"Coffee is more than just a drink. We feel it is more like an aesthetic experience," says Greg Fea, president and CEO of Illy, North America, makers of Italian coffee. "To the ancient Greek Kalokagathia, the concept was that beauty and taste cannot be separated. What's beautiful is good and what's good is beautiful. To have a perfect cup of coffee is really something good."

Fea says making a perfect cup isn't easy because of the many delicate variables involved in the lengthy production process. The perfect cup, he says, starts with perfect beans, and for perfect beans, one must take growing of the beans very seriously. "We work with the farmers directly and teach them how to grow perfect beans. We provide training to our growers. You cannot make a great cup of coffee from a bad bean, but you can make a bad cup of coffee from a good bean."

Within the commercial coffee family, there are two types of beans available to consumers: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is considered the premium bean. Most packaged coffee will indicate the type of bean used, although there can be varying degrees of quality within the two varieties.

Ian Buckingham, vice-president of sales for Mellitta coffee in Vaughan, Ont., began learning about the coffee business from a very early age while working in his family's business, Bramsco Coffee in Burlington, Ont.  "The perfect cup starts with the quality, origin or botanical variety," says Buckingham. "What makes them all taste different is botanical variety." Arabica beans grow at higher altitudes, generally 2,000 feet or higher. "At higher altitudes you get cooler evenings and it causes the cherry to grow slower and become more dense," says Buckingham. A coffee bean is the seed of a fruit that turns red when ripe, resembling a cherry. Slow growth means a denser cherry and a denser bean, and better flavour can be extracted from a dense bean during roasting. The denser Arabica beans tend to be fruity, while Robusta beans are more bitter.

Coffee companies blend coffees to get a consistent taste. Generally, says Buckingham, companies like to take three or four different kinds so that if there's a problem, they can increase the quantities of the other three and the taste won't swing too much. The only reason they put Robusta in the blend is to lower the cost, with the exception of espresso coffees, where a small percentage of Robusta helps with the crema (espresso foam).  "The crema, to espresso lovers, is very important," says Buckingham.

{sidebar id=33}Jeff Moore of Just Us coffee, located in the Fair Trade town of Wolfville, NS, says organic coffee is different from mainstream in that it's grown by small-scale farmers who tend to look after their land more carefully. These independent farmers also have the least desirable land, which is located high in the mountains. "The lucky coincidence is that the best coffee tends to grow at higher altitudes," says Moore. "Also, volcanic soils are good for good-quality coffee. Sugar tends to develop better at higher altitudes, so you get a sweeter taste."

Moore says roasting beans to a dark French roast will not kill the coffee's sweetness. However, with a poorer-quality bean, roasting results in a burnt flavor. Moore says some companies over-roast their beans to hide bad flavours present in lower-quality beans. "Coffee has so many oils, minerals, sugars and starches that we never really understand how all these interact." Coffee beans, which contain sugar and starch, turn golden brown and caramelize, but they turn to carbon when over-roasted. "We believe that the perfect cup of coffee is still golden brown with just a little oil," says Melitta's Buckingham. "When the beans turn to black, you're just going to taste carbon, but when they are golden brown, they all taste different." Consumers should select beans that are uniform in size, shape and colour. For those who prefer the carbon taste, choose beans that are black and lightweight.

The grind of the bean, equipment and cleanliness are the next steps to a perfect cup. Generally, the finer the grind, the longer it takes water to pass through. Espresso requires a very fine grind, whereas drip-brewing requires a slightly denser grind. The finer the grind, the more extraction. Buckingham recommends buying a better Arabica bean and grinding it fine. "You might have to add more coffee if the grind is coarser," he says.

"Once the grind setting is perfect," says Illy's Fea, "it is important that the right amount goes in. In the case of espresso, you have to worry about the tamp." Tamp refers to how the coffee is packed into the filter. "The amount and level of pressure is important, because that means one side of your coffee 'cake' -- the coffee in the tamp -- is thin and one side is fat. You want a nice, even, strong tamp, because when the hot water moves through the coffee cake, and you're extracting the oils and aromas, you want it to be even."

Although large commercial brass espresso machines are best because they have a much higher pressure than the average home machine, most people can't afford such extravagance. Home machines, at the very least, should be pump driven, which provides enough pressure to force the water through the finely ground coffee in 18 to 21 seconds, which is considered the ideal extraction time.

When drip-brewing, Buckingham cautions consumers to make sure their brewing temperatures are hot enough. Most home equipment brews at a temperature of only 85° to 88°C (185° to 190°F). Water that is just off the boil is necessary for good flavour and extraction. Buckingham says the only way to measure this is with a thermometer; coffee-machine manuals don't generally include this information.

Freshly brewed or pressed (using a plunge model) coffee should be consumed right away to preserve the flavour. "Coffee is constantly changing after it has been brewed," says Buckingham. If it's not meant to be consumed immediately, the best way to preserve it is in a thermal server rather than keeping it on an electric element. Thermal servers keep the coffee hot with their own heat. Steam coming from a burner means that the coffee's chemical properties are changing.