A coffee roastery is at the heart of our delicate, smooth and simply irresistible coffee blends. Our specially hand-picked and carefully sourced beans are sent around the world to the roastery where coffee beans are roasted before being crushed down to make coffee.

Coffee roasters have to source the coffee through warehouse and catalogue sales or through direct trade, which is the most popular way to find the best coffee. Coffee roasting is an art that requires a high degree of knowledge and experience to produce level roast profiles. Coffee must be closely monitored during the roasting process and scientific principles of heat transfer, thermodynamics and coffee chemistry must be applied to ensure the highest standard of quality and flavour come through in the final product — the roasted bean.

Once the coffee beans have arrived at the NESCAFÉ Roastery, in the green bean reception, the process has started. The coffee beans are filtered, cleaned and then sent to the next stages of its roasting journey. The beans move easily around the factory using compressed air, which literally blows them from one stage to the next! 175,000 jars of roasted coffee are produced in the factory, enough to supply the city of Manchester for a whole month. Beans are taken from different silos to create the infamous 5-bean blend.

Once in the factory, coffee beans are each given a grade depending on their quality. Great care that goes into making the perfect coffee to the highest standard. Beans that are burnt can have detrimental effect on the overall flavour of the roastery coffee, and are therefore pre-heated before being roasted. Once roasted, the beans are dropped into a cooler to stop the roasting process. The beans don’t continue to roast before being sent to be ground down.

Coffee culture in Cuba
Unlike anywhere else in the world, a place where coffee commonly known as a vehicle for socialisation.

Coffee culture in Vietnam
Renowned for its beautiful scenery and cultural heritage, as well as its bitterly sharp and strong flavoured coffee.

Coffee culture in Australia
With a strong coffee culture, Australia is home to some of the greatest coffee in the world.

Coffee culture in Ethiopia
A land of diverse landscape, history and world-renowned coffee, Ethiopia is where the coffee bean originated.

In the Middle East, Arabia and North Africa, coffee (Qahwa) has been widely used to settle marriages, contracts, and blood feuds, sometimes even seen as an offering of peace to end mutiny. In certain parts of the Middle East, Arabian coffee is used to greet visitors. It is said that if someone refuses an offering of coffee when entering one’s home, then they are about to ask you for something very close to their heart, such as forgiveness or permission. If this is accepted, then Qahwa coffee is enjoyed in celebration.

In many Arabic cultures, drinking coffee is a reason to get together and discuss news and mutual interests. In most traditional homes, the head of the household will take the first sip of Qahwa coffee to make sure that it is satisfactory for the rest of the family to drink too. There is a term used for Qahwa that does not taste satisfactory, and therefore may tarnish the reputation of the head of the family, if served to others. This is known as “Finjan al hail”. To this day, Arabic coffee continues to inspire the people of Arabia, the Middle East, and North Africa to create music, poetry and art.

The history of Arabian Coffee
Coffee was, according to apocryphal legend, discovered in Yemen a thousand years ago. The story begins with a goat herder named Ali, who thought that after his goats ate the fruit of a certain shrub, their energy levels increased. He took the shrub to a monastery and used the berries to keep himself awake during the long hours of meditation. The other monks considered the shrub to be a sedative and thus threw the shrub into the fire to burn. VERYIFY ALI.

Coffee was first brought to America in 1733 by what was known as the Boston Party in 1773. The revolt against King George II generated a noticeable switch from tea to coffee amongst the colonists, resulting in the expansion of American coffee.

By the early 18th century, coffee had become one of the world’s largest profitable commodities. The consumption of American coffee grew to become especially prevalent during the Civil War, ultimately attracting the interest of savvy businessmen who understood coffee’s potential.

Among some of the most famous American coffee sellers are the Pittsburgh-born brothers known as John and Charles Arbuckle. The brothers began selling pre-roasted American coffee to cowboys in the west. Another American coffee seller at the time was James Folger, selling American coffee to gold miners in California. Other large coffee house brands such as Maxwell House and Hills Brothers were also among America’s early successful coffee sellers. The success of coffee during the post-Civil War era was the advance America needed to introduce coffee crops and coffee culture that has been sustained for centuries.

Today, American coffee culture is still going strong. A popular movement with independently owned coffee shops turning coffee into something of an art form. These small local coffee shops use specially selected and locally roasted beans. American coffee culture is just as much about the flavour of the coffee, as it is about how it’s grown, where it’s roasted and how it’s brewed.

How many coffee types exist?
There are over 30 combinations of coffee types in the world. We've put together some of our favourite coffee types for you to try at home - easy recipes with NESCAFÉ instant coffee as the starting point. From the well-known cappuccino, espresso, and latte, to the lungo, ristretto, café au lait and cold brew, there are so many types of coffee to enjoy. Which is your favourite?

Which coffee has the strongest taste?
The strongest type of coffee is freshly brewed espresso. It forms the base for most coffee drinks, and is easily enjoyed with added milk, but can be enjoyed by itself if you prefer bold, intense coffee flavours.

Which coffee has the mildest taste?
A latte is generally considered the least intense coffee. Made with freshly brewed espresso, the taste is then made less intense because of the volume of milk added. This also makes it sweeter with a more mellow taste.

Which coffee has the most milk?
A café latte has the biggest milk-to-coffee ratio, with a third being espresso and the remaining two thirds consisting of milk. The cappuccino is close behind which contains equal parts of espresso, steamed milk and milk foam (in a ratio of 1:1:1).

What are the most popular coffee drinks?
The cappuccino, the latte, and the espresso shot are probably the most popular types – or at least, the most well-known!

Different coffee types summarised

Looking for a quick read? Here’s a summary of the different types of coffee.

• Latte - One or two shots of espresso, lots of steamed milk and a final, thin layer of frothed milk on top
• Cappuccino – Espresso, steamed milk and milk foam equally split into thirds
• Americano - It can either be served 1/2 and 1/2 or 1/3 espresso to 2/3 water
• Espresso - Concentrated form of coffee, served in shots and it’s often the coffee base of many other beverages
• Cortado - Made with lightly steamed milk without froth or foam
• Mocha - It is often 1/3 espresso and 2/3 steamed milk, with chocolate flavouring
• Macchiato - Espresso coffee drink, topped with a small amount of foamed or steamed milk
• Flat White - A blend of micro-foamed milk poured over a single or double shot of espresso
• Decaf - Made from regular coffee beans that go through the decaffeination process.
• Irish Coffee - Made from coffee, Irish whiskey, sugar and cream
• Iced Coffee - A cold version of your favourite coffee, with ice added
• Café au Lait - brewed coffee and steamed milk. One part coffee to one part steamed milk with no froth or foam on top

A world of taste awaits! Enjoy discovering the incredible variety of coffees with NESCAFÉ.

Cold brew coffee is made by slowly steeping coarsely ground coffee beans in room temperature water for at least six hours. It can be as long as 24 hours with many choosing to do it overnight, but it depends on how strong you want your cold brew it to be. When the beans are steeped like this it creates a strong coffee concentrate that just needs to be mixed with water and milk to taste.

As the grounds aren’t exposed to hot temperatures, cold brew coffee has a more flavourful, sweeter, less bitter and acidic taste. In a recent study, cold brew coffee was found to be between 50 – 67% less acidic than the average cup of coffee. It’s a common misconception that cold brew has to be cold. It can in fact be served piping hot too! If you want it cold, simply add cold water, ice and milk to taste. If you prefer it hot, you just need to add hot water or hot milk (some will even pop it in the microwave if they’re in a rush).