What Are the Differences in Taste and Flavor Between Arabica and Robusta Coffee Beans? Which Type Do Coffee Experts Typically Drink?

If you're familiar with coffee, you probably know that coffee can be roughly divided into two types: Arabica coffee and Robusta coffee. Most of the coffee we encounter in cafes is Arabica. But why is Arabica coffee so favored? What exactly are the differences between Arabica and Robusta coffee?

Better Flavor of Arabica

As the two most common varieties on the market, Arabica belongs to the small-seeded species, while Robusta belongs to the medium-seeded species.

Robusta originates from the Congo in Africa and accounts for 30% of the world's coffee production. The name "Robusta" means "tough," and indeed, this coffee tree not only has strong resistance to pests and diseases but can also survive in any soil and even grow in wild conditions. Therefore, it can be cultivated in high-temperature regions, grows quickly, and is easy to cultivate, giving it the advantage of low price. It has a strong bitter taste and rich extracted oils, mainly used in blend formulations or as the main raw material for instant coffee.

Arabica is a representative variety originating from Ethiopia, accounting for 70-75% of the world's coffee production. Arabica cultivation requires very strict conditions and high soil requirements. Arabica needs to grow at altitudes of 800-2200 meters in frost-free highlands. The higher the altitude, the more significant the temperature difference, which slows down the maturation of coffee cherries and allows for better accumulation of flavor compounds, developing more full-bodied aromas. The microclimates in various coffee-growing regions provide diverse growing conditions for Arabica, creating unique flavor profiles.

Higher Caffeine Content in Robusta

Arabica has lower caffeine content, about 0.9% to 1.2%; its fat content is 60% higher than Robusta; and its sugar content is twice as high. Therefore, Arabica tastes relatively sweet and gentle, with a slight fruit acidity. The bitterness we taste when drinking coffee mainly comes from chlorogenic acid in the coffee. Compared to Arabica, Robusta has higher caffeine, amino acid, and chlorogenic acid content. Therefore, Robusta naturally lacks the ethereal aromatic fragrance unique to Arabica beans, replaced instead by a richer, deeper mouthfeel and flavors like walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, wheat, grains, and even pungent earthy notes.

Besides being an antioxidant, chlorogenic acid is also an important component for resisting pests, so Robusta grown at low altitudes can avoid damage from most insects. To express diverse flavors, Arabica needs to be planted in suitable environments at higher altitudes. The higher the altitude, the more susceptible coffee is to pests and climate impacts. Generally planted at higher altitudes, it yields fewer fruits and matures more slowly. High-quality Arabica coffee requires more manual management and harvesting, resulting in higher production costs.

Why Are Arabica Coffee Beans More Popular?

FrontStreet Coffee has also summarized many Arabica varieties, each with its own unique flavor profile, featuring pleasant acidity and aroma. Many of the single-origin pour-over coffees on FrontStreet Coffee's menu belong to the Arabica variety, showing that compared to Robusta, people prefer the pure flavors of Arabica.

Compared to the strong-tasting Robusta beans, Arabica has lower caffeine content and twice the sugar content of Robusta, making Arabica coffee taste smoother, sweeter, with rich layers of acidic fragrance. With the continuous promotion of specialty coffee culture, people have increasingly higher requirements for coffee's taste, mouthfeel, and quality, so only high-quality Arabica beans better meet the current specialty coffee market. However, FrontStreet Coffee wants to clarify that although Robusta has lower acceptance, there are also high-quality batches. For example, India's "Kaapi Royale" Robusta coffee beans, cultivated with meticulous planting and management, present a rich mouthfeel and clear cleanliness.

Arabica Coffee Recommendations

As a major category, Arabica can be divided into nearly 3,000 varieties, all derived from Ethiopia's oldest native varieties, Typica and Bourbon, after being planted in South America or Asia. As an agricultural product, coffee flavor is always closely related to factors such as variety, climate, altitude, soil, and management, representing a natural and true expression of the variety and local terroir. Here, FrontStreet Coffee selects several representative varieties to help you understand Arabica~

Jamaica's Typica

The oldest native variety from Ethiopia, discovered around the 15th to 16th centuries. Typica characteristics include taller coffee trees with bronze-colored top leaves, and coffee beans that are larger, longer, and pointed at both ends, somewhat like eggs. Typica coffee often has citrus acidity with a sweet aftertaste, praised by many as an elegant and clean coffee bean. Unfortunately, due to its low yield and poor resistance to leaf rust disease, it has gradually been replaced by farmers with other more robust varieties.

