It’s fair to say that most of us tend to look at source of origin or roasting profiles rather than the type of bean when we are determining what coffee to buy. This is a reasonable stance to take because the majority of coffee drunk across the world (including Australia) comes from just two plants—arabica and robusta. Thus, there is a 50% chance that your favourite bean is either one of these, or a blend of the two of them. This doesn’t mean that the bean is not important, as they do have different flavour profiles. So, let’s take a look at the two of them and why one may be preferable to the other.
Arabica
Arabica coffee beans are the most popular coffee beans in the world. The beans come in many varieties, but the best for making coffee are Arabica Costa Rica, Brazilian Santos and Colombian Supremo, which have a sweet, full-bodied flavour. The arabica bean is the most commonly produced coffee bean, grown in tropical regions around the world, and making up over 60% of all coffee produced worldwide.
Arabica beans are very fussy about the conditions they are grown in. The two main factors that determine how good the Arabica bean crop is, is how much rain there was during the last rainy season and how much rain there was during the growing season. If either of these things don’t go just right, you will get a subpar crop.
Arabica coffee plants found in different growing regions around the world, including South and Central America, Africa and Asia. They tend to grow in rainforests and mountains and are found in some of the remotest remote areas on Earth. Their accessibility has much to do with how expensive the coffee beans as the higher up the mountain a plant is growing, the more labour-intensive it is to harvest its beans. Inevitably, this pushes the price up.
Robusta
Robusta coffee is the second most widely used coffee bean in the world, after Arabica. It is also often referred to as “coffee robusta”, “robusto”, and “cafe robusta”.
Robusta coffee comes from the Rubusta plant, which is mainly grown in Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil and West Africa. While native to the tropical regions of Africa and Asia it was introduced to Latin America and the Caribbean in the late 19th century. The robusta tree is easier to grow than arabica, taking 2-3 years compared to 7 years that arabica takes before beans can be plucked.
Coffee plants are susceptible to infestation by insects and pathogens, which can significantly reduce yields. Robusta has high levels of caffeine and is also more resistant to disease than the arabica plant as caffeine is a natural insect repellent. The beans it produces have a strong, sometimes harsh flavour profile.
Coffee borer beetles, nematodes and fungi are some of the main problems that damage coffee crops worldwide. While arabica trees are a higher quality (and thus produce a higher price at market) they are also more susceptible to disease than robusta. The robusta tree is often interplanted with Arabica plants to get the best price for both varieties of beans.
Other Coffee Beans
Although arabica and robusta beans dominate the coffee market, they are not the only species of coffee.
Liberica
Liberica coffee is one of the rarest types of coffees, originating from Liberia in West Africa. It produces larger beans compared to arabica plants and has a full-bodied taste. It is hardier than arabica and is resistant to disease and pests. It is also adaptable to hot climates and can grow at low altitudes. However, the plant does require specific growing conditions which means that it is unsuitable for growers to be able to scale up for a global market.
Toward the end of the 19th century, Liberica coffee was popular when a disease almost wiped out the arabica plant across the world. In search of a substitute, the Philippines started to grow and harvest the Liberica plant at larger volumes and became one of the top coffee producing nations in the world. Eventually, coffee rust—the disease decimating the arabica plant around the world—reached the Philippines and the country’s coffee production levels never recovered.
Liberica is available, nonetheless. But it is considered a specialty coffee as there are only a few producers who grow it commercially. Therefore, it is likely to be two or three times the price of arabica coffee beans if you are lucky enough to get hold of it.
Excelsa
Technically a member of the Liberica family, Excelsa accounts for a tiny proportion of the planet’s coffee production. It is grown mainly in Southeast Asia, producing a unique flavour profile that is much in demand by coffee enthusiasts.
The Bottom Line
According to Kew Royal Botanic Gardens there are 124 species growing wild in Africa, Madagascar, Asia and Australia—60% of which are on the threatened species list due to climate change, deforestation, disease and the spread of pests. Interestingly, coffee arabica is also classified as an endangered species, which is something of a concern when 60% of the coffee produced in the world comes from this variety of bean.
It’s certainly surprising that with over a hundred different coffee cultivars in the world that only two are used to produce the overwhelming majority of our coffee drinks. However, given that the overall demand for coffee has increased over time, it is up to us as coffee lovers to be aware of the concerns about sustainability. We all need do our bit to support ethical, environmental and sustainability initiatives to ensure our daily coffee fix will still be around for us to enjoy long into the future. Would like to thanks GDS for their inputs on the reasearch.
