How to Roast Medium Bean Robusta Coffee Beans? What Coffee Beans Does Starbucks Use?

Those who frequently drink coffee might be familiar with the flavor profiles of coffee from different producing countries, while those with deeper knowledge might understand which coffee bean varieties tend to produce better-tasting coffee. When we first started drinking coffee, we might have heard baristas mention "Typica," "Arabica," or "Robusta," and these terms might have been confusing. What do they actually mean? These are coffee varieties, and the three main coffee varieties are: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica.

Today, FrontStreet Coffee will explore with everyone what makes Robusta coffee beans unique.

Arabica Coffee Varieties

Most people are likely familiar with Arabica varieties, such as Typica, Bourbon, Geisha, and others, all of which belong to the Arabica coffee species. Arabica coffee originates from the Ethiopian highlands. Due to its excellent flavor quality, it is now widely cultivated and accounts for approximately 70% of global coffee production.

Robusta Coffee Varieties

Robusta varieties might be less commonly heard of, with a general understanding that they don't taste as good as Arabica varieties and aren't considered specialty coffee. Robusta coffee varieties are typically used in commercial beans. Strictly speaking, Robusta should be called "Coffea canephora," with Robusta being a widely cultivated subspecies of canephora. Consequently, Robusta has virtually replaced "canephora" as the common name for this species. Robusta originated from the Congo Basin region of West Africa and is widely cultivated due to its low-altitude growth, high yield, and ease of cultivation. Its production accounts for 20%-30% of global coffee output.

Origin of Robusta

Robusta, also known as medium-fruit coffee, originated in the Congo Basin region of West Africa. From a strict botanical classification perspective, it should be called "Coffea canephora" (Congo species) to correspond with "Coffea arabica" at the same taxonomic level. The reason it has been somewhat overlooked is that other canephora varieties have not been domesticated or commercially cultivated, remaining in their original wild state. The main producers of Robusta beans are Indonesia, Vietnam, and West African countries centered around Algeria and Angola.

Indonesian islands all produce coffee. In the mid-17th century, coffee trees were introduced to Indonesia by the Dutch. In 1712, the first batch of coffee from Java was sold to Amsterdam. In 1877, all coffee plantation trees were destroyed by coffee leaf rust disease, forcing the introduction of Robusta coffee trees from Africa to replace the original varieties. Indonesia is one of the world's main producers of Robusta coffee.

Vietnamese coffee is predominantly Robusta, with perhaps a small amount of Arabica cultivation, and Vietnamese coffee is also an essential component in many commercial coffee blends. Among FrontStreet Coffee's beans, there is one variety from Vietnam's Robusta beans, used for FrontStreet Coffee's commercial blends.

Robusta beans are generally used for instant coffee, canned coffee, liquid coffee, and other industrial coffee production. The extracted coffee liquid from Robusta is approximately twice that of Arabica varieties, and its caffeine content is much higher than Arabica.

Arabica Variety Characteristics

Arabica varieties are very sensitive to their growing environment, therefore suitable growing regions are primarily located in the coffee belt between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, featuring high mountain terrain.

Arabica requires an altitude of 800-2000 meters, with higher altitudes generally producing better coffee quality. Arabica is currently the most widely distributed coffee variety, grown in Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. Countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil are all famous Arabica coffee-producing nations. This is what we typically call specialty coffee - the variety is Arabica, and only Arabica variety coffee can be considered specialty coffee.

Due to Robusta's strong environmental adaptability, it can grow vigorously in plains or low-altitude areas. Robusta has a higher chlorogenic acid content, approximately 7% to 10%, making it less susceptible to pests and climate influences. It is generally cultivated at lower altitudes, producing abundant fruit quickly.

Appearance of Robusta Coffee Beans

Robusta coffee trees produce one bean per fruit. Robusta beans are relatively round and C-shaped; the center line appears as a "1" shape, and the raw bean color is yellowish-brown.

Advantages of Robusta

Growing Conditions

The global coffee growing belt lies between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, and Robusta is no exception. However, Robusta's growing conditions are not as demanding as Arabica varieties. Robusta can grow at lower altitudes and higher temperatures. It grows faster than Arabica and has higher tolerance to extreme weather conditions. Robusta is widely cultivated in countries like Vietnam, Brazil, and India. Hainan in China also cultivates Robusta.

Pest Resistance

Robusta's caffeine content ranges from 2.7%-4%, double that of Arabica. Caffeine acts as a natural pesticide for plants, protecting them from most insect damage.

Disease Resistance

As most of us know, Arabica varieties have 44 chromosomes, while Robusta has 22 chromosomes. Generally, more chromosomes mean higher genetic complexity and advancement, but Arabica is self-pollinating while Robusta is cross-pollinating. Pollination involves the genetic aspect.

Typically, cross-pollination produces superior plant quality - offspring from cross-pollination inherit genetic traits from both parent plants, potentially generating new characteristics that help them survive in changing environments. Therefore, self-pollinating Arabica is quite vulnerable, with genes becoming increasingly uniform through continuous breeding (without foreign gene involvement). Consequently, if certain diseases (such as leaf rust) emerge, they could potentially wipe out coffee plants with identical genes. Robusta's strength lies in its ability to continuously adapt to environmental changes through genetic modification.

Disadvantages of Robusta

Flavor Profile

Compared to Arabica, Robusta has higher caffeine, amino acid, and chlorogenic acid content. Chlorogenic acid is the source of bitterness, so Robusta naturally lacks the elegant aromatic qualities unique to Arabica beans. Instead, it offers a richer, deeper mouthfeel, with flavors of walnut, peanut, hazelnut, wheat, grains, and sometimes even pungent earthy notes. Due to its inferior flavor profile, Robusta is often rejected by the specialty coffee community and is typically used for blending with Arabica or in instant coffee production.

Compared to Arabica, Robusta has higher caffeine, amino acid, and chlorogenic acid content. Since chlorogenic acid is the source of bitterness, Robusta naturally lacks the elegant aromatic qualities unique to Arabica beans. Instead, it offers a richer, deeper mouthfeel with more abundant coffee oils, and flavors of walnut, peanut, hazelnut, wheat, grains, and sometimes even pungent earthy notes. Thanks to Robusta's abundant caffeine content, it is commonly used as a raw material for instant coffee. Robusta has high caffeine content of approximately 2%-3%, rich coffee oils, and high body density. Some espresso blends also moderately add Robusta coffee beans to achieve rich, heavy coffee crema.

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