We consider coffee to be one of the most complex consumable items on the planet. Not only in variety and variability but coffees chemistry and history are also amazing. Only a little over seventy countries on Earth can geographically produce coffee fruiting plants. Most people have no idea just how complex coffee is, even life long daily drinkers. In the spirit of Douglas Adams “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, we wanted to find a single answer to how many potential coffee outcomes there could be. Plus, we love numbers, so here we go…...

There are over 129 recognized species in the Coffea genus. In addition, thousands of heirloom species, let us call if 1,800 recognized stable heirloom species.

(running total: 232,200)

Then there are the seventy countries in which coffee is able to grow, volume output of these countries will not matter for this equation. Each of these countries theoretically could grow any of the 232,200 previously referenced species. Each country’s geology, climate, growing practices and more will alter the harvested coffee. Creating a sometimes subtle or potential drastic but always unique change in profile.

(running total: 16,254,000)

That is 16,254,000 different options just in the species you could grow in different countries. Now, there are different geography and weather leading to different growing results within each region in each county, each region potentially having hundreds of different farms. For this math, each growing country has about 3 to 5 unique growing “zones”, which we will average at 4.

(running total: 65,016,000)  

Next, coffee is processed in a variety of ways, each creating a different finished coffee. There are five main ways all coffee can be processed, check our blog on processing coffee for more info.

(running total: 325,080,000)  

So that is 325,080,000 unique potential outcomes for green bean coffee. Shipped from the farm to the roaster, worldwide there are an incalculable number of roasters. Here each roast master will have a different recipe to produce their green coffee. Profiles can be anywhere from blonde to burnt and many other variables like aging, not just light or dark but all the nuances in between. Let’s say there are six main finished roast temperatures, even though the true variety is much higher.

(running total: 1,950,480,000)

In conclusion, there are roughly 1,950,480,000 potential unique single origin coffee outcomes on planet earth at the moment. To make it tidy and we did round down here and there let’s call it “TWO BILLION”. This does not account for coffee blends, which are 90%+ of the market. Also, most people add stuff to their coffee which adds endless variety to the already vast world of coffees.

Summary, if you drink a different single origin black coffee 56,000 times a day every day from the moment you are born until one hundred years old, you might have tried all the coffee the earth has to offer. You can start your journey at the single origin page on our website.