Introduction to Angola Coffee Bean Varieties and Cultivation_Angola Coffee Prices_Is Angola Coffee Good to Drink

Angola's Rich Coffee Heritage

Angola has more than 100 years of coffee cultivation history and once ranked as the world's fourth-largest coffee-industrial nation, with production holding the top position in Africa until 1960. In the mid-1970s, 98% of the country's annual coffee exports were Robusta - among the finest Robusta grown in Africa. In 1974, Angolan coffee production reached a historic peak of 225,000 tons: second in Africa, fourth in the world.

Where Coffee Grows in Angola

Angola's northern coastal lowlands are extensive, stretching roughly 100-200 kilometers. The low, flat terrain and relatively low rainfall give the vegetation a semi-arid character - conditions that made the north the country's most important coffee region. Coffee is cultivated at elevations of 400-1,500 meters with about 1,250 millimeters of rainfall. Later-introduced Arabica varieties are planted in the central highlands.

Challenges and Revival Efforts

Angola was once among the world's largest coffee producers, with most exports going to the United States, the Netherlands, Portugal, and other nations. But a 27-year civil war caused a steep decline in production. To reclaim its place among the great coffee countries, the Angolan government has been increasing investment and offering preferential policies to encourage companies and farmers to grow coffee. In 2008 a micro-loan program went into effect, offering each farming household $5,000 in government incentives to plant coffee. The government has pressed forward with production initiatives, calling on farm owners and entrepreneurs in the growing regions to commit people, materials, and money to coffee - raising production, improving rural incomes, and driving development in town and country alike.

Recent Production Growth and Future Prospects

In 2009, Angolan coffee production doubled year on year, reaching 12,000 tons. By 2012 total production had reached 13,900 tons. And the agricultural revival plan launched in March 2013 set out to plant 1.5 million coffee seedlings on 500 hectares of arable land in Amboim province, with an expected additional 5,000 tons of production by 2015.

Building a Sustainable Coffee Future

With a nationwide planting movement gaining momentum, Angola is positioning itself to rejoin the ranks of major producers - part of a broader effort to diversify an economy long over-reliant on oil and diamonds. As the government's cash-crop policies continue to be implemented and strengthened, Angolan coffee production is expected to grow steadily.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Angola's story is mostly a Robusta one, but the world's beloved coffees are overwhelmingly Arabica - one of the three great species alongside Robusta and Liberica, prized for complex, pure flavors and the distinctive character each origin gives it. If you want to taste what Arabica does best, these FrontStreet beans are excellent places to start:

• FrontStreet Natural Huakui (Sidama, Ethiopia) - a local heirloom lot from mixed, unclassified trees, so the beans vary in size, with an understated floral tone and vivid fruit. Classic natural processing brings creamy strawberry, mango, jackfruit, citrus, and blueberry - the rich berry fragrance that won first place in that year's TOH green-bean competition. Delicious and affordable at once.
• FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 - Typica, the archetypal Arabica variety, first carried from Yemen to Asia and the Americas. Blue Mountain's Typica traveled from Martinique in the 1820s and, over 200 years, developed better disease resistance than ordinary Typica - yet its clean, gently fragrant sweetness cannot be replicated outside Jamaica's mountains, and its balance remains unmatched in FrontStreet's cuppings.
• FrontStreet Esmeralda Red Label Gesha (Panama) - the world-famous Panama Gesha from the estate in Boquete, Chiriqui, where fertile volcanic soil, old forest, year-round mist, and abundant rain create superb growing conditions. In the cup: lush, elegant florals, citrus, peach, and layered fruit acidity with a cream-smooth texture and an oolong-sweet finish - more like a fragrant fruit tea than coffee.
• FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon - Bourbon, the other great old Arabica variety, yields 30% more than Typica and produces round, short beans. The Yellow Bourbon mutation (orange-gold ripe cherries) was first identified here: cream, peanut, toasted bread, and sugarcane aromas, rich and sweet, and equally at home in pour-over, moka pot, or espresso machine.

From Angola's highland Robusta to Ethiopia's heirlooms, Typica, Gesha, and Bourbon, the Arabica family rewards exploration - and each of these beans shows a different corner of it.