of ‘interesting’ non-Christmas related moments from my coffee career. Be sure to hit follow so that you don’t miss it, if you haven’t already. If you have a friend who you think would find this interesting please tell them about the show and rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts to help other coffee curious people find the show too. Thanks to my executive producer Viel Richardson at Lusona Publishing and Media Limited. You can find him at lusonapub.co.uk. Until next time I’m Angela Holder thanks for taking your coffee break with me - the best way to tackle life is one coffee at a time and here’s to better coffee!
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