How to Choose Arabica Coffee Beans? What Are the Characteristics of Arabica Coffee Beans

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

The World of Coffee Culture

"Coffee culture" fills every moment of life. Whether at home, in the office, or various social occasions, people are savoring coffee—it gradually becomes associated with fashion and modern life. Coffee beans, depending on the coffee tree species, are often mainly divided into two major categories: Arabica and Robusta.

Arabica Coffee Beans

Currently, high-quality coffees with greater public acceptance mostly come from the Arabica bean variety, accounting for approximately 70% of the world's coffee production. Its flavor is rich and delicate, with a fragrant aroma, higher acidity, and a smooth texture that rarely has a bitter taste. However, its caffeine content only accounts for about 1% of its total weight. Arabica primarily grows in high-altitude areas, grows relatively slowly, and is extremely susceptible to pests and diseases.

Robusta

The term "Robusta" literally means "resilient," and as the name suggests, its requirements for growing environment are not demanding, while its yield is twice that of Arabica trees. It also has relatively strong resistance to pests and diseases. Because Robusta's chlorogenic acid and trigonelline—sources of bitterness in coffee—and caffeine content are relatively high, it has a naturally bitter taste, strong acidity, and a rich texture. Therefore, in commercial applications, it is rarely consumed alone and often serves as the main ingredient for instant coffee or is used in blended beans for espresso coffee.

Then you might ask, what about the coffee I purchased that says Yirgacheffe—what kind of coffee is that? In fact, most of the finished coffee products we purchase belong to the Arabica coffee bean category. However, due to different origins under this bean variety, different coffee flavors emerge, and thus names like Guatemala and Yirgacheffe appear based on their respective place names and characteristics.

Yirgacheffe

Yirgacheffe is a representative of African Ethiopian beans. Yirgacheffe was originally the name of a small town, named because of its abundant production of this coffee bean. The representative flavor of Yirgacheffe refers to rich jasmine floral fragrance, lemon, as well as peach and almond sweet aromas and tea fragrance. Someone who has tasted Yirgacheffe commented: "As the coffee enters the mouth, a hundred flowers bloom! It's like the pleasant sensation of flowers touching the taste buds and nasal olfactory cells. Besides the floral notes, the delicate body is like silk massaging in the mouth, with a wonderful touch." This description is perfectly fitting!

Mandheling

Mandheling is produced in Sumatra, Asian Indonesia, also known as "Sumatra coffee." Mandheling coffee is considered one of the mellowest coffees in the world. When tasting Mandheling, you can feel obvious smoothness on your tongue. It also has lower acidity, but this acidity can still be clearly tasted—the jumping micro-acidity mixed with the richest aroma allows you to easily experience the lively factors within the gentle richness. Additionally, this coffee has a faint earthy aroma, which some describe as the fragrance of herbal plants. Its bitterness penetrates the throat, with a strong aroma that is unpretentious and natural. The aftertaste has syrup and astringency, very direct.

After introducing so much, everyone should have a preliminary understanding of coffee—however! Arabica species do not necessarily equal good coffee, and Robusta species are not absolutely cheap coffee! The quality of coffee beans cannot be judged solely by bean variety and price. So... to ask timidly: what's with "100% Arabica"? Are you proud of drinking like that?

Recommended Arabica Coffee Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Arabica coffee beans have full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost-effectiveness. Each pack is 227 grams, priced at only around 70-90 yuan. Calculating based on 15 grams of coffee beans per cup, one pack can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 5-6 yuan. Compared to cafés selling cups for hundreds of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473