My recollection is that peaberry is simply a term to describe an immature bean ... not every bean on the tree ripens on the same schedule and mechanical picking increases the proportion on peaberries in a batch. Hawaiian coffee is highly mechanized production. It's not a specific bean genetic variety and at one point its presence was considered a flaw in the quality of the delivered coffee because it would not roast the same way that the bulk of the beans did. Companies spend money getting them out of the batch.
If a company can sell it instead of bury it, that's much better for the bottom line .. ergo marketing of the special offer of Peaberry beans. If you can make something of it that you like to drink, go for it. But I always remind myself that pregnant mares' urine is blended with blood and goats milk and then the whole thing is fermented to make a popular beverage in some remote areas of Asia. So peaberry may be the next big thing. KittJ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben McCafferty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 12:05 PM Subject: What defines a peaberry? > > Sorry for the slightly off-topic post... > > Just received some greens from Smith Farms (Peaberry Kona) in Hawaii. > Obviously peaberry is the shape of the bean, i.e. roundish like a rugby > ball. > > Is that the only thing that defines peaberry, or is peaberry like a > "varietal"? In other words, is there peaberry of every type of coffee, or > is peaberry a single type that is grown in many places, similar to a type > of > grape (merlot, chardonnay, etc.)? Is peaberry found all on one tree, or > is > it an anomaly within a normal coffee crop that gets sorted out (i.e. 10 of > 100 beans have the peaberry shape, and are separated to be sold as > peaberry, > or an entire tree produces nothing but peaberry)? > > I also notice that it is the highest priced coffee that Smith sells. Is > it > considered a superior bean, or is it just the rareness factor that drives > the price up? > > Thanks and talk soon, > bmc > "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
