“Single origin” is a term you may have heard before; whether you work in the coffee industry or regularly visit cafes. Perhaps you have noticed the term when you have gone to purchase coffee beans to use at home. There is so much choice nowadays that it is difficult to know what to order when you visit your local café. The café menu has evolved to resemble something more like a fancy wine list.
Funnily enough, coffee and wine have a lot in common. Just like wine, the flavours you might experience in a cup of coffee rely heavily on where the coffee beans were grown. This is where single origin coffee beans get their moment in the spotlight.
What is meant by Single Origin?
Single origin coffees are small batch roasts that come from one specific growing area within a country, for example: Ethiopia, Colombia, Indonesia or Kenya. Have a look at your coffee beans to see where they’ve come from. Even more specific is a microlot coffee, which comes from only one growing area or plot on a single farm. Singles and microlots allow the consumer to understand and appreciate a specific coffee for its own unique flavour profile and distinct characteristics. They also help to establish traceability from farm to cup, and oftentimes the beans are accompanied with reference to how the coffee has been produced and processed.
Due to the unique complexity and taste of single origin coffees, it is especially important that consumers are kept informed about the coffee they are drinking, and what sort of flavours to expect in the cup. Careful roasters will supply this information to cafes, to ensure the best possible brewing and service is being supplied to consumers. It would be useless and inconsiderate to take a passionately farmed, carefully roasted batch of single origin beans and serve it without the respect it deserves.
Single-origin coffees are exceptional when enjoyed as espressos, long blacks or filter. The delicate flavours tend to get a little lost or “watered down” when drunk with milk.
Single-origin coffees provide an excellent opportunity to learn more about a particular growing region and their farming methods. For more information on this, check out our blog on the Bean to Cup Journey. Next time you visit a café, we highly recommend you try something new. You might just be surprised at the flavours you can experience in a cup of coffee. To try an expertly made Karvan Single Origin, we recommend you check out the following cafes:
Kerry Street Pear Tree | North Street Store | Leapfrogs | Cravings | Moore and Moore | Jaffle Shack West Perth
