If you are a coffee addict, you must have heard about peaberry coffee. Besides this, whenever you visit a coffee shop, the price of this coffee is slightly higher than the other one on the menu. Want to know the reason why it is so expensive? If yes, then this guide is for you. We will share everything you need to know about peaberry coffee in detail.
Coffee beans come from coffee cherries— the brighter red fruits of a coffee tree. Peaberry is one of the best descriptions of coffee beans itself. Peaberries appear on all coffee trees and in different varieties. We will share complete details to better understand this concept.
Peaberry Coffee
Have you ever had a cup of peaberries? In case you have tasted it, then share your experience with us. Did you like the taste or not? On the contrary, if you are the one to know about this amazing coffee — this guide is for you.
What is Peaberry Coffee
As we have said earlier, coffee is a fruit with seeds. The coffee beans we use and love the taste of are seeds of coffee cherries. When we get deeper into the details, cherries have two seeds, but few have one seed. Interestingly, less than 10% of coffees are mostly peaberries.
One needs help to easily differentiate between peaberry cherries from a group of normal cherries. Peaberries are identified after a lot of processing and sorting. Let us give you a little glimpse of it. To collect 50 lb of peaberries, you must sort up to 1000 lb of green coffee.
In this process, a lot of human resources are required along with processing and scarcity to achieve premium quality peaberries. So, that’s the reason why they are expensive. Peaberry is often found in specific regions like Kenya and Tanzania. But it can develop in any part of the world with multiple varieties of coffee.
In Hawaii, Kona peaberry is a well-known coffee producer, occupying almost half of Hawaii’s coffee market. Moreover, Kona also produces the major share of Hawaii Island’s peaberries.
Taste of Peaberries
As peaberries are the only seed inside the coffee cherry, they are likely to be smaller, denser, and rounder than their two-seeded counterparts. All these factors can affect how evenly the bean roasts, eventually affecting the flavor.
Peaberry lovers believe that a single peaberry bean receives all of the required nutrients of coffee cherries other than sharing with other seeds. The peaberries can have more caffeine, and the taste is sweeter than other beans.
Steps to Brew Peaberry Coffee
You can prepare it using any of your favorite brewing methods. In case you are interested in our way of making peaberry coffee, then do these simple steps:
- Firstly you need the right grind for your brewer.
- Add hot water between 190-200°F, so you can easily extract maximum flavor from your peaberry beans.
- For a better experience, use coarse grind with a french press.
- On the contrary, if you use any medium grind, use it with an automatic drip and pour it over the brewers. At the same time, fine grinds are good for espresso machines.
Follow these easy and simple steps to enjoy the best flavor of your coffee.
Why is Peaberry Coffee so Expensive?
An average rate of a peaberry coffee is around $12 – 15 per pound — far greater than the other beans. Many experts said that peaberries taste lighter, sweet, and flavorful. But they emphasize on two things, the quality and taste of peaberries, which depends on the region where they are grown as the environmental conditions play an important role.
When we try to explore it more in detail, we find that its amazing flavor is due to the cherry, which only transfers all of its energy to this bean.
Roasting Process
When it comes to roasting, peaberries always have some different requirements than their sibling beans of the same batch. Its shape requires a different temperature to ensure that the heat transfers into its center accurately.
Few coffee roasters assume that it is much easier to roast because of its rounded shape, as the rounder shaper requires less roasting time than flat-sided beans.
Is Peaberry Coffee Stronger than Other Beans?
The amount of caffeine is undoubtedly higher in peaberries compared to its cousin beans. Other than this, the beans received from a Robust coffee plan have more caffeine percent than a normal peaberry. Let’s have a quick look at the caffeine ratio in different regions.
- Tanzanian Peaberry coffee has a caffeine ratio of 1.41%
- Yemen Mocha Mattari Peaberry coffee has a caffeine ratio of 1.00% only
- Kona and Guatemalan beans have a caffeine ratio of 1.20 to 1.36%
- Ethiopian Harrar and Zimbabwe have a lower percentage of caffeine, respectively, between 1.10 to 1.13%.
- All other peaberry coffee producers have an average of 1 to 1.40% caffeine in their beans.
Moreover, if you are looking for much stronger Peaberries, try coffees from Indonesia and East Africa.
FAQ’s
The one-line answer to this question is — Roasting and taste. Peaberries are the best pick if you want to experience something amazing with a good sweet taste. Since a single peaberry bean receives all the nutrients of the coffee cherry without sharing it with any sibling seeds, they are stronger than other normal beans. Peaberries have more caffeine as well.
The major reason why it is so expensive is that only 50 lb of peaberries is sorted from 1000 pounds of green coffee. So, much labor and other elements are involved in the processing, eventually affecting the price. Normally the price of peaberries is around $10-15 per pound.
It’s a simple and easy guess. Tanzanian Peaberries are considered the best coffees in the world. It has a higher caffeine percentage of 1.41%.
There are many changes to this position, but recently this slot was acquired by Finland. They consume around 12 kg(26 pounds) per person. Moreover, they are also known as the world’s biggest coffee consumption. The average Finn drinks nearly around four or more cups a day. Undoubtedly, coffee is so popular in Finland that a couple of 10-minute coffee breaks are mandatory for Finnish workers.
We know that region and environment play an important role in the taste and quality of coffee. Other than this, the altitude significantly impacts the quality of coffee beans. Higher altitudes produce denser beans — translating into a richer and sweeter taste of coffee. Last but not least, the temperature at Jamaica Blue Mountain is lower than in the rest of Jamaica.
As per the details shared by FDA, for healthy and stronger adults, 400 mg a day —equivalent to 4 or 5 cups of coffee is considered an amount not associated with dangerous or negative effects. However, there is a great variation in both – how sensitive people are to the effects of caffeine. The second one is how fast they can break it down (metabolize it).