Types of Coffee Beans and Their Flavors - An Introduction to Arabica Coffee Bean Taste Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee - Coffee Bean Varieties and Arabica Coffee Sharing

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Generally speaking, there are three types of coffee beans in the world, but the most common ones around us are Arabica beans and Robusta beans.

Arabica species (Arabica), Robusta beans (Robusta), and Liberica species

Nearly 70% of commercially grown coffee worldwide is of the Arabica variety, with a total of 7 million tons of coffee roasted annually. Robusta coffee occupies the remaining market, with major production areas including India, Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian archipelago, and Vietnam. Vietnam contributes nearly half of the world's total Robusta coffee production, making it the second largest coffee-producing country after Brazil.

Robusta coffee is characterized by higher fruit yield per harvest period, with more solid mature fruits. Robusta coffee beans are smaller and coarser than Arabica coffee beans, with a richer flavor but slightly less complexity. For this reason, small amounts of Robusta coffee are typically used in espresso blends. Italians particularly value its high-quality crema and rich caffeine characteristics, which create exceptionally good results in every finished coffee product.

So what makes Arabica coffee so good? The answer is unquestionable - its flavor is superior. Arabica coffee plants produce fruits with more subtle flavors. Its varieties are widely distributed and well-defined, creating coffee with distinctive appearance and style. Most Arabica coffee varieties are the result of genetic mutations or hybrid improvements from two parent Arabica coffees - Typica and Bourbon varieties.

Typica (the common Arabica variety) was the first coffee variety introduced from Ethiopia to Yemen, and later to India. In 1718, Typica specimens collected from Java island were introduced to the French Bourbon Island (now called Réunion), 800 kilometers east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Typica mutated here into a new variety, later known as Bourbon. In today's coffee market, Typica and Bourbon varieties hold the largest share of Arabica coffee varieties.

Some varieties originate from natural genetic mutations, while others are the result of artificial hybrid breeding or post-cultivation selection of native varieties. Arabica species are self-pollinating plants, and their genetic lineage should be relatively pure. However, Typica and Bourbon were successively brought to new countries, where foreign climate conditions led to natural genetic mutations, and the characteristics exhibited by the newly cultivated varieties were mostly gratifying.

Knowledge Extension: Liberica, like Robusta, is very resistant to pests and suitable for high-temperature, humid environments, but it has not been widely cultivated, mostly grown only in the South African region.

In Brief

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