The truth about peaberry coffee

July 15, 10:36 PMLA Coffee ExaminerKim Winklhofer

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the LA Coffee Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

 Piglet 
 Photo by stringbot

In E.B. White’s classic children’s novel, Charlotte’s Web, Wilbur the pig is the unwanted runt of the litter, but due to some creative spider PR, Charlotte convinces everyone that he’s “special” and shouldn’t be made into bacon.

Peaberries and regular coffee beans
Photo by Kim Winklhofer

Similarly, once upon a time, peaberry coffee beans were considered inferior. The photo shows the size difference between peaberries and regular beans. Great care was taken to cull these smaller, rounded beans from the rest and discard them.

Now, however, peaberry coffee is being marketed as “the most prized and sought after coffee in the world” and “…the ultimate indulgence.” But is it truly a prize or just a pretender of premium quality? First, let's find out exactly what peaberries are.

Anatomy of the Aberration
Coffee cherries are the fruit of the coffee tree, and inside each cherry are two seeds, more commonly referred to as beans. A peaberry is nothing more than a bean without a partner. Peaberries occur in all varietals in every coffee growing region, and anywhere from 2%-10% of coffee cherries harbor a single, smaller, fused bean.

 
 Coffee blossoms
 Photo by Tim Wilson

Fertility Challenged
Peaberries typically develop on the ends of the branches. No one really knows why, but one theory is that an outermost blossom is more exposed to the wind and weather and may lose a pistil, thereby tying one hand behind its reproductive back. Spota Java Coffee suggests it might also be due to “insect damage to a flower [or] tree stress from drought/nutrient imbalances…”

Do Good Things Come in Small Packages?
The consensus is because peaberries are smaller, all the nutrients and flavor are concentrated, hence the "Charlotte the spider" marketing strategy, but this hasn’t been scientifically proven. One of the foremost coffee experts in the world, Kenneth Davids of the Coffee Review, stated, “one could also argue…that peaberries are runt beans produced by half-fertile flowers, and so may be presumed to be weaker than their fat and mated colleagues.”

Yet, he does concede that peaberry coffee tastes "different," perhaps because typical Arabica beans are more forgiving than peaberries, which require a more careful ear during the roasting process.

That’s right, ear.  

 Coffee roaster Photo by d70focus

Roast Magazine, a periodical for serious coffee roasters, reported, "because the Peaberry coffee beans typically roast quicker, it is important to listen carefully for the first crack and thereafter to determine your roast preference. The Peaberry’s fast roasting times and small size make it easy to miss your roasting ‘sweet spot.’”

The Hype
Peaberry coffee beans can cost anywhere from $2 to $14 more per pound. Why? As mentioned earlier, peaberries only comprise 2%-10% of the harvest. They're "rare." As with diamonds, Mother Nature had to go to some trouble to create the peaberry. This is a valid argument. Consumers will often pay more for a more exclusive product.

What might not be as valid is the suggestion by some companies that a rigorous selection process occurs to separate the peaberries from their ordinary cousins. This may or may not be true, depending on the processor. Certainly in the past, the peaberries were picked out by hand, but these days it may just be a matter of sifting the peaberries through slotted screens with holes too small for burlier cousins.

Make Up Your Own Mind
Kenneth Davids is:

not sure peaberry tastes better than normal beans from the same crop, but it does taste different. Typically, peaberry is more buoyant and more brightly acidy, more complex in the upper aromatic ranges of the profile but somewhat lighter in body, than comparable normally shaped beans.”

But ultimately coffee drinkers have to decide for themselves. Armed with the knowledge of exactly what peaberry coffee is, you can now conduct your own taste test. Here are some peaberry purveyors.

• With nine varieties, Volcanica Coffee has the largest selection.
• PT’s Coffee Company offers Peaberry de La Lagunita - Finca Los Planes, which one Coffee Review cupper described as “a mouth party” he didn’t want to end.
• Johnson Brothers Coffee Roasters sells Kenya Peaberry Thika Gethumbwini, described as “a home run,” by one reviewer.
• Spota Java promises that their Premium Connoisseur Peaberry will “earn it's place as one of your most treasured coffee drinking experiences.”
• Caribou Coffee's hand-sorted La Minita Peaberry has "flavorful notes of milk chocolate with a sugary sweetness and a hint of maraschino cherry."
• Kona Luna would like you to try their Kona Peaberry, billed as "top of the line among the finest coffee beans on the planet."

 
Visit me on the National Page
Kim Winklhofer
Romantic Living Examiner