What Coffee Labels Really Tell You (and Why It Matters)

At Behind the Label, we put a lot of thought into the words that go on our coffee bags. They’re not there to sound fancy or fill space—they’re there because we want you to know what you’re drinking, where it comes from, and why it tastes the way it does.

I’ve worked in coffee for over a decade, and one thing I’ve learned is that the more you understand what’s in your cup, the more you appreciate it. So when we include details like origin, altitude, variety, and process—it’s not marketing. It’s meaning.

Whether you’re buying from us online, picking up beans in our roastery, or serving our coffee in your café—we want you to know the story behind it.

🎥 Want to go deeper?
Check out our YouTube series Origin a Week where we explore the history, culture, and flavour profiles of different coffee-producing countries—one origin at a time. It’s all about learning more, so your next cup means more.

Origin: More Than Just a Country

Origin gives the first clue about what a coffee might taste like. But we go a little deeper. For example, we work directly with a family-run farm in Brazil called Fazenda Santo Antonio. It’s a relationship built on trust, transparency, and a shared goal of producing high-quality, sustainable coffee.

Brazilian coffees tend to be nutty, chocolatey, and low in acidity—great for espresso. By contrast, when we source from Ethiopia or Kenya, we’re often looking for something more floral or fruit-forward. Different places, different vibes.

That’s what being a speciality coffee roaster in Dublin means to us—bringing origin to life in a way people can taste and understand.

 

Farm Name: Because It’s Personal

You’ll always see the farm or producer group on our labels. Not just for traceability, but because real people grew this coffee—and they deserve to be recognised.

It’s part of how we operate as a wholesale coffee supplier too. We want cafés and businesses to be able to share that story with their customers. Because when someone asks, “Where’s this coffee from?” the answer should be more than just “Brazil.” It should be, “This one’s from Antonio and his team at Santo Antonio, where they dry everything on raised beds under the sun and power the whole farm with solar energy.”

Altitude: Not Just a Stat

Altitude plays a role in how a coffee develops. Higher altitudes generally mean cooler nights, slower ripening, and more complex flavours. But it’s not a case of “higher = better.” It’s about how that altitude interacts with the variety, the soil, and the processing.

For example, our Brazilian coffees come from around 1,300m—a sweet spot for balance and sweetness in that region. You’ll still get lovely complexity, but with chocolate and hazelnut notes that work beautifully with milk. On the other hand, our washed Ethiopian coffees from 1,900m? Bright, clean, floral—totally different experience.

Process: The Hidden Influence

The processing method affects flavour massively. Washed, natural, honey—it all makes a difference.

• Washed coffees tend to be cleaner and brighter.

• Natural coffees are fruitier and sometimes a little funky.

• Honey sits somewhere in between—sweet and syrupy.

We’re a bit nerdy about process at Behind the Label, because it’s where craft and climate collide. The way a coffee is processed isn’t just about taste—it’s about what’s possible in that environment.

As a speciality coffee roaster in Dublin, we love exploring these methods with our customers—especially those in a space who want to bring something genuinely interesting to their offering.

Variety: The Plant Behind the Flavour

Variety gets overlooked a lot, but it’s worth paying attention to. It’s the coffee plant’s genetics—and just like with wine grapes, that matters. SL28, Yellow Bourbon, Heirloom… each has its own traits in terms of flavour, disease resistance, and yield.

We include variety on our labels because it’s another step toward understanding what makes a coffee taste the way it does. And honestly, it just makes drinking coffee more interesting.

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So yeah—what’s on the coffee bag does matter. It’s not just marketing—it’s storytelling, it’s transparency, and it’s about helping people drink coffee with a little more curiosity. Knowledge enhances experience and experiences are what life is all about.

If you’re a home brewer, I hope this helps you dive deeper. And if you’re a café owner or business looking for a wholesale coffee supplier who gives a damn—get in touch. We roast fresh in Dublin and we’d love to work with you.

Hope you found this enjoyable and educational.

Best,

Darren