Hello there, coffee lovers!
Welcome to this new installment of our Monthly Coffee Appreciation Post. A few weeks ago, we embarked on a short trip through space and time to investigate the origins of our favourite beverage. We’ll eventually unveil its history up to the present day, but today we are going to talk about the most common varieties of coffee beans around the world.
ARABICA
Let’s begin with an easy one — the “arabica” (coffea arabica). We bet you’ve heard the name a thousand times since it’s one of the two primary coffee varieties grown on Earth. It is believed to be discovered in Ethiopia and then brought to Yemen for widespread farming, trade, and consumption by humans.
To be cultivated in the best conditions, this coffee species must grow at high altitudes in well-shaded areas where rainfalls are common. The need for such specific conditions, together with its delicacy in face of adverse weather conditions makes it difficult and expensive to grow, so its beans are usually very expensive. But you know the fun part? Almost 60% of the worldwide production of coffee is arabica!
Despite its name, this variety is no longer limited to East Africa and Arabia. Now you can find the arabica beans in other areas characterised by a tropical climate. These ones are always close to the equator. I.e.: Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Java… If you want to learn more about the production by country of origin, we invite you to check this index out.
ROBUSTA
This is another powerful name among the most common varieties of coffee beans in the world since 30% or 40% of the world’s coffee beans production comes from coffea canephora. It was discovered in Uganda, where it was said to be a fundamental part of the Kwanjula marriage ceremony, where the bride’s father must serve dried beans in the hands of the groom for him to chew the fruits as a sign of acceptance.
Once again the colonisation process led by the Netherlands takes the centre stage: they learned about these exceptional seeds and exported them from Africa to Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon), and Java. They also can be found in countries like Vietnam, Brazil, Germany, Italy, and the US nowadays.
The robusta seeds could be farmed in lower heights and very humid places, and they’re very resistant to adverse weather conditions, which makes them easier to produce than arabica. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a low-quality coffee! If we attend to its caffeine content, which is the substance that activates us every morning, robusta beans are clearly superior. As arabica beans contain between 1.1% to 1.5% caffeine in their composition, robusta almost doubles these percentages to between 2% to 2.5%.
In terms of flavour, arabica offers a light, fruity taste that makes it more enjoyable to drink than a 100% robusta coffee, which flavour is less complex and harsh. That’s why you’ll usually find many varieties of arabica than varieties of robusta in the market.
We’re impatient to tell you about the less known varieties and how the bean varieties are mixed to create new flavours, but that will have to wait a bit more! For now, it would make us happy to know that you enjoyed this content, and which topics you expect us to cover in the future. Remember we have a Discord server for Coffee Shop Tycoon community members to chit-chat about our favourite drink, how to play the game and any other related topics that might be of our common interest.
The next cup of hot coffee is on us, have a great weekend!
Riff Studios