Coffee Crazy

Coffee is not just a beverage, it’s a cup of liquid deliciousness. That’s why we shouldn’t be too easily satisfied with our daily cup. Life’s too short to drink bad coffee, right? Just before I started studying for my exams, Illy invited me to join a coffee tasting, where I’ve learned a lot about Illy coffee. The thing I remember most is, without a doubt, the reason why they always collaborate with artists. Just like when an artist creates his art, a barista is also never quite satisfied with his creation. Baristas are, just like the artists, perfectionists.

Illy kinda sees it as its mission to provide consumers with an excellent coffee and, therefore, we can only drink Illy coffee in places they approve, so we can always be sure that when Illy is used, we will drink a good quality coffee. So why is Illy so good? It’s because they use the best coffee beans harvested in South America, Central America, India and Africa from farms under the quality-centric, direct trade method pioneered by illy nearly 25 years ago.

The new Illy Monoarabica blend was the centre of attention during our coffee tasting. The Monoarabica line features the highest-quality examples of Arabica coffee from three countries: Brazil, Guatemala and Ethiopia. I don’t want to dwell here on the detailed information on these 3 varieties since the Illy website provides you with enough information, but I do want to talk about the importance of the arabica beans, since I didn’t quite knew what the difference was between arabica and robusta coffee.

People often say drinking coffee is unhealthy, but that statement is definitely not applicable to all coffee. The difference between arabica and robusta is important and thus helpful to understand when choosing coffee. Since I don’t want to lecture you guys, I’ll try to keep it short. Arabica and robusta coffee mainly differ in taste. Arabica beans have a softer and sweeter taste with tones of fruit. Robusta has a harsher taste (and a weird smell, according to our Illy ‘tutor’). Important is the fact that robusta contains 3,5 times as much caffeine as arabica beans. So when people say coffee is bad for you, they generally mean robusta coffee. Robusta beans are also generally considered to be of inferior quality compared to arabica, therefore Illy only uses arabica beans. Since the superior quality of arabica coffee, it consequently ends up being pricier. Most supermarket coffee is robusta so it’s definitely worth paying attention to that next time you go grocery shopping.

Illy also provided me with some great coffee recipes that I successfully tested and I will try and put them on the blog for you the next couple of weeks. See you soon!

Britt