Why choose the Harvest?

Like an exquisite diamond, or the seasons in a year, all good things come in fours and coffee is no exception. There are four crucial elements to a great quality coffee and here at Wild Harvest we ensure that each aspect is properly cared for.

Bean-utiful!

There are two main species of coffee plants found worldwide, Robusta and Arabica. The Robusta plant produces a larger sized bean with a sharper, more caffeinated characteristic that is regularly used in instant coffee due to its cheaper price. While the Arabica plant is known to develop more balanced, higher quality beans widely recognised as producing a smoother, more palatable coffee. It is no surprise then that Wild Harvest only uses 100% premium grade Arabica beans in all our blends.

To know me is to love me!

Boy, do we know beans! Whether it’s an exotic Terazzu from the mountains of Costa Rica with its classic chocolate notes or the balanced berry flavours of an Ethiopian Sidamo, we understand and are enamoured by our beans.That's why we only select the best quality of Arabica beans that are always full of flavour from whichever region we choose. Our blends are like no other, as we take time ensuring that our chosen beans always compliment each others unique flavours.

Roasting Essential

Once we’ve selected the beans, it’s time for the roasting to begin. All our beans are developed under the watchful eye of our roaster extraordinaire who’s job it is to see that the process maximises the development of the beans natural flavour. The process includes five major stages.

1. The beans once in the roaster, begin to dry and change colour from a green to a yellow colour. This phase causes a gradual increase in bean temperature.

2. Secondly, as the temperature increases, the beans go through a rapid expansion phase known as the ‘first crack’. You can hear the beans cracking like popcorn.

3. Beans begin to change colour further toward a medium-dark brown. They swell in size to over 150% of their original state, lose around 17% weight and begin to caramelise the sugars found naturally within the beans.

4. As the temperature rises further, the beans enter a second expansion phase, the ‘second crack’. It is at this stage that the beans begin to carbonise.

5. Our roaster at the right time for each blend must end the roasting phase and allow the beans to fall from the drum into the roasting pan. It is in the pan that the beans are rapidly cooled by allowing cool air to be drawn up through the beans.

Pack it Right!

During the roasting phase and soon afterward, the beans release a large amount of CO₂ gas; this causes problems when trying to find suitable packaging. O₂ is also an enemy of coffee so it must be airtight as well as allow it to breath. Wild Harvest uses only silver foil bags that don’t impart any unwanted flavours on our specially crafted beans, which have a one-way valve on the back, allowing CO2 out and preventing O2 from entering.