Explanation of Arabica Flavor Characteristics | What is Arabica Variety | Characteristics of Arabica Coffee Beans

Major Coffee Varieties

The world's coffee beans are mainly divided into three major varieties: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. The most common are Arabica (elegant flavor, the backbone of specialty coffee) and Robusta (also known as strong bean, rough flavor, high caffeine content, not considered specialty coffee).

Most specialty coffees are Arabica varieties, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, Gesha Coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Natural Typica Coffee. Arabica varieties offer good flavor, texture, and high sweetness, making them the favorite among coffee enthusiasts. Arabica beans are one of the three major coffee species, accounting for 70% of the coffee consumption market, making them one of the most widely consumed coffee beans globally, while Robusta and others account for 30%.

The Arabica species was the first discovered coffee variety. Although the name "Coffee Arabica" originated from Arabia, it comes from coffee's birthplace - Ethiopia, and is considered the best quality among coffee bean varieties. It is currently the world's primary coffee bean variety, produced in Central and South American countries, Africa, Asia, and other regions. After discovering coffee, Ethiopians would chew coffee leaves to refresh themselves, and the fruit was also used as medicine. Later, through research by Arab scholars, people developed the habit of drinking after roasting. In the sixteenth century, Arabs spread it worldwide through trade, gradually developing it into today's popular beverage.

Specialty Coffee Standards

The specialty coffee referred to in the third wave specialty coffee trend includes four judging aspects: variety, altitude, processing method, and cupping score. Among these, coffee bean varieties are primarily Arabica species.

Arabica varieties have higher requirements for growing environments, unlike Robusta which has low environmental requirements. Arabica variety coffee typically grows between 2.5 to 4.5 meters tall, tolerates low temperatures but cannot withstand frost, has weak drought resistance, larger beans, clean flavor, mellow taste, and low caffeine content. For example, the most obvious and famous are Panama Geisha Coffee and Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, whose geographical environments have created their unique flavors, making them among the most expensive coffees in the world.

Arabica species generally have two slightly flat beans, with an oval front face and a narrow, curved crack in the middle forming an S-shape. The back of the bean has a relatively flat arc shape. The caffeine content is about 0.8%-1.5%.

Robusta Variety

Robusta variety coffee might be relatively less heard of, generally understood to not taste as good as Arabica varieties and not considered specialty coffee. Meanwhile, Robusta variety coffee is typically used in commercial beans. FrontStreet Coffee's commercial blends include Vietnamese Robusta beans. The Robusta coffee species should actually be called Canephora species, with Robusta being a widely cultivated subspecies of Canephora, thus Robusta almost completely replaced Canephora as the term for this species. Robusta originated from the Congo Basin region of West Africa and is widely cultivated due to its low growing altitude, high yield, and ease of cultivation. Its coffee production accounts for 20%-30% of global coffee production.

Arabica Subvarieties

Arabica has many subspecies, all derived from Ethiopia's most ancient Typica and Yemen's Bourbon, which were transplanted to Central and South America or Asia and then mutated. With numerous varieties, Ethiopia can be called the genetic bank of Arabica coffee varieties. FrontStreet Coffee will introduce some familiar varieties:

Ancient Native Varieties

Typica

The oldest native variety from Ethiopia, all Arabica varieties are derived from Typica. Typica has bronze-colored top leaves, and the beans are oval or slender and pointed; elegant flavor, but weak constitution, poor disease resistance, and low fruit yield. Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, Sumatra Mandheling Coffee, Panama Elida Estate Coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's 2013 Natural Typica Coffee are all excellent Typica coffees. The bronze-colored top leaves are one of its characteristics.

Bourbon

A variety of early (pre-coffee history) Typica after being transplanted to Yemen, with bean shape changing from slender and pointed to round. In 1715, after France transplanted the round beans from Yemen's Mocha to Bourbon Island on the east coast of Africa (renamed Reunion Island after the French Revolution), it was named Bourbon. The round Bourbon beans were辗转transmitted to Brazil and Central and South America in 1727, and in 1732, Britain transplated Yemen's Mocha to St. Helena Island (later where Napoleon was imprisoned) also had round Bourbon beans. Bourbon is the perennial champion in American specialty coffee cupping. Bourbon is divided into Red Bourbon, Pink Bourbon, and Yellow Bourbon. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee is Red Bourbon, and Brazil Queen Coffee is Yellow Bourbon.

Kenya "SL28" and "SL34"

Kenyan specialty coffee uses washed processing, resulting in clean and bright flavors with more prominent acidity. Many small farmers still insist on high-quality control, producing excellent specialty coffees. The phosphate-rich Kenyan soil seems to have been well-adapted by these two Bourbon varieties, SL-28 and SL-34, which contribute to the unique prune-like acidity. The unique prune fragrance, citrus aroma, wine-like wonderful taste, mixed with sugarcane sweetness, has strong yet elegant fragrance, clear and distinct layers, complex and deep flavors, full of personality and acidity, showing the extraordinariness of Kenyan specialty coffee. Such as FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Assalia Coffee.

