Coffee, like wine and cheese, is so much more than just its finished product. It takes a lot of time to make a good cup of coffee, and most of that time is actually spent by people you’ll never met, cultivating the coffee beans out in fields on mountain ranges as far away as Columbia, Java, and even Kenya.

Furthermore, coffee beans are a bit of a mystery to a lot people, since they only grow in specific regions, due to their finicky nature and need for specific weather patterns. Here’s a break-down of some of the most popular beans, and why they make such great coffee.

Sulawesi Toraja Kalossi One of the most popular and rare varieties of Arabica coffee around, these coffee beans grow at extremely high altitudes on the island of Sulawesi. The coffee is full-bodied, slightly more acidic than the similar Sumatra blend, and known for its fruit and dark chocolate undertones. As far as Malaysian coffee goes, this is one of the finest beans coming out of the area, and it commands high prices.

Kape Barako One of the types of coffee grown in The Philippines, not many people are familiar with Kape Barako, because of an infestation of Coffee Rust in the 1990s that almost wiped out the plants forever. A type of Liberica species, the coffee, when available, is popular with gourmets, who enjoy a blend where it’s mixed with Arabica to get the best tasting coffee with a distinct aroma.

Ethiopian Harrar One of the oldest coffee beans used, Harrar coffee beans grow only in the eastern highlands of Ethiopia, and require sorting and processing done entirely by hand, due to the brittle nature of the bean. The bean itself is medium in size, but has a distinct flavor that most people compare to an expensive glass of fruity red wine. The aroma is equally pleasant, and Ethiopian Harrar beans are sold in many gourmet stores around the world.

Santos Leave it to Brazil to make one of the most interesting coffee beans in the game. Instead of high acidity, like so many other varieties of Arabica coffee, this bean instead produces a light-bodied brew with surprisingly low acidity. The hot, humid climate in Brazil is what makes the beans so low in acidity, and the lower growing elevation means that harvests can be timed to when the fruit on the plant still smells sweet, which carries over into the beans once roasted.

In recent years, a growing movement for fair-trade coffee has made regular consumers aware that the beans they enjoy don’t always come from people who are being fairly compensated for their hours toiling in the fields. In fact, harvesting coffee beans, whether you’re on a hillside in Kenya or the jungle in Columbia, is extremely hard work, and it definitely deserves a fair wage. The best way, therefore, to buy coffee a lot of the time is by going through these fair-trade groups.

Regardless of how or where you’re shopping for your coffee, please take a moment to consider whether or not it is fair-trade. The world of coffee harvesting is tough stuff, and most of the people who do it never receive proper financial credit for the amount of time and effort they put in. With different fair-trade companies around the world, many of which are easy to buy (just walk into Whole Foods or Trader Joes and ask), it makes giving credit where credit is due a whole lot easier of a task.

For a sizable weekend BBQ, Damian Papworth’s 8 cup coffee maker comes in real useful. On any other standard day though, one cup coffee makers are more convenient.