How to Choose Coffee Beans - All You Need to Know

Some types of roasts:
Roast - Light, Dark and Everything in Between

As well as species and region, the degree of the roast plays a large part in determining the flavor of your favorite coffee. The roasting process caramelizes the bean sugars and releases the coffee oils, chemically changing coffee beans from green and unappetizing, to shiny, brown and fragrant.

Roasts and Brewing Methods - each of the levels of roast listed below can be used for any method of coffee making, with the exception of espresso, for which you should use only a dark, or very-dark roast.

Roast Flavor vs Bean Flavor - the light, or pale cinnamon roast should only be used with very high quality coffee. This is because the lighter the roast, the more of the coffee bean traits you will taste in the cup. A light roast will mask none of the coffee's origin traits. A dark roast will take on the overall characteristic flavor of the roast, masking the flavor of the individual beans.

Milk? - High quality coffees, with their agreeable acidity, benefit from the light or medium roasts and generally taste good with milk. The darker roasts should be served black.
Levels / Degrees of Roast - 

	Other Names	Color	Lustre	Taste
Light	Cinnamon Roast	Pale-brown	None	Sharp, acidic
Medium	American Roast, city roast	Brown	Mild	Bittersweet tang
Dark	Continental Roast, Viennese Roast	Dark-brown	Shiny	Smoky
Vary Dark	French Roast, New Orleans Roast, Full Roast	Almost black	Glossy	Smoky, rich

 
Caffeine - Darker roasts contain slightly less caffeine than lighter roasts.

When to Roast?, When to Blend? - Some coffees are roasted first, in single-origin batches before being blended. Others are blended first before being roasted together. Each technique has it's own advantages and disadvantages, with coffee buffs arguing the point either way. Some argue that since each variety of bean has an optimum level of roast, they should be roasted first and blended later. Others say that blending should occur before the roast to allow full integration of bean flavors during roasting. For convenience sake, many large coffee roasting factories will blend before roasting. For more information, see section 4 below, or read our article on coffee blending and coffee blends.


Region - Where in the world?

As you walk into a coffee market, you are confronted with numerous varieties and styles of coffee. Varieties include Kenyan, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Java and Ethiopian Mocha - just to name a few.

After species, the second biggest flavor determining factor of coffee is its region of origin. The altitude, soil type, climate and methods of harvesting for a particular region result in common flavors across coffee beans from that region. The easiest way to categorize the coffee regions is to divide them into these three locales: Asia-Indonesia-Pacific, Africa/Arabia and Central-and-South-America. Within these three locales, many different coffee beans are harvested. Otherwise, as a brief guide, the tables below will serve you well:

Region 1 - Latin America
Area	Central and South America, Caribbean, Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico
Acidity	medium to high
Body	light
Flavor	well-balanced, sweet, intense, tangy
Recommended Roast	Mild to medium - to preserve the brightness of the bean without introducing bitterness
Accompaniment	Breakfast, toast, muffins

Region 2 - Africa/Arabia
Area	African continent, middle-east, Arabia
Acidity	medium
Body	medium, syrupy
Flavor	spicy, wine-like, cocoa, citrus fruits and berries, wild
Recommended Roast	Dark
Accompaniment	Milk chocolate, cheesecake

Region 3 - Asia-Indo-Pacific
Area	Asia, Indonesia and surrounding pacific islands
Acidity	low
Body	bold, strong, heavy
Flavor	powerful, robust, earthy, smooth, flowery, robust, hearty, bitter tones
Recommended Roast	Dark to Very Dark
Accompaniment	Dark Chocolate, Rich desserts, Caramel

If you want to buy coffee online, Peet's Coffee and Tea has a section that allows you to select coffee by region before ordering. Peet's delivers fresh coffee that is roasted to order.


To read more:
http://www.coffee-makers-cafe.com/coffee-beans.html#beansByRegion

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I couldn't find percentages but here are some recipes for coffee related drinks:
  
Espresso

 Traditionally this is a single 1oz shot of coffee made with 7g of finely ground coffee extracted at between 18 and 25 seconds. The espresso shot forms the basic ingredient for many of our well known coffee recipes and a few less well known! Here is a small selection for you to try:

• Americano (american) - An espresso shot diluted to taste with hot water.
• Romano (roman) - Espresso shot served with a twist of lemon.
• Corretto (correct, proper) - Espresso shot with grappa.
• Doppio (double) - A double shot of espresso.
• Lungo (long) – An espresso which is made by extracting about 1.5oz of water through 7g of coffee. The texture is thinner but it contains a greater amount of caffeine.
• Ristretto (restricted) - A more concentrated espresso, normally of only about 0.75oz, made by restricting the extraction time. This maximises the flavour of the coffee and minimises the caffeine.
• Macchiato (marked, spotted) - A shot or two of espresso with just a spot of frothed milk on top.
• Iced Espresso - A double shot of espresso over crushed ice.

Cappuccino

A standard cappuccino is one part espresso with about three parts of frothed milk.

Cafe Latte

Much milkier than a cappuccino. One part espresso with at least five parts steamed (hot) milk and only a small amount of froth on top.

Cafe Latte Fredo

Espresso mixed with cold milk in the same proportions as a Cafe Latte shaken vigorously with ice in a cocktail shaker.

Cafe Mocha

One part espresso with one part chocolate syrup and two or three parts of frothed milk, optionally topped with whipped cream.

Espresso con Panna

One shot of espresso topped with a small amount of whipped cream.

Espresso Granita

One shot of espresso mixed with a teaspoon of soft brown sugar and a splash of brandy, frozen, then crushed and served in a parfait glass with whipped cream.

For more details:
http://www.anothercoffee.co.uk/coffeeinfo/recipes.aspx