I’m writing this for two reasons. First, people always ask me how my trip was after all my trips. This is especially the case in the US, right? In China I don’t think we do much small talk on this topic lol. Second, several friends were recently talking about how espresso beans are different from pour-over/drip beans. So I think it’s worth taking some notes on the coffee knowledge I newly learned from my Costa Rica coffee farm tour in January and a week of living in Venice this past July.
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I’m not talking about strict science here.
There are mainly 3 commercially known types of coffee beans: Arabica (usually larger, oval); Robusta (usually smaller, but produces more); and Liberica (even larger, but much less common). Costa Rica traditionally and mostly grows Arabica.
Many Nicaraguan migrant workers work on coffee farms in Costa Rica, and they are paid around 2-3 dollars for each basket of coffee cherries they pick.
Espresso originated and developed in Italy, even though Italy does not really grow coffee beans commercially. Italians import and roast the beans, and there is no special bean just for espresso or cappuccino. Instead, they often blend different beans, and they are very good at balancing flavor and producing coffee on an industrial scale.
Americans talk about coffee origins, varieties, and tasting notes often, and so do the Caribbean. They seem to care a lot about specialty coffee culture, but maybe not as much in Italy, I guess.
