Coffee Varieties

There are many varieties of coffee in the world, but only two are used for 97% of the worlds supply: Arabica and Robusta. The highest quality blends of coffee consist of 100% Arabica beans. Lower quality, less expensive blends may have some proportion of Robusta beans, or they may consist entirely of Robusta.

Arabica beans produce a superior taste in the cup, being more flavorful and complex than their Robusta counterparts. Robusta beans tend to produce a bitter brew, with a musty flavor and less body, and are sold to less discriminating consumers. They are also higher in caffeine than Arabica beans, fueling the addictions from which many of us already suffer.

Robusta coffee trees grow faster, and produce their first crops within two to three years of being planted, whereas Arabica trees require four to five years to produce any fruit. Robusta trees can also tolerate geographical conditions that the Arabica bean cannot, and can be grown in regions that allow for two crops per year. So Robusta beans offer a quicker return on investments, hence their popularity to the grower, without concern for the highest quality coffee beans.

Blending

It can be argued, quite successfully, that the best coffees in the world come from Italy. But coffee is not actually grown in Italy, so the reason that this country has such a great reputation for coffee is from their expertise in the blending of the beans. The same can be said for the Italians expertise at blending olive oils (many “Italian” olive oils are a blend of oils from Italy, Spain, Greece, and other countries), and the French expertise at blending plants and flowers from around the world for their famous perfumes, or their grape varieties for wines (Châteauneuf du Pape has 13 varieties of grapes, imagine!).

We have all seen coffee advertised as “100% Columbian” or “Pure Brazilian”, and while these claims may be true, and seem to conjure up the idea of quality, in fact they play more to loyalties and emotion than real taste. For example, 100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, or 100% Kona coffees from Hawaii can be very good, at times.

In fact each year, coffees from specific geographical areas have different tastes and qualities depending on climate and other factors in any particular year. Just as with grapes, olives, and other crops, sunshine, temperature, rainfall, and other factors affect the taste of coffee beans from any plantation. So, single source coffee beans are often not the best quality Arabica beans for a particular year.

This is why blending is so important. At Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe, owner Roberto Ricci travels the world and tastes the best Arabica coffee crops each year at harvest time. He then decides which percentage of, for example, Maragogype “sublime” coffee beans from Ecuador are to be mixed with other special varieties to provide the best tasting

coffee blend available from each year’s crop. This is oversimplifying a very unique talent, and why great coffee blenders are like winemakers or perfumers, masters of a true art.

Wood Roasting

Once a blend from a particular year has been decided upon, the next step is the roasting process. It is critically important to roast each particular bean from each particular plantation separately, as each bean has its own roasting requirements. At Sant' Eustachio il Caffe, they still roast their beans as they have for over 70 years, the old fashioned way, over natural wood burning fires.

Now this all sounds very romantic, but there are two very good reasons to avoid the convenient, modern road of gas or electric roasting techniques. One is that the wood imparts a very subtle and particular “flavor” to the bean, not of hazelnut or vanilla (horrors!) but simply a hint of wood that gives Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe it’s down to earth taste.

The second reason for wood roasting is that the beans are roasted gently and slowly, over low temperatures. Other companies roast at twice the temperature to hasten production, and the beans, even the superior quality Arabica beans, can deliver a cup of coffee that can be as bitter as a cup of Robusta coffee. In short, commercial roasting techniques at high temperatures with gas or electric roasting machines sacrifice quality.

Cooling

Many industrial coffee producers have sadly taken another wrong turn. In their haste to cool the coffee beans from the very hot roasting process and to speed production, they are dunked in water. Imagine the shock! At Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe, their carefully selected beans are slow roasted at only 375° Fahrenheit (200° Celsius), and then air-cooled.

It is only then, after each coffee bean variety has been roasted independently and delicately cooled, that Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe hand-blends the beans. And just like the roasting process and the cooling process, this is done under the close scrutiny of owner Roberto Ricci.

Fair-Trade

Relationships with growers are extremely important to ensure that each year Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe has access to only the very best quality beans available. They use the highest quantity of fair traded beans available, by ensuring that their growers are well compensated for their crops even when coffee pricing is low on the world markets. They have also implemented their “Boun Caffe’” project, providing growers with an extra bonus through the sales of Sant’Eustachio coffee around the world. These bonuses are used to target social projects for the local communities.

So they treat their growers as real partners, and this helps ensure that Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe has access to the best quality coffee beans available each year without sacrificing quality. They support a better life for farming families and communities around the world, and in turn the farmers practice sustainable farming and fair labor practices. Because Sant’Eustachio believes that your morning cup of coffee should never be at the expense of growers, workers, or the environment.

Availability

Finally, and of extreme importance, we must all understand that every year, there is a very limited supply of the highest quality coffee beans available. So a coffee maker has to depend on three factors to ensure they have access to and use only the best beans available in their blends: relationships and agreements with the farmers, in which Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe secures from their true commitment to fair trade and sound environmental practices; limiting sales through gourmet markets, and not trying to be “volume greedy” as many of the past artisan coffee producers have become; and finally, having a real passion for not settling for anything but the best. Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe guarantees all three!

Many coffee producers start out with these premises in mind, or pretend to care, but a very rare few stay committed and prefer to sacrifice quality for volume and profit. This will never be the case with Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe. Be aware: even coffee producers who use only 100% Arabica beans in their blends, but who also sell in huge volumes, simply cannot supply the quality of beans that a more committed producer can deliver, and that a more discriminating consumer deserves.

Enjoy the Dolce Vita today, Sant’ Eustachio il Caffe from Roma!

Click here to view the Sant’Eustachio coffees.