Caturra

Caturra is a natural mutant of the Arabica Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is not as tall as Bourbon, being more compact. Although it inherited Bourbon's bloodline, its disease resistance is relatively weak, but its yield is higher than Bourbon. Although discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suitable for growing in Brazil, so it was not cultivated on a large scale there, but became popular in Central and South America, with large-scale cultivation in countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Catuai

Catuai is a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra,可以说是混二代. It inherits the advantage of Caturra's short plant height and also compensates for Arabica's weak and fragile fruit defect. The fruit is solid and not easily dropped when blown by strong winds. The biggest regret is that its overall flavor is slightly more monotonous than Caturra. Catuai also has red fruit and yellow fruit varieties, with red fruit being more award-winning than yellow fruit. Catuai, Caturra, Mundo Novo, and Bourbon are the four main coffee varieties in Brazil.

Sumatra Typica / Sumatra Mandheling

Indonesia's main coffee production areas include Sumatra Island, Java Island, and Sulawesi Island, with Sumatra's "Mandheling" being the most famous.

Mandheling is also known as "Sumatra Coffee," with the northern Lake Tawa area called Aceh coffee or Lake Tawa coffee, while the Lintong and Lake Toba areas can be called Mandheling. Mandheling has a heavy taste, with rich mellow body and lively dynamics, not astringent or acidic, with mellow body and bitterness fully expressed. Mandheling coffee beans can be said to be the most unsightly, but coffee fans say that the uglier Sumatra coffee beans look, the better, mellower, and smoother they taste. FrontStreet Coffee has Indonesian Mandheling Coffee and Golden Mandheling Coffee.

Geisha

The famous Geisha belongs to the Typica family's derived variety, exported from Ethiopia's southern Geisha Mountain in 1931 (Geisha has the same pronunciation as Japanese "geisha"), unnoticed in many countries, transplanted to Panama in the 1960s, and only started winning frequently in cupping competitions in 2005.

Currently, the most famous Geisha producing region is Panama's Boquete region, a small city located on the eastern foothills of Baru Volcano. In the Boquete region, the most famous Geisha coffee growing estate is the renowned La Esmeralda, Elida Estate, and Panama NPGE Estate. Although people grow Geisha variety coffee worldwide, including even Taiwan, China, the flavor still doesn't match Panama's amazing quality. FrontStreet Coffee has La Esmeralda's Red Label Geisha, Green Label Geisha, and Boquete Pichilla.

Arabica vs. Robusta

As the two most common varieties on the market, Arabica belongs to the small-grain species, while Robusta belongs to the medium-grain species. Compared to other Robusta coffee beans with 22 chromosomes, Arabica has 44 chromosomes (22 pairs). The double chromosomes not only make Arabica coffee have superior aroma but also bring rich and unique sweet and sour flavors, making it taste better than Robusta.

Arabica needs to be grown at altitudes of 800-2200 meters in frost-free highlands. The higher the altitude, the more significant the temperature difference, which slows the maturation of coffee cherries and facilitates better accumulation of flavor substances, developing fuller aromas. The microclimates of various coffee-producing regions provide diverse growing conditions for Arabica, forming unique flavor profiles. At the same time, higher altitudes make coffee more susceptible to pests and climate effects. Generally planted in higher altitude areas, coffee trees produce fewer fruits and mature more slowly. High-quality Arabica coffee requires more labor management and harvesting, with higher production costs.

For the "delicate" Arabica, 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, making it easier to cultivate and cheaper. Combined with higher amino acid and chlorogenic acid content, it has a rich, deeper bitterness, and flavors of walnut, peanut, hazelnut, wheat, and grains. When processed poorly, it can also have earthy flavors, making it less popular and often used in dark roasted espresso blends or instant coffee.

Some Arabica varieties have low yields but balanced flavors and are very expensive, while others have high yields, average flavors, and relatively moderate prices. Although Arabica is superior, not all Arabica variety coffees are good coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Suggestions

Most coffees on the market are Arabica varieties, especially specialty coffees which are almost all Arabica varieties. Although Arabica variety coffee has good flavor, to brew a delicious cup of coffee, you still need to pay attention to the freshness of coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that coffee bean freshness is greatly related to coffee flavor, so FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring every customer receives the freshest coffee when their order arrives. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee gently reminds you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for degassing, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the packaging can also make the coffee flavor become mellow, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the coffee grounds. However, coffee grounds need to be brewed promptly, as they oxidize quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh for each brew to better taste the coffee's flavor.

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

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

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473