Coffee is one of the most complex beverages in the world. But how does that special taste end up in your cup? From coffee berry to the perfect cup, there's much more to it than you think.

The coffee plant

It all starts with the coffee plant — a shrub that grows at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 meters, in countries like Costa Rica, Brazil, and Ethiopia. The berries take months to ripen. Only the ripest, red berries are hand-picked. This selective picking process is labor-intensive, but essential for quality.

Processing: washed or natural?

After picking, the pulp is removed from the bean. How this is done largely determines the taste:

• Washed — the pulp is removed immediately, and the bean is washed. The result is a clean, fresh coffee with pronounced acidity — like our Costa Rica from Los Santos.
• Natural honey — the bean dries with (part of) the pulp around it. This gives a fuller, sweeter taste with fruity and chocolate notes — like our Brasil Verde from Paraná Norte.

Drying and sorting

After processing, the beans are dried — on raised beds in the sun, so that air can circulate well around them. Then they are sorted by size, weight, and color. Damaged or unripe beans are removed.

Roasting

The green, raw coffee bean has no flavor yet. Only during roasting — the roasting process — do the hundreds of flavor compounds develop that make coffee so complex. At TierraNova, we roast our coffees fresh, so you always have the best taste at home.

Your cup

From plantation to your cup, the coffee bean travels thousands of kilometers. Every step — from picking to roasting — influences what you ultimately taste. That's why specialty coffee tastes so different from average supermarket coffee.

Curious which coffee suits you? Try our tasting pack and discover it for yourself.