OUR COFFEE

Our journey starts at the farms where our coffee beans are grown. Currently, this is in Peru and Mexico. Coffee beans are the seed of the coffee fruit, called a cherry, which is dried, roasted and ground to produce coffee.

Smokin’ Bean only uses 100% Arabica coffee beans. Arabica beans are planted at high altitudes as this is the premium positioning for the beans to grow. It usually takes around 5 years after planting for a coffee plant to yield a sufficient harvest.

When the cherries are ripe, they are stripped from the plant and delivered to a central collection point where they move onto the next stage in their journey – pulping. This is where the flesh of the cherries is removed so we are left with the glorious seed (the bean).

Depending on the individual site, the beans will be washed then dried, either in a mechanical dryer or by the air.

Once the coffee beans are dry, they are hulled to remove any remaining fruit and dry skin. At this stage they are known as ‘green coffee’. The green coffee is cleaned and sorted, then graded to pick out the best beans for the job.

At the mill or the export site, the coffee is often roasted in a sample coffee roaster so that the quality can be tested before it is shipped out. The coffee is quality checked by official, trained professionals (known as Q Graders) on site.

Next the green coffee is bagged into hessian sacks for transportation and shipped to our roastery in Glasgow. There our coffee experts roast the beans to perfection in large drums. The roasting process contributes to the delicious flavour of the finished coffee beans.

The coffee is quality checked again, then packed in nitrogen flushed bags, which keeps the coffee at optimum freshness. Finally, it’s shipped out to where it’s needed most – your coffee cup!

Freshly ground and served through our bean to cup or traditional coffee machine, Smokin’ Bean tastes good. It tastes really good. It’s delicately sweet, with notes of vanilla, caramelised sugar and a hint of citrus.