What to Look for When Buying Organic Coffee?
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By PAGE Editor
Buying organic coffee should be easy, but you can’t always get the information you need from the packaging. You can look for labels and keywords, but it’s worth following up on what those labels mean and where your coffee comes from.
To make that easier, follow these tips on what to look for when choosing organic coffee.
Organic Coffee Certification and What It Means
A lot of products you see in the supermarket claim to be organic, but what does that actually mean, and how many of them meet federal standards that allow them to bear the USDA Organic label?
For starters, organic refers to how the coffee was grown. To be considered USDA Organic, coffee has to be grown according to the standards set by the USDA. One major specification is that coffee must be grown without the use of certain agrochemicals, including synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
Coffee farms must submit paperwork detailing everything from growing practices to coffee storage and be free of prohibited chemicals for at least three years before they can be considered organic. The USDA will then send a certifying agent to the farm to inspect and review that everything in the chain of command is compliant. They conduct annual audits to ensure farms stay compliant.
Always look for the USDA Organic label on your coffee packaging rather than blindly believing organic claims. Getting certified is a tough task that can take farmers years to accomplish, making that USDA Organic label a guarantee you can trust.
Coffee Origin and Traceability
When choosing organic coffee, look for specifics about where the coffee comes from, including country of origin, region, or even the farm or cooperative where it was grown and processed.
The more specific this information is, the more traceable and transparent your coffee becomes. Knowing where your coffee was grown and who produced it can give you more insight into the farming practices and growing conditions behind your coffee.
Many coffee companies share sourcing reports, farm updates, and other information about their producer partners. You can also find many cooperatives and coffee producers online who share updates directly from origin.
Your bag of coffee should shed light on where your coffee comes from and who’s growing it, not just tell you the roast level and tasting notes.
Choosing the Right Flavor, Roast, and Body
Organic certification and traceability are great starting points, but you still need to find coffee you’ll enjoy drinking.
Organic coffee will often be better quality because the careful growing practices can positively impact flavor development, but you’ll also have to look for and understand the coffee’s characteristics:
Roast level: Refers to how long green coffee is roasted, on a scale that includes light, medium, dark, and extra dark. A shorter roast often tastes brighter and more acidic, whereas a darker roast will develop a sweeter and sometimes smoky taste.
Tasting notes: The flavor of your coffee is greatly affected by origin and variety. The climate, soil, and elevation at which coffee is grown help the coffee develop natural flavors. Higher elevations tend to produce brighter, more floral and fruity flavors, while slightly lower elevations produce profiles with nutty and chocolate tasting notes.
Body: Coffee body refers to how the coffee feels in your mouth. A light body is thinner and tea-like, a medium body is balanced, and a full or heavy body is thicker, creamier, and syrupy.
Acidity: Light roasts have more perceived acidity because the lower roasting time means the coffee beans preserve more of their natural acids. Darker roasts have less perceived acidity because these acids break down during the longer roasting time.
Roast Dates and Coffee Freshness
Freshness has a noticeable impact on flavor, so check the packaging for a roast date or a best-by date before you purchase.
A roast date tells you exactly when the coffee was roasted, giving you more insight into how long it’s been sitting on the shelf. Since roasted coffee loses aromas and flavors over time, you want to make sure what you’re buying is fresh.
Some coffee companies use a best-by date instead of a roasting date. This tells you how long they recommend keeping the coffee in terms of quality, but it can be hard to know when exactly it was roasted.
If you’re not sure what date you’re seeing or what the date means, reach out to the company. A transparent roaster should be able to explain how the dates are determined and what they recommend for getting the best flavor from your coffee.
Going Beyond Organic: Regenerative Coffee
Organic is a great baseline for coffee, but there is coffee that goes beyond that standard. Regenerative farming is a more holistic approach that gives back to the land and helps strengthen biodiversity on farms to make them more sustainable and resilient.
Like organic farming practices, regenerative farming aims to reduce synthetic inputs on farms while using more natural practices to strengthen the soil and the surrounding ecosystems. Practices like shade-growing, associated crops, nutrient cycling, cover crops, terracing, and crop diversification create natural ways to combat pests, strengthen soil, protect the environment, and give farmers additional sources of income.
All of these natural practices help protect farmers, the land, and the surrounding communities, leading to stronger farms that are more resilient in the face of climate change, helping them thrive into the future.
What to Look for in Organic Coffee
Choosing organic coffee often starts by looking for certifications on the packaging, but it shouldn’t end there. Origin, traceability, freshness, flavor, and farming practices can tell you a more complete story about your coffee.
Take a few extra minutes to look beyond the certifications so that you’re confident in your coffee choice.
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