Coffee-lovers often define a gourmet coffee as one grown in a geographic region known for its excellent coffee. Hawaii produces Kona coffee, Jamaica has its amazing Blue Mountain and Kenya has a number of well-known regions as well. Some folks love gourmet flavoured coffee as well, though some people feel the excessive flavouring ruins the natural tastes of coffee. It’s all a matter of opinion on that one. Flavoured coffee can run the spectrum of taste, offering a coffee bean to suit any palate. You can try pumpkin spice, banana hazelnut or mint chocolate truffle.

Another thing to look out for when buying gourmet coffee beans, is the term “peaberry”. Peaberry isn’t a particular type of coffee, or coffee from any specific area. Even so, peaberry coffee is still highly sought after, and can be found as a variety of other popular gourmet coffee lines. Coffee beans are actually the seeds inside a small fruit, called the coffee cherry. Most have 2 beans in each fruit. Sometimes, a cherry will only produce 1 large seed instead. These beans are peaberry, and are considered to be more flavourful because they are basically 2 beans worth of coffee in one.

The most exclusive type of gourmet coffee is so rare and unusual that many people think its just an urban legend. Kopi Luwak coffee comes from Indonesia, home to many other great coffee-growing areas. It’s the rarest of the rare, and not something most people ever get to try. The little coffee fruits are eaten by a small cat-like animal called a Luwak. The beans inside are not digested, and left amongst the animal waste. Believe it or not, these beans are collected and roasted into coffee. The final cup is reported to be extremely rich and even chocolatey in flavour.

Tip

When you buy gourmet coffee beans, make sure you don’t ruin them by getting over-zealous with the roasting. A medium roast is usually just right to get the unique flavours of each variety of coffee. Going for an overly dark roast will destroy all the subtle differences, and all your coffee will taste the same.

Finding gourmet coffee can be a challenge if you don’t live in a large urban area that has some fine food stores you can go browsing in. Thankfully, many quality coffee suppliers have gone online and you can now order beans from anywhere in the world.

These days, you can order your coffee beans from any of the famous coffee-growing regions around the globe with just a phone call or a click of your mouse. If you’re not sure what to choose from the huge selection out there, here is a quick run-down on some of the finer regions that you should sample from.

Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is some of the most exclusive in the world, and usually the most expensive to buy. The region is small, but the high Caribbean mountain area has the perfect climate from growing coffee. Blue Mountain coffee is known for its very smooth and mild flavour, with none of the bitterness that you can find in some blends.

The next spot you might want to try would be Hawaii. There are several different regions for coffee in Hawaii, but the best would be Kona coffee. Kona coffee is grown on the slopes of either Mount Hualalai or Mauna Loa on the big island of Hawaii. Coffee from Kona is also smooth, though with a stronger flavour than Blue Mountain. There is a bit of spiciness to it as well.

When buying a regional gourmet coffee, be careful of any that are labeled as a blend. You can end up buying a bag of beans containing only 10% from that region. That doesn’t make it bad coffee, but you shouldn’t be paying high prices for coffee that is made up of mostly cheaper beans.