Typica was introduced to this country by Sir Nicholas Lawes in the 18th century and soon spread to the Blue Mountains for cultivation, with a history of over two hundred years. The Blue Mountain Typica has also adapted to the local island tropical rainforest climate, evolving stronger disease resistance, particularly much stronger resistance to coffee berry disease than typical Typica. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the exquisite clean flavor of Blue Mountain is inseparable from Jamaica's insistence on careful cultivation of the Typica variety, allowing Typica to integrate into the local terroir, and the excellent terroir and unique microclimate of the Blue Mountains also deserve credit. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting to maximally present the coffee's chocolate and nutty aromas while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, making the overall mouthfeel balanced.

Panama's Geisha

Friends who often drink pour-over coffee must have heard of Panama's Geisha coffee, which has become one of the symbols of contemporary specialty coffee due to its stunning aroma. The Geisha variety is derived from Typica and also originates from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.

Geisha is very picky about its growing environment, requiring high altitude, fertile soil, clouds or plant shade, and cannot be directly exposed to strong sunlight. The owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda mentioned that the estate needs many shade trees to protect the delicate Geisha from sunlight, and traditional pruning methods must be used during the initial planting period, otherwise the plants easily die. Geisha planted at higher altitudes has longer maturation times for coffee cherries, with more complex and unique flavor expressions. Unlike other coffee varieties, the leaf system of Geisha coffee trees is very thin, meaning photosynthesis efficiency is low, and the root system is fragile, with slow absorption of water and nutrients, resulting in very low coffee yields. Combined with the high-altitude growing environment, fruit maturation is also relatively late.

Currently, Geisha is grown in many regions worldwide and is the new king of specialty coffee, with higher quality in Latin American countries such as Panama, Guatemala, and Colombia. Panama Geisha is particularly outstanding among specialty coffees. When it comes to Geisha coffee, the most popular on FrontStreet Coffee's menu is naturally the renowned Geisha coffee produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda, which is divided into Red Label Geisha, Green Label Geisha, and Volcanic Geisha based on different characteristics. High-quality Geisha coffee has a striking fragrance of rose flowers, citrus, berries, and honey, loved by many coffee enthusiasts.

Brazil's Red Bourbon

Bourbon originated from a natural mutation of Typica, with the bean shape changing from slender and pointed to round. It was first discovered on Bourbon Island (Réunion) on the east coast of Africa. In 1715, after France transplanted round beans from Mocha, Yemen to Bourbon Island on the east coast of Africa (renamed Réunion after the French Revolution), it was named Bourbon. Bourbon round beans were introduced to Brazil for cultivation in 1727.

Although the yield is not high, compared to the relatively weak Typica variety, Bourbon has better resistance to leaf rust disease. Bourbon coffee grown at high altitudes has rich and delicate flavors, strong aroma, and gentle acidity. Generally, the Bourbon cherries we see change from green to light yellow, orange-yellow, red, and finally to fully ripe dark red, which is what we refer to as Red Bourbon.

Most Brazilian coffee has low acidity, combined with the rich aroma of coffee, making it extremely smooth to drink, with a pleasant aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee has selected a pulped natural Red Bourbon coffee as Brazil's representative, with coffee flavors featuring distinct nuts and chocolate, moderate caramel sweetness, and a smooth, balanced mouthfeel. FrontStreet Coffee has added it to the daily bean series. FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans are the representatives of each major producing region, presenting the basic flavors of the region. Coffee beginners can understand the basic flavors of each region, then choose to explore different types of regions according to their preferences.

Colombia's Caturra

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. The tree shape is relatively short, with low disease resistance, but due to intensive planting capability and higher fruit-bearing rates, its yield is higher than varieties like Bourbon, and it is widely planted in Central American countries. In terms of flavor, Caturra has bright acidity, with a mouthfeel full of fruit flavors, presenting chocolate and nutty sweetness after medium-dark roasting, making it a frequent champion in many coffee competitions.

Many coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's menu contain the Caturra variety. If you want to understand the flavor characteristics of this variety, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Colombia daily beans, which are selected from washed Caturra varieties with extremely high cleanliness. FrontStreet Coffee hopes to highlight the classic Colombian coffee flavor, using medium-dark roasting to present aromas of nuts, dark chocolate, and caramel.

Ethiopia Heirloom Varieties

Friends who often drink Ethiopian coffee may have noticed that the variety of Ethiopian beans is always listed as local heirloom or Heirloom. In the dictionary, Heirloom refers to "valuable property passed down through generations," meaning that for Ethiopians, coffee is an irreplaceable "treasure."

This is because in Ethiopia's original forests, there are numerous coffee varieties with countless genetic types, making identification very difficult. Additionally, the local government hopes to protect these varieties from public disclosure, so "Heirloom" is used to collectively refer to these coffee categories. Yirgacheffe coffee varieties are local heirlooms, with small beans of varying sizes and shapes, mostly rounded and between 14-15 mesh. Many of FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian coffees belong to heirloom varieties, such as Yirgacheffe Gudina Cooperative, Natural Red Cherry, and Sidamo Guji, often showing elegant floral and fruit flavors in cupping.

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