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 and a vivid red color, this fruit called a cherry and 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 was grown, and how the coffee is treated—will influence the taste and aroma you experience in your cup of L'OR coffee.

The Arabica Plant

Arabica coffee comes from the beans of a Coffea arabica plant. Arabica coffee was discovered in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) around the 6th century. At the time, the area around Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was one of the only regions where coffee was widely enjoyed, hence the plant was named 'Arabica' because of the link to 'Arabia' (the region).

L'OR blends are made from different types of coffee, each carefully selected to deliver the best taste profile. Some L'OR blends are made with 100% Arabica, while others are a blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans. There are even differences in the coffee beans of different Arabica coffee plants, all of which can be discovered in L'OR coffee.

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, 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 skin peels 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 below-quality 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 coffee beans to 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.

Roasted to Richness

With taste-testing complete, the beans 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, flavor 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 Flavor & 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 flavor and aroma that are instantly released when water is added.

An inconsistent grind can lead to unpredictable variations in flavor, and often don't celebrate the best of the bean. Coffee beans that are grounded too coarse won't extract the full flavor 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 it's with their expertise that we ensure every blend is ground consistently for the same delicious L'OR taste, every time.

We believe coffee is an experiential moment. Something we drink every day, but also something that reflects our mood or personality. That's why L'OR creates a range of coffee experiences for anyone at any moment.

Interested in learning more? Check out this article on how to taste coffee.

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