Coffee production in Burundi is carried out on a small holder scale, both cultivation and processing (wet method), and is mostly organic. It gives the coffee a floral and bright acidity.

Coffee from these parts are among the world's most varied and distinctive, notably the Yirgacheffe ranks among the very finest. Yirgacheffe is wet processed resulting in a less earthy, delicately complex, citrus and fragrant floral flavour.

The main growing area spans south from the slopes of 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya almost to the capital, Nairobi. Highly educated agricultural practice and meticulous quality control, make this one of the most developed coffee producing industries of the world. Characteristically of the region, the coffee delivers a stimulating sweet fruit berry and wine toned acidity, with a medium weight body.

Kenyan Peaberry Coffee

A rare form of coffee 'peas', complex and fruity. Normally within a ripening coffee cherry nestle two twin beans, but very occasionally coffee develops to form a single round 'pea' which grows to fill the cherry - hence the term 'peaberry'. These prized peas are considered to have a more developed flavour and special sieves are used to separate them from the rest of the crop. This Kenyan Peaberry is lightly roasted to preserve its piquant layered flavour with the balanced fruit acidity typical of the region, but also a noticeable citrus tone.

Small holder, village farms and mills produce a coffee with subtle citric qualities with interesting aromatics, mostly grown in the west of the country.

Mostly grown on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru, near the Kenyan border. Sharp, winy acidity typical of Africa and Arabia coffees. They tend to be medium to full-bodied and fairly rich in flavour. Other Tanzania coffees from the Kilimanjaro region may exhibit soft, floral profiles reminiscent of similar washed Ethiopia coffees. Often exported at a premium as a peaberry.

Producing mostly dry-processed Robustas, there are however, excellent wet-processed Arabicas, virtually all grown by villagers on small plots so mostly organic. A notable variety called Bugisu, grown on the slopes of Mt. Elgon on the Kenyan border, provides typical winey fruit-toned, and citric flavours of African coffees.

Still grown as it was 500 years ago, these coffees are one of the most distinct and prized coffees in the world, termed a 'wild' or natural cup: Earthy, complex, pungent. To some it may be strange and bitter. The variety is called Mocha (nothing to do with chocolate), because it was shipped from the ancient port by this name.

Zambian coffees range from Kenya-like brightness to subtle, balanced coffee with complexity, medium body and wine toned flavours with a floral aroma. Quality can be a little variable due to the processing.

Quality can be a little variable, but at its best can have great balance, complexity, body and finesse. Grown on medium-sized to large farms, mainly in the mountainous Chipinge region in eastern Zimbabwe, bordering Mozambique. It is still another medium bodied variant on the acidy, winey, berry-toned coffees of East Africa.

These are very high-grown coffees from regions near the capital of San Jose in the central part of the country. At best Costa Rican coffees from these regions are clean and balanced, also termed a “classic cup”, with a distinct nut-to-chocolate roasted flavours. This coffee has a fine silky flavour and a delicate, complex taste. Perfect to serve black, it is full bodied enough to drink milky.

High grown coffee, rich and gorgeously fruity. El Salvador coffees can be fine, gentle, fragrant and seductive. Occasionally an El Salvador appears that is powerful, deep, and acidy like the finest Guatemalas. At one end of the spectrum is the Bourbon variety, balanced, classic profile and also a good alternative to Brazil as a base for espresso; on the opposite end is the distinctive Pacamara variety, full of character.

The mountainous regions of Guatemala produce several of the world's finest and most distinctive coffees. Guatemala Antigua and Fraijanes, are coffees that combine a complex nuance of smoke, flowers, spice and occasionally chocolate. Lighter in body and brighter in flavour are Coffees from the basin surrounding Lake Atitlan in south central Guatemala, decadently rich coffee, shimmering with notes of honey and chocolate. Softer Guatemalan coffees from sea-facing slopes like Cobán and Huehuetenango, deliver often less powerful, but equally complexly nuanced profiles with fullish body and a gentle, deep, rounded profile.

One of the largest producers of organic coffee, Mexican coffee generally delivers a cup analogous to a good light white wine: lighter-bodied, with gentile flavours and a dry, acidy bite.

One of the largest producers of organic coffee, Mexican coffee generally delivers a cup analogous to a good light white wine: lighter-bodied, with gentile flavours and a dry, acidy bite.

These high grown beans, from the cloud-coated forests of central Nicaragua, have a bigger bolder taste than most of the region. They are from small cooperatives, overseen by a central body that regulates the high quality of the plantations. The coffee is considered a classic cup with great body, clean flavour, and balance. When dark roasted has a well-balanced fruitiness with distinctive chocolate and warm nut tones.

