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flavor as nature grew it. Dry processing also offers more viscosity, mouth feel, body, depth, muted acidity, and potentially earthy flavors, and it requires less water—particularly important in climates with barely enough for human consumption. But the process is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.
    In wet processing, coffee cherries soften in large vats of water. A machine then mechanically removes the seeds: the soft fruit peels away and floats as the seeds (beans) sink to the bottom. The flesh gets discarded or composted. The seeds are then dried using either the natural, old-fashioned sun method or in mechanical dryers. With the latter, beans can dry out too much if not watched carefully, and then cracking can make them vulnerable to mold formation. Once dried, they are hulled, mechanically or by hand, and the skins removed not much past the outer protective coating.
    Wet processing offers brighter acidity and an arguably cleaner, less earthy taste due to quicker skin removal. But it involves water, adding the risk of mold formation.
    Storage and Shipping
    Coffee beans are like sponges that easily pick up off-tastes and odors. Climate during transit and warehousing also affect flavor. For example, beans stored in high humidity can ferment or rot. Beans stored in any environment for an extended period lose flavor.
    Beans have long been shipped in sacks made of jute (or burlap), which are economical and practical for handling but expose beans to moisture, air, and odors during their shipping. Water shipment, still the standard coffee bean transport method, means long sea voyages, exposure to moisture for extended periods of time, and storage next to all manner of products, some inert and others not. Once a shipment of coffee arrives in port, it can get damaged if not properly stored.
    Roast
    Different roasts make otherwise identical beans taste completely different. Roasting is such an essential, complex component of a bean’s flavor that we’ve devoted chapter 3 entirely to it.

An assortment of raw green coffee beans ready for roasting.
    Green Coffee Bean Basics
    In a perfect world, the best coffee beans grow in rich earth, protected from harsh sunlight, and get picked by farmers who choose the exact moment of ripeness, carefully remove the beans, and then ship them to us. Or would that actually be perfect? For every common-sense agricultural rule, there’s a coffee example to defy it. Those rule-breaking coffees are often among the finest.
    Take Yemen Mocha, for example. Often, the coffee cherries appear as dry as raisins while growing. They receive far too much sunlight and Yemen’s arid climate robs them of any but an occasional watering. They grow practically at sea level, a far cry from choice high-altitude mountains. They dry on rooftops, mostly because farmers there are far too poor and live in such a water-scarce region that they cannot consider using even the most primitive water hull-removal equipment.
    So are there no rules? The best we have are centuries’ worth of trials and errors from each region. Though not hard and fast, the tips that follow at least provide some quality predictors to make us better buyers.
    Buying Beans in Season
    Coffee flavor is a constantly moving target. Like a flower, coffee can lose its scent seemingly in an instant. To make sure the coffee tastes its best, use it quickly. That means drinking what’s in season, which requires knowing when various coffee-growing regions plant and harvest their crops.
    Think about what season it is right now. Like most crops, coffee requires time from its initial budding until the beans ripen for harvesting. Some countries such as Guatemala have just one annual harvest because of their dramatic wet and dry seasons. Others with more consistent climates such as Ethiopia harvest multiple times throughout the year. A country such as Brazil, with its giant, industrial approach to coffee and consistent weather, harvests year-round. Most