THE COFFEE JACOB FIELD GUIDE / Beans

Good coffee starts with the bag

Make sense of roast, origin, process and the flavors you actually enjoy.

Choose and keep your next bag

Turn a label into buying criteria, then plan the amount and storage. Build a shopping brief.

Start with the cup you want, then use the label to find a plausible match. Your next bag is an experiment, not an exam.

Roast changes the coffee. It does not decide whether you are allowed to enjoy it.

Decaf is a coffee choice with several processing routes. It is not a promise of zero caffeine.

Protect the coffee from air, moisture, heat and light—and buy an amount that matches your routine.

Separate plant, place and processing. Use exact variety records when a cultivar matters to the purchase.

A variety tells part of a plant's story. Processing, growing conditions, roasting and your brew still shape the cup.

A variety name is a clue. Learn its history and trade-offs, then decide what it tells you about the coffee actually for sale.

Start with what was removed and when. A process label describes a route to a dried seed, not a guaranteed flavor.

Look for a place, a producer and a lot. Then compare the cup instead of asking a country to guarantee a flavor.