Panama coffees are brightly toned with vivid floral aromatics and clean fruited notes. Generally tend to display more complexity and distinctive character than coffees from neighbouring Costa Rica.

Indian Arabica tends to be full, round, sweet, occasionally spicy or chocolaty, but usually a bit inert where they are wet-processed or washed coffees. Sheveroys is a high-grown, rather bright coffee with intriguing spice and nut tones. India's most unusual coffee is the famous Monsooned Malabar, a dry-processed coffee that has been exposed for three to four months in open-sided warehouses to the moisture-laden winds of the monsoon. The monsooning process reduces the acidity, imparting a heavy, syrupy flatness to the cup, strong musty flavours together with a sharp, hard pungency.

Coffees from the volcanic island Java in the Indonesian Archipelago share some of the low-key vibrancy of the best Sumatra and Sulawesi coffees. The sophisticated wet-processing and drying methods used on large farms tend to give a lighter, cleaner, and brighter coffee in the cup. At best these can be astoundingly sweet, buoyantly fragrant, and alive with nut, spice and vanilla tones.

Java Old Brown

Matured for 2-3 years, delivers an intense earthy taste. This coffee was traditionally used as ballast in sailing ships, the combination of salt and wood gave it a unique taste profile. Today the raw beans are buried for up to five years to mature and achieve that robust taste. Underground they develop a full-bodied taste with tangy, spicy, tobacco notes and no acidity; perfect for espresso lovers.

Predominantly a small-farm, organic industry, the variability of individual coffee processing delivers a unique wild note in the cup. Not as earthy as other Indonesian coffees such as Sumatra and Sulawesi and with a lighter body than Javas, a good Papua New Guinean coffee has the delicate notes, complexity, and sometimes the acidity or brightness of the best Central Americans. Much of the seed stock on Papua New Guinea is planted from the Jamaican Blue Mountain variety.

Sulawesi coffees are low in acidity with a medium to heavy body and a deep cup profile you can get with some Sumatran varieties – smooth, yet intense earthy flavours and chocolate roast notes.

Sumatra is one of the great romance coffees of the world. A heavy, smooth coffee with an elegant fragrant taste. From the Indonesian island of Sumatra, this full-bodied coffee has an exotic nearly floral taste. It is subtle and sweet, reminiscent of figs and apricots and has a complex earthy aroma. An exceptional coffee; serve black to appreciate the nuances of the beans.

For the most part Dominican coffees hold true to the soft, mild profile of Island coffees in general. Perfect if you like clean tasting cup, mellow smoothness and medium body balanced by a piquant acidity with subtle notes of spice.

Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee is luxurious, subtle and one of the world’s most expensive coffees due to the small area of the Blue Mountains. Beans are strictly regulated to guarantee their origin. Mild, balanced and soft with an understated acidity that is sometimes gently vibrant, they are generally lightly roasted to preserve the complex layered taste of herbs and spice.

As with similar island coffees, like Jamaican and Hawaiian, Puerto Rican coffee has a soft cup, not acidic, balanced, and mild. They are easy to drink coffees, but all happen to be quite expensive. At best it is a superb example of the Caribbean taste, soft, with a fragrant, fruity sweetness.

Grown at high altitude, these are delicate, bright coffees aromatically sweet and mostly traditional organic. Subtle fruit flavours, like pear, apple, apricot, tangerine and lemon can be found. Roasting brings out malty, mild chocolate, nutty, caramel and honey flavours.

Renowned not only for being the largest producer of coffee, some speciality blends are prized for their espresso brewing qualities, developing more crema and body. Growing elevations are middle of the field (2-4,000ft), which means they are relatively lower in acidity. The best Brazilian coffees tend to be round, sweet and well-nuanced rather than big and bright. The most traditional has been dried inside the fruit (dry-processed) so that some of the sweetness of the fruit carries into the cup.

Ranking second to Brazil in total coffee production, Colombian beans come from small farms scattered across the steep humid slopes of the Andean mountains. The plantations are rooted in rich volcanic soil and shaded by the dripping fronds of banana and rubber trees. The coffee is known for its silken, aromatic flavour. It is medium bodied with a richly complex taste that balances pleasing acidity with soft fruity toned sweetness. Harvested all year round, Colombian coffee captures the exotic taste of its origin.

Not strongly associated with speciality coffee due to an infrastructure geared up to quantity (organic Arabica) production over quality. Generally a mildly acid coffee, light-bodied but flavourful and aromatic, the best of Peruvian coffee is light, with a vanilla-nut-toned sweetness.