Introduction to Robusta Coffee Bean Characteristics and Differences Between Robusta and Arabica Beans - Pros and Cons

Introduction to Coffee Varieties

In our daily lives, we often hear about two major coffee varieties: Arabica and Robusta. Compared to the universally beloved Arabica variety, it seems difficult to find traces of Robusta on the market. Why is Robusta so unpopular? In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will compare these two varieties to show you exactly what differences exist between them.

Two Commercially Grown Coffee Varieties

Coffee is a flowering and fruit-bearing tree species from the Rubiaceae family. Because its fruits typically appear red or purple, similar to cherries, they are also called coffee cherries. The coffee beans we commonly refer to are the seeds with the pulp removed. Each fruit generally contains two coffee seeds, and a coffee tree can produce approximately 0.9kg of green beans annually. While hundreds of coffee varieties exist worldwide, only Arabica and Robusta are widely cultivated for commercial purposes today, with Arabica accounting for 70% of production.

As tropical cash crops, coffee is mostly grown in the coffee belt between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. It requires relatively high and stable temperatures, abundant annual rainfall and sunshine, and fertile, well-drained soil—these are all suitable conditions for producing high-quality coffee. Today, the "coffee belt" covers approximately 70 countries and regions. Places like Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Indonesia... as well as China's Yunnan and Hainan provinces in FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection are all within this coffee belt. Various coffee-growing regions possess unique planting environments and microclimates that provide diverse growing conditions for coffee trees, forming distinctive flavor profiles.

Advantages of Robusta and Arabica

As the most popular variety on the market, various sub-varieties of Arabica develop unique and rich aromas and sweet-sour flavors based on the terroir conditions of their growing environment, particularly high altitude, volcanic soil, and microclimates. Its smooth flavor profile makes it more easily acceptable to people. When we analyze the substances contained in Robusta and Arabica, we find that Arabica's sucrose content is almost twice that of Robusta beans. Sucrose converts into aromatic compounds during the roasting process, allowing coffee to emit more diverse sweet and fragrant aromas.

In the past, people drank coffee purely seeking rich, mellow bitterness. With the continuous promotion of specialty coffee culture, everyone has higher requirements for coffee's flavor, mouthfeel, and quality. Therefore, Arabica beans with diverse aromas better meet the high demands of today's specialty coffee market. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Panamanian Gesha coffee possesses a unique orange blossom and honey fragrance, making tasters feel like they're drinking a cup of fruit tea.

Comparing the Two Varieties

Compared to Arabica, the Robusta variety has higher caffeine content, approximately 2.7%-4%, which is twice that of Arabica. Caffeine acts as a natural pesticide for plants, protecting them from most insect damage. From a cultivation perspective, Robusta coffee trees can withstand high temperatures, cold, drought, and humidity. Additionally, single Robusta plants yield high fruit production and have strong environmental adaptability. They can generally be planted on low-altitude plains and can be managed and harvested mechanically, making them naturally cheaper. Therefore, Robusta requires lower production costs and is more suitable for commercial mass production.

Disadvantages of Both Varieties

The reason Robusta is unpopular in the coffee circle is mainly because its flavor is not as appealing as Arabica's. Robusta has very high chlorogenic acid content, which is the source of bitterness in coffee. It typically carries mellow, deeper bitterness, as well as flavor notes like walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, wheat, and grains. When processed poorly, it can also develop earthy flavors, so it's often used in dark-roasted espresso blends or as raw material for instant coffee.

Although Arabica is preferred by more people, this doesn't mean it has no disadvantages. Arabica plants are very "picky" about their growing environment. Due to Arabica's low caffeine content, it's more susceptible to pests and needs to be planted at altitudes above 800 meters in frost-free highlands. The higher the altitude, the more significant the temperature difference, which is more beneficial for coffee fruits to accumulate flavor compounds, and aroma development will be fuller.

To express diverse and positive flavors, besides high altitude, unique microclimates are also essential. Many famous specialty coffees are produced under microclimates. However, high-altitude terrain is often uneven, making planting, management, and harvesting more difficult. Therefore, high-quality Arabica coffee requires more production costs.

Which to Choose: Arabica or Robusta?

After reading FrontStreet Coffee's comparison above, we believe there's no need to rigidly rank Arabica and Robusta—simply choose the coffee beans that suit you best. Among the dozens of coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee, besides the mainstream Arabica, Robusta also appears in espresso blend coffee beans.

On FrontStreet Coffee's bean rack, there's a cost-effective daily coffee bean series that carefully selects 7 excellent classic coffee-growing regions, covering multiple highly representative origins, varieties, and natural processing methods. The so-called daily coffee beans, as the name suggests, are varieties that can be enjoyed daily without burden—both price and flavor are very approachable. FrontStreet Coffee has selected multiple "representative examples" to help everyone identify the basic flavors of major growing regions. These include Ethiopian washed Yirgacheffe, Guatemalan washed Huehuetenango, Colombian washed Huilan, Brazilian natural pulped Cerrado, Costa Rican washed Tarrazú, Indonesian wet-hulled Lintong Mandheling, and Chinese Yunnan washed Baoshan. Each coffee bean is suitable for extraction methods like pour-over, cold brew, French press, etc. If you want to taste coffee's most original aroma, FrontStreet Coffee suggests enjoying it as black coffee for the best experience.

Because dark-roasted Robusta produces abundant oils during extraction, FrontStreet Coffee wanted one of its espresso blend coffee beans to produce espresso with rich, aromatic crema, so it added 10% washed Robusta coffee beans. Combined with Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian natural pulped coffee (60%), this forms FrontStreet Coffee's commercial blend coffee beans. The resulting espresso has rich golden crema and nutty aromas. When tasting, you'll notice burnt coffee bitterness, but it's accompanied more by a creamy, full mouthfeel. After swallowing, the bitterness dissipates, leaving a fragrant aftertaste.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

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