Our Guide to Selecting the Perfect Coffee
Welcome back, coffee lovers and caffeine aficionados! We know you’re here because coffee means something to you. If you’ve ever wondered how to choose the best coffee for you, you’re in the right place! Coffee means a lot to us, too, so we are here to help. Check out this guide to help you find the perfect Lucky Goat coffee.
There are a number of factors that contribute to every coffee bean in every bag of coffee, and these aspects make all coffee unique. Knowing about these components is what’ll most help you pick a perfect bag. Like choosing a pair of pants, it’s not very complicated, and it’s good to remember that one size (or type of coffee) does not fit all. Let’s start from the top: aside from flavored coffee, ours fall into two main categories: Single Origin coffees and Blended coffees.
As the name suggests, Single Origins come from a singular location—our Costa Rica Perla Negra, for example, hails from the Alajuela region of Costa Rica. Blended coffee, on the other hand, are a mixture of Single Origin coffees, like our Billy Goat breakfast blend. Because blends are a combination of single origins from around the world, they are often balanced and consistent.
If we’re talking Single Origins, I’m sure you can guess that they are generally more uniquely flavored, with varying bodies and acidity levels. If you are looking for a novelty experience, stick with a single origin. If you like routines and consistency, then a blend may be best for you.
A third category of coffee that we love to create at Lucky Goat are our flavored coffees. These coffees aren’t inherently flavored—the way we make them is by infusing beans with aromatic oils in order to build a certain flavor. There is technically not any actual cinnamon, vanilla, or hazelnut in our famous and well-loved Snowflake Crunch coffee. Blends and single origin coffees have flavor notes natural to the beans, whereas flavored coffees have specific flavors added in, which make them a bit more straightforward. If you’re drinking our Goat Tracks coffee, you will explicitly taste the caramel and chocolate flavors. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, flavored coffees are sure to do the trick!
Next up on our guide to choosing the perfect coffee: roast levels! Roast levels can contribute to the taste of your coffee. Here are a few things to know about roast levels: the darker the roast, the less caffeine it has; as roasts become darker, they begin to take on more of the sweetness given by the roasting process; and the lighter the roast, the more acidic it is.
At the end of the day, it’s really all about taste: a darker roast is probably best for espresso (whether from a machine or a Moka pot), and light roasts likely taste best in brewing from a drip pot or Chemex. Consider your method of making coffee, along with caffeine and acid levels to determine what roast best suits you. Below is a further breakdown of roasts and what they mean for the flavor profiles of your coffee.
French Roast: Full-bodied, bold, and a bit smokey. French Roasts are lower in caffeine and are generally dark.
Dark Roast: Typically chocolatey with a bit of spice, bold, and heavy-bodied, with lower caffeine levels.
Medium Roast: As “medium” suggests, medium roasts are pretty balanced and well-rounded. Most house blends, like our Mountain Goat, are medium roasts as they tend to attract a broad palette.
Light Roast: Light Roasts have the highest levels of caffeine and acidity. They are pretty smooth and are typically not very bitter.
After we consider Roast level, we leave one final category: Decaf Coffee. Our Decaf Coffee is decaffeinated using a 100% natural water process. Unlike a chemical-based removal process, this process allows for a more pleasant sweetness with no acidity. Learn more about our Decaf Water Process Coffee.
And regardless of the type of coffee you land on, if you want your joe chilled rather than hot, you can choose between iced coffee and cold brew, both are great choices!
Whether you are shopping for coffee online or in a cafe, you have all the tools you need to select the coffee that you will love most. You’ve got a lot of knowledge—come inside and find your newest addiction.
Stay caffeinated and stay you.
Until next time,
Lucky Goat Coffee Co.
