What the Heck is an Arabica, Anyway?
It’s every where. Every coffee bag,
every K-Cup, every coffee pot at 7-11, even the low-rate, dollar store, proclaim
their product contains 100% arabica. But, do you know what arabica is? What it
means? If you don’t, don’t feel alone. Arabica is a well-worn
and over emphasized word; it’s a noun, it’s an adjective. I dread the day it becomes
a verb.
Don’t get me wrong. Arabica beans
produce some of the most amazing coffee flavors; blueberry, strawberry, honey,
coco, and a vast array of other wonderful flavors. The Specialty Coffee
Association has even published a flavor wheel to help us describe what we
taste. You can view and download a high res copy from Counter Culture
Coffee here.
So, why, you ask, am I showing you
this flavor wheel? I want to highlight the multitude of flavors that
can be tweezed out of arabica. But, that’s not the only reason. I want
to also discuss the “other” bean. The lowly robusta and when and how it can be
part of an amazing coffee experience and why, when it comes to robusta, this flavor
wheel is useless.
Arabica
So, let’s talk about
arabica. In the homeland, the mother ship of coffee, otherwise known
as Ethiopia, Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than 100 varieties of coffee
trees. Of these, two are used in the coffee industry; arabica and robusta.
Arabica brings crazy,
wild, fruity or sweet or earthy or floral flavors to the cup. It's the
chocolate flavors and the hazelnut. We love arabica. It grows slow. It's
particular about the altitude, the amount of rain, the bugs, yes, the bugs and
diseases that can attack it and ruin the crop.
Globally, arabica makes
up roughly 60% of all coffee sales whereas in the USA, about 95% of all coffee
sold is arabica, - with good reason, the flavors are delicious! (See flavor
wheel). It’s the coffee grown in Colombia by Juan Valdez, it’s Brazilian and Nicaraguan.
It’s the world first blend, moka-java. It’s what you think of when you think of
coffee.
Robusta
But then there is this other
bean, the lowly robusta, coffee of the masses, the real people’s bean. It’s
drunk by the rest of the world. It’s grown in Africa, India and Vietnam. It grows bigger and faster than its delicate
cousin and is much more resistant to insects, due to a greater caffeine level,
all allowing for bigger harvests. It’s treated poorly in most cases, but when
grown with care and well roasted, can bring a great cup to you and me.
Traditionally, robusta has
been used in sub-standard drip and instant coffees. Originally, the plant’s ability to produce
more beans, faster, made it advantageous for coffee producers to use the less
expensive robusta to supplement expensive arabica. However, this led to poor handling and
processing practices, like not sorting and improper washing. Thus, the reputation became the normal. But, in a world that now looks for more
environmentally friendly solutions with more options, a buyers and roasters
developed a revived interest in the lowly bean with a bad rep.
With distinct flavors,
higher caffeine and lower prices, robusta, though still hard to find, is making
its way into the US coffee market. At
Burr, we procure a high-quality bean, Kaapi Royale out of India, that treats
robusta as a specialty bean, and preserves those unique and palate stimulating
flavors we seek.
Robusta, in its highest
form, tastes earthy and grainy up front and finishes with oaky flavors in the
back of the throat and a distinct peanut as it follows down the throat,
lingering longer than you’d expect. It balances well with fruity, naturally processed
beans and is also the body and mouthfeel in espresso. The slightly bitter tinge of caffeine is noticeable
and you’ll notice there is “something” different about a robusta blended
coffee.
In the future, I’ll
write more on a comparison of caffeine levels in arabica vs robusta, but that’s
for another day. Until then, check out our information pages that can help you enjoy
your coffee time.
If you want to know more
about robusta, check out these links:
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