Roasters Tools - Green Bean Series Part II: How Green Coffee Bean "Formation" Impacts the Flavor Profile of the Roast As a coffee professional you probably read everything about coffee roasting you can get your hands on. Even so, one thing I've found that seems to be in short supply is information on green coffee bean analysis and how the flavor profile of the roast is affected by the physical characteristics of the beans--Very useful information for coffee buyers and roasters. One of our goals, here at Specialty Coffee Auctions, is not only to help you source Specialty coffees direct from origin, but to help you maximize the best qualities in the beans you purchase during the roasting process in order to achieve your vision. We hope you'll find this article of value. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our "Roasters Tools - Green Bean Series" is a five part evaluation of how the characteristics of green coffee beans affect the outcome of the roast. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ While working as a professional coffee taster and quality controller with several of the top coffee companies in Kenya, cupping hundreds of coffees every day for many, many years, I was able to prove to myself how certain physical characteristics in the formation of the green beans consistently produced very specific and identifiable qualities in the profile of the resulting roast. In this article we are going to share our experiences as to how and why flaws in the physical formation of green coffee beans affect the cup and, thereby, help you with your green bean purchases. There are many factors within the various stages of plant husbandry and harvesting that cause these flaws in green bean formation which we'll identify in this article. More important, we'll speak to how these formation flaws can directly affect cup acidity, body and flavor. To begin, the major formation flaws found in green coffee beans prior to roasting include: Shriveled Shriveled Boat Shaped Ragged Hollow or Shell Multiple Center Cuts Since a number of these formation flaws tend to occur together in the same beans, we're going to group those flaws that have a similar cause and effect. Shriveled, Thin Edged and Boat Shaped Green beans that are shriveled are deformed beans, usually small, irregular or immature in formation; often with multiple center cuts. Thin edged and boat shaped are easily identified as the name of the flaw indicates. Beans with these formations are lacking in nutrition, including Chlorogenic acid and magnesium during the growth process. Causes also include drought or lack of sufficient irrigation. As a result, these beans will normally be whitish to brownish-yellow in color. The beans will sometimes open during roasting and almost always produce a soft roast. In addition, these flaws in formation often cause the beans to break during the roasting and blending process. As a result, the roasted beans will tend to give you a smoky taste because they require over roasting to compensate for the pale beans. More often than not, they will also have excessive hay and grassy flavors. During cupping, you'll also experience a flat cup, a harsh full body and lacking in acidity. After hulling and grading, coffee beans retained on screens 16, 18 and 21 are coffees of high density, strictly hard beans and reflect a white center cut in every stage of the roasting profile. Note: The excessive presence of shriveled beans will result in a high percentage of moisture loss (20% plus) during roasting. Ragged These beans are not smooth, but instead have a rough and corrugated appearance. This is caused by overbearing, drought-affected cherries and immaturity while ripening, often leading to a yellow cherry when fully developed. You'll notice that these beans will also have a sticky sliver skin which usually can't be completely removed during the milling process. Roasted ragged beans will result in a pale color with a lot of chaff, partially because of the sticky silver skin. The result will be a soft roast which is more permeable and, together with the chaff, will end up after grinding with very fine powdery fragments in the brewed coffee, giving a heavy and viscous body in the cup with many impurities. Hollow or Shell This formation flaw is sometimes caused by deficiencies of various minerals in the soil, but with a generous water supply, causing the tree to produce large beans that mutate. This condition can also be caused when two beans are growing together followed by one that dies while the other continues to grow. These are also commonly referred to as shells, because of the resulting formation. The resulting roast and cup of hollow or shell beans is very similar to that found with shriveled, thin edged and boat shaped beans, as described above. Multiple Center Cuts These beans are identified by having two or more center lines located right next to each other or in a stepped pattern. This formation is usually found in shriveled beans and ragged beans, but can also be found in full solid beans. The causes range from either overfeeding or because the coffee trees had become drought affected. Still, too many multiple center cuts, all other things being acceptable, will cause an uneven grind after the roast, negatively affecting the body in the cup. Conclusions High quality beans will not contain formation flaws, whereas most coffee beans that contain these flaws will remain pale and under roasted at a normal roast. As a result, beans with these flaws require over roasting which will result in a high percentage loss in total weight of 20% or more. This loss in weight should be taken into account when buying green coffee and measured against higher quality alternatives. Over the years, we've found that green bean quality and its resulting cup is not necessarily a result of origin, but primarily a result of superior plant husbandry, and proper drying, milling, grading and sorting, enabling each country to produce top quality coffees with ideal characteristics for that region. ### This article is the second in a five-part series describing general guidelines on how to determine quality characteristics of green beans before the cupping analysis. Copyright © 2008 SpecialtyCoffeeAuctions.com - Intellidon Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprints allowed if this copyright reference is included. If you would like to subscribe to our SCAuctions eNews and receive articles like this one on a regular basis, click here to sign up now. To review past articles, see the Roasters Tools home page. If you would like to reprint this article, please email us for permission, please Contact Us. Specialty Coffee Auctions is an internet coffee auction and direct trade ecommerce marketplace for sales of green coffee beans from origin producers shipped direct to Specialty coffee roasters and wholesale green coffee buyers.