Starbucks Higher Arabica Standards

Starbucks arabica beans are different from regular arabica beans. At every step, we go to great lengths to make sure our beans meet the highest standard of quality.

How do we do it? Glad you asked.

1. We go where the best beans are: up

The best beans grow at higher altitudes. The cold nights and warm days create denser beans. And denser beans have deeper, more complex flavors. Taste them in every cup of Starbucks coffee.

2. We’re for the good of all coffee

So if we can help a farmer grow better beans, we will. Any farmer, anywhere. To that end, we have farmer support centers on four continents where our agronomists test soils, examine samples and provide advice, free, to any coffee farmer who asks.

3. We nurture deep-rooted relationships

The future of coffee is entwined with the future of coffee farmers. So we nurture those relationships the same way they nurture their beans. We work to get farmers a fair price and to make sure everyone in the community can benefit from the coffee industry. It leads to better livelihoods for farmers, and a better cup of coffee for all of us.

4. We’re very picky at harvest

We only pick the coffee cherries when they are at their peak. Red, ripe and perfect. After that, we sort them over and over - based on size, color, and density. Our tolerance for defects? Pretty much zero. Some people might call that obsessive. We call it great coffee.

5. We taste - again and again and again

We taste more than 1000 cups of coffee a day to verify the superior taste that all of us (including you) have come to expect. A batch of coffee is tasted at least three times before it’s approved, so every time you take a sip of Starbucks® coffee, it’s a sip you’ll love.