Gourmet Green Coffee

Gourmet green coffee beans provide the coffee connoisseur with the freshest beans available on the market. Make a delectable cup of coffee, add pure maple sugar to sweeten, nibble on a cream puff, and you're in food heaven!

Green coffee beans are beans that have been harvested and dried but not roasted. Some beans even have the slip skin attached to them, particularly beans from Brazil which contain a silvery brown skin called a 'fox skin.' Consumers must roast and grind beans themselves.

When selecting gourmet green coffee beans, look for the following quality indicators:

• Beans of similar size: The seller should package beans of similar size together. Better quality gourmet green coffee beans will be very similar in appearance and dimension. This is important during the roasting process. When you roast coffee beans, if they're all the same size, they will roast evenly. Too many beans of varying sizes means that some will be under roasted while others, over roasted. This detracts from the flavor.
• Geographic area: While many claim that Jamaican coffee beans are the best, it's truly a matter of taste. Look for packages of green coffee beans that contain beans from the same geographic location.
• Bright, shiny color: Good quality beans have a bright sheen to them that's unmistakable. Unless the beans are from Brazil and have the fox skin still attached, they should be brightly colored. Dull, discolored beans may be old or of poor quality. They may also be a telltale sign of improper drying conditions. If beans are dried too quickly, the flavor is greatly diminished. Dull color can mean dried out, flavorless, stale coffee beans.
• Processing location: Beans that were processed on the estate or farm where they were harvested should have a fresher, bolder flavor. Beans begin fermenting the moment they're picked and degrade in quality with each passing hour. If the beans were picked on one estate or farm and shipped far away to be dried, chances are the flavor has been compromised. Look for the words "estate processed" or "estate dried" for best flavor.
• Aroma: If you can open the package and smell the coffee beans, take a good whiff. They should smell like fresh coffee. If they smell bad, smoky or just stale, avoid them.

Buying green coffee beans has some advantages and disadvantages. For the true gourmet coffee lover, no other way of making a cup of coffee ensures the richest flavor and aroma than purchasing green, gourmet beans. Roasting, grinding and brewing a cup from start to finish creates a beverage with intricate flavors that canned commodity coffee cannot duplicate.

On the other hand, some people find it time consuming and troublesome to purchase the beans and prepare them properly. For these folks, it may be better to invest in packaged gourmet coffee with the roasting already completed.

You can purchase gourmet green coffee beans from gourmet shops and specialty markets nationwide. Online, find them at the following retailers.

• The Coffee Bean Corral rounds up a flavorful array of green coffee beans and roasting equipment. You can purchase samplers too.
• Sweet Maria's lets you select green coffee beans by region. Choose beans from Central America, South America, Indonesia and many other locations. And if you're in the market for roasting, grinding or brewing equipment, they offer a good selection for coffee lovers.
• Fresh Coffee Beans promises you quality and more. They offer a special "Coffee of the Month" club so you can try out various flavors and regional coffees.
• Coffee Storehouse is a virtual learning center of coffee. Learn about green beans, equipment and more. Purchase books and supplies or simply try some of their green coffee beans.

Green coffee beans offer coffee lovers a unique way to experience gourmet flavor. If nothing but the best will do for your java jolt, try green coffee beans

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