The Large Bean Variety in the Coffee World: Liberica Coffee | Why is Liberica So Rare?

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Those who have some understanding of coffee should know that coffee beans are classified into three major categories: small-seeded Arabica, medium-seeded Robusta, and large-seeded Liberica. Varieties like Typica, Geisha, and Bourbon that we often mention all belong to the Arabica species. While most people are quite familiar with Arabica and Robusta, today FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce you to the large-seeded coffee among the three major varieties—Liberica coffee!

Liberica Coffee

Most coffee transactions are dominated by Arabica and Robusta, while Liberica currently accounts for only 1% of the world's economically cultivated coffee production—a very small quantity indeed.

Liberica was first discovered in Liberia, West Africa. Liberica coffee trees grow taller than both Arabica and Robusta varieties, and Liberica coffee demonstrates strong disease resistance and environmental adaptability. In terms of appearance, Liberica leaves are larger than those of typical coffee species. From the perspective of coffee fruit appearance, they are actually much larger than regular coffee beans, with thick skin that makes it difficult to remove the coffee pulp and flesh during post-processing, making it quite troublesome.

In fact, some farms plant small amounts of Liberica coffee around Arabica coffee to lure coffee berry borers or other pests away from the Arabica coffee.

Liberica coffee trees have been cultivated in semi-wild environments in Borneo, Malaysia for many years. Ancient literature indicates that in 1892, leaf rust disease in Sri Lanka caused severe local coffee losses. British colonists searched for fertile land to grow coffee and found Borneo. However, coffee there was eventually abandoned in favor of more profitable crops like tea, pepper, and rubber, leaving only a few Liberica trees.

In 2018, specialty Liberica from Borneo made its debut at the Stuttgart Coffee Summit in Germany and won the green coffee quality award.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Method

FrontStreet Coffee brewed a pot of natural processed Liberica coffee with the following parameters and flavor profile:

Brewing Parameters:

Coffee dose: 15g, Water temperature: 89°C, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, Medium-fine grind (BG 5T: China standard 58% pass-through rate on #20 sieve), Segmented extraction.

Use 33g of water for blooming. End the blooming when the coffee bed changes from moist to dry—blooming time is 30 seconds. Continue pouring in small circular motions in the center to 120g, then stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cone. (Timing starts from the beginning of blooming) Total extraction time: 1'45".

Flavor Profile:

Dry aroma presents fermentation notes, jackfruit, and subtle chocolate fragrance. Wet aroma is rich with fermented fruit notes. The cup displays starfruit, tropical fruits, and jackfruit acidity, wheat tea sensation, and rose floral notes.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473