Every cup of L'OR coffee tells a fascinating flavour story. From sourcing to roasting and blending, each step of our process is designed to deliver the ultimate coffee tasting pleasure. All carefully created, controlled and overseen by our passionate Coffee Artists.
Flowering & Harvesting
The quality of the harvested beans has an impact on the exceptional L'OR coffee that ends up in your cup. And it all starts with a small coffee cherry.
In the tropical regions, small shrubs called coffee bushes produce a white flower similar to Jasmine. This flower only blooms for two days, giving way to a fruit which is fully ripe 6 to 11 months later. Once ripe, this fruit takes on a vivid red colour and is called a 'cherry' at that moment it's ready to be harvested.
Each cherry contains two beautiful coffee beans. The cherries are harvested once or twice per year, from September to December in the Northern Hemisphere and from April to August in the Southern Hemisphere. The coffee cherries (and the beans inside) are harvested by hand or mechanically, depending on the coffee farm.
Each element – from the type of coffee plant, to where it's grown and how the coffee is treated – will influence the taste and aroma you experience in your cup of L'OR coffee.
«When I look at a coffee’s origin, I see potential, ideas, flavour, – all carefully grown »
- Judith de Boer, L'OR Coffee Artist
WHAT IS ARABICA COFFEE?
Arabica coffee is obtained from the beans of the coffea arabica, an exotic plant. Arabica coffee was discovered in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) around the 6th century. At the time, this region was one of the few where coffee was popular. The plant therefore received the name “arabica” because of its connection with “Arabia”, the region.
L'OR blends are made from different types of coffee, each carefully selected to deliver the best possible taste profile. Some L'OR blends are 100% Arabica and others are a blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans. There are even differences between coffee beans from different Arabica plants and you can savor these different tastes in the L'OR range of coffees.
Some information about arabica coffee
- Aroma:Perfumed, rich and aromatic it reveals subtle fruity notes.
- Beans: Long, smooth, regular and actually a yellow or green colour.
- Plant:The arabica tree measures between 8-10 metres and its leaves are smaller than those of the robusta.
- Growing:Grown at an altitude of 600-2000 metres, in temperate or tropical climates.
FROM CHERRY TO COFFEE BEAN
Not many people know that our exquisite coffee beans start their journey inside a ripe coffee cherry. Once the coffee cherries have been harvested, the beans must be carefully extracted from the fruit. There are two ways to do this.
In the 'washed' method, the pulp is first removed from the cherries and then they are submerged in water for 24 to 48 hours so the skins naturally peel off. Once dried, the green coffee beans can be extracted. These are known as 'washed' coffee beans.
In the 'dry' method, the cherries dry in the sun for 20 days so their skins peel off naturally. These are known as 'unwashed' coffee beans.
Although washed coffee beans are thought to deliver a more aromatic final cup of coffee, there are reasons for using both washed and unwashed coffee beans. We blend the very best of both kinds to achieve the perfect taste complexity, with smoothness and balance, in every cup of L'OR.
« “Perfectly milled, perfectly polished“ »
Before the carefully selected beans are moved, the parchment skin of the coffee bean must be removed. This is known as hulling. The beans are then polished, to remove any last pieces of skin to make sure they are pure and clean.
We do a final check for any sub-standard beans before they are transported to be roasted, ground and packed. This careful attention to detail is what creates the finest coffee taste and aroma experience, every time.
TASTE-TESTED BY COFFEE ARTISTS
Once the green coffee beans arrive, they are taste-tested by the L'OR Coffee Artists, who check the quality and characteristics of every batch of beans.
The green beans are roasted and immediately ground, then mixed with boiling water, before being tasted by our Coffee Artists. This technique of tasting for quality is known as 'cupping'.
Using their deep sensory knowledge and understanding of coffee, the Coffee Artists can detect over 800 aromas and tastes in the coffee. They use this rare skill to blend the coffee beans and create exquisite taste profiles, as well as to check if any of the beans don't live up to their quality standards.
The passionate expertise of the L'OR Coffee Artists is what makes L'OR truly unique – and delivers the ultimate coffee taste experience in every cup
COFFEE ROASTED TO RICHNESS
Once the coffee beans have been taste-tested, they are roasted to perfection at specific temperatures (from 180°C to 250°C) that yield different taste profiles.
The roasting time is designed by our Coffee Artists to allow the espresso oils from deep inside the bean to travel outwards, which is what gives the beans a beautiful shine. As the espresso oils are released, flavour and aroma develops into exquisite layers waiting to be unlocked, and the bean transforms from green to gold, beige, brown and ultimately, a deep, rich chocolate brown.
The intensity, acidity, smoothness and roundness that is tasted in each distinct L'OR blend is determined by the roasting time of the beans.
GROUND TO RELEASE FLAVOUR AND AROMA
The perfectly roasted beans are ground and packed quickly after roasting, so we preserve their freshness and richness. The grinding step in our process is what allows each cup of L'OR to deliver layers of flavour and aroma that are instantly released when water is added.
An inconsistent grind can lead to unpredictable variations in flavour, and often doesn't celebrate the best of the bean. Coffee beans that are ground too coarsely, won't extract the full flavour of the bean, while granules that are too fine can lead to over-extraction and an unpleasant taste. Grinding is important, which is why we do it so well.
Our Coffee Artists understand the impact of grind size on the final cup and their expertise ensures every blend is ground consistently for the same delicious L'OR taste, every time.