Shade grown coffee is much more tastier and richer than their sun kissed cousins
If the plant grows under a shade the exposure to sunlight decreases and the fruit takes longer to ripen and mature. This slowness to maturity gives it a much richer and complex taste palette.
The lesser availability of shade grown coffee is because
- The sun ripens the berries faster and so the cost of production decreases as the time to get the coffee to market decreases so most of the farmers are interested
- The tree cover necessary for a shade grown coffee is becoming sparse and hence finding exact locations for shade grown coffee is becoming difficult
more at The bean story