What is the strongest type of coffee bean?

by Dennis
(Atlantic Breach, Florida, United States)

Strong coffee.

QUESTION:

What is the strongest type of coffee bean that will provide the boldest flavor?


ANSWER:

Interesting question! And one that is open to variety of interpretations.

I can answer this in a few ways.

If you want to know which coffee bean types contain the most caffeine, here are the top five:

Tanzania Peaberry 1.42
Colombia Supremo 1.37
Indian Mysore 1.37
Kenya AA 1.36
Costa Rica Tarrazu 1.35

The figures represent the percentage of caffeine in each type of coffee bean. The five beans listed are at the high end of the scale. Some beans have as little as 1.0% caffeine.

But the strength of the coffee you drink isn’t determined just by the type of beans you use. The roast of the bean makes a difference too.

And this is a little counter-intuitive, because while dark-roasted coffee may taste stronger, it actually contains less caffeine than a light or medium roast. How come? Because the heat of the roasting burns off some of the caffeine.

So now you have to make up your mind about what “strong” coffee really means. Are you trying to maximize the amount of caffeine? Or are you trying to maximize the more subjective feel of a coffee tasting strong and bold?

The way in which you brew your coffee makes a difference too.

For example, coffee made with a percolator generally tastes stronger and richer than coffee made with a drip brewer...all other things being equal, like the proportion of coffee to water.

And that brings us to what is probably the most frequent cause of coffee lacking in strength...

People just don’t brew it right! Either they use a cheap drip brewer that is incapable of making decent coffee, or they use too much water for too few coffee grinds.

Summing up, if you want to brew the strongest, boldest brew possible, choose a coffee with a high-caffeine content, get it medium-roasted, make it in a quality coffee brewer and get the proportion of coffee grinds to water just right.

I hope this answers your question!

Nick

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