In every cup of L'OR lies a fascinating story. From harvest to roast, explore the incredible journey our coffee beans make, to bring bliss to your taste buds.
Flowering & harvesting
The quality of the harvested beans is essential for a good coffee. In the tropical regions, small shrubs called coffee bushes produce a white flower similar to Jasmine.
This flower only lasts for two days and gives way to a fruit which will be fully ripe 6 to 11 months later. Once ripe and a vivid red colour, this fruit called a cherry is ready to be harvested. Each cherry contains 2 coffee beans which are harvested one to two times a year, from September to December in the Northern Hemisphere and from April to August in the Southern Hemisphere.
These beans can be harvested by hand or machine.
The Arabica plant
Aroma: Arabica is perfumed, rich and aromatic and reveals subtle fruity notes.
Beans: they are long, smooth, regular and actually a yellow or green colour.
Plant: the arabica tree measures between 8 and 10m and its leaves are smaller than those of the robusta.
Growing: Arabica is grown at an altitude of between 600 and 2,000m in temperate or tropical climates.
Did you know? Arabica was not discovered in Arabia but in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) around the 6th century. At the time, Arabia was one of the only countries which drank coffee, hence the name given to this variety.
Processing the cherries
There are two methods for extracting the coffee beans from the freshly harvested cherries. The first method is the wet method: The pulp is first removed from the cherries then they are submerged in water for 24 to 48 hours so that their skin peels off. You can extract the green coffee bean when it has dried; so you get “washed coffee”. This method creates a more aromatic coffee. The second is called the dry method: The cherries dry in the sun for 20 days so that their skin peels off. Using this technique you get “unwashed coffee”.
Roasting
The coffee beans are then roasted. This is an essential step that allows the aroma, colour and taste of the coffee to develop.
Under the effect of the heat (from 180°C to 250°C), the green coffee beans go through a palette of infinitely varied golds and beiges. According to the expertise of the Master Roaster, the origin of the coffee and the desired taste, each roasting is different, but according to him the process always remains the same! The aromatic profile and the intensity of the coffee that you taste therefore varies due to the roasting.
Grinding
The roasting process specific to L’OR coffees exposes the coffee beans to intense temperatures which gives them a deep colour, unique flavours and characteristics specific to each variety within the range. Savour the rich coffee, product of perfectly roasted and ground coffee beans, with the amber coloured creamy layer on top.