What are the best coffee beans in the world?

OK Mr Dancing Goat, riddle me this - what are the best coffee beans in the world? THE WORLD! 

Now you might think I’m going to say, “Oh, you find the world’s best coffee beans at Dancing Goat!” and yes, I can see why you’d think that. Marketing reasons and such.

But yeah nah, that’s not actually true because there’s a few we don’t stock for reasons. Mainly, they don’t taste great with milk. And we’re all about coffee that tastes great with milk. OK that, and some of these are crazy expensive and that's silly. 

Ugh, enough of this intro – let’s dive into five of the world’s great coffee beans you should try sometime (and why).

Jamaica Blue Mountain Peaberry

These are generally viewed (well, tasted) as the world’s very best coffees. I’m including it here on reputation because I’ve never drunk it that I can recall. It costs … a lot. But for completeness, it’s here.

I’ve chosen the peaberry version because they’re usually the best version of a coffee yield.

The typical tasting notes (courtesy of the excellent Espresso & Coffee Guide) are:
Smooth and mild, “… a bright and vibrant yet smooth acidity…”, and “… a profusion of floral notes and sweet herbal and nutty overtones.”

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Another well know coffee among fancy coffee drinkers, the Yirgacheffe makes a truly wonderful espresso and a truly terrible latte! It’s typically roasted quite light to reveal the gorgeous floral, sweet flavours. Get around it if you want to enjoy the occasional short black – you can’t go wrong.

It’s priced so that normal humans can easily afford it, too.

Sumatra Mandheling Kuda Mas

If I was forced to name my favourite region for coffee production, I would say Indonesia. Actually, you wouldn’t even have to force me – you could just say, “Hey Al, what’s your favourite coffee region?” And I’d say, “Indonesia.” Unless I was being pretentious, in which case I’d say Hawaii. Because I’d sound so edgy.

Anyway, yeah, Sumatra, Sulawesi, they’re all so perfect. The combination of volcanic soil, climate, elevation and often remarkable methods of preparing the beans adds up to yummo, earthy, chocolatey, spicy, berry-y coffee goodness. I love them.

Try Kuda Mas

India Monsoon Malabar

I’m cheating a little because this is a bit of a love it or hate it coffee. Some coffee snobs call it the greatest coffee in the history of the world EVER and some call it meh. I’m more in the former camp.

It’s a unique coffee, of that there’s no doubt. The green bean (actually, it’s not green, it’s cream) has a lower water content compared with other coffee beans. Probably because the beans sit in open-walled shelters exposed to the monsoonal winds of the Indian coast for several months after harvest.

This method also seems to strip away any acidity. Like, there’s no acidity left. Which is amazing when mixed with milk.

Try Monsoon Malabar

Haiti coffee

I’ve been trying to import Haiti coffee for many years, ever since buying it via one of my old haunts, Coffee for Connoisseurs. I might be alone in this judgment, but in my opinion, Haitian coffee is the finest coffee in the world.

When I tried it back in - I want to say - 2016, my tasting notes were: “This is every coffee in the world rolled into one. How is this possible? Fuck this is amazing.” Excuse the swears but I was very excited.

I’ve since sourced it ad-hoc via eBay, pre-roasted (and stale) direct from Haiti roasters (still drank it but), and – in about three days time depending on traffic – from a Byron Bay roaster that I just found via Google. I am very, very excited whenever I get some.

What’s it taste like? I remember it being a big tasting perfectly balanced coffee, incredibly moreish, not too sweet, chocolate and cocoa and somehow pretty much every flavour in the world (but in a good way).

That’ll do – there’s five worth a try. Honourable mentions go to select Panama coffees, Hawaii Kona, and almost anything from Peru (in my experience). But not the civet coffee – that’s just silly.

Photo by Julian Andres Carmona Serrato on Unsplash