An Introduction to Coffee Bean Varieties: Besides Arabica, What Other Coffee Beans Can Compare?

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Coffee Bean Varieties

Coffee Arabica

Coffee Arabica is also known as the small-grained variety. It originated on the Abyssinian plateau - now the Ethiopian plateau - in Ethiopia, where it was initially used mainly for medicinal purposes. The habit of roasting it for drinking developed in the 13th century, and in the 16th century it reached Europe through the Arab world, going on to become one of the beverages enjoyed worldwide. (Before the 15th century, coffee was long monopolized by Arabs, which is why Europeans called it "Arab coffee.")

Among all coffee beans worldwide, Arabica accounts for approximately 65%-80%. Its excellent flavor and aroma make it the only native variety that can be consumed directly and on its own. It has low resistance to drought, frost, pests, and disease, however, especially to coffee's greatest enemy, leaf rust. Coffee-producing countries therefore work constantly to improve their varieties.

Arabica is an evergreen small shrub with oval, dark green leaves. Its fruits are also oval, with smaller kernels, thick peels, and sweet flesh. The product is mellow and aromatic and generally contains two slightly flattened beans. The beans are small and rounded, with an oval front surface, a narrow, curved S-shaped crack down the middle, and a relatively flat circular back. Caffeine content is about 1%-1.7%, hence the name "mild coffee." It is the main cultivated variety worldwide, with planting area and production accounting for more than 80% and 90% of the world's total coffee area and production, respectively.

Main characteristics: Arabica coffee beans are also known as mountain beans. Above all they have a strong aromatic smell; they are not easily bitter; their coffee oil content is moderate; their acidity is higher; and their caffeine content is 30%-40% of Robusta's.

Coffee Robusta Linden

Coffee Robusta Linden is also known as the medium-grained variety. It is a leaf-rust-resistant variety discovered in the Congo, Africa, with stronger disease resistance than Arabica. In the general coffee market, many people like to compare Robusta with Arabica, which is inaccurate. Robusta was originally a mutant variety of the Congo species (scientific name: Coffea Canephora), and it is the Congo species that should be compared with Arabica. Even so, to this day Robusta is commonly used by ordinary people who are unaware that it is really a variant of the Congo species.

Coffee liberica

Coffee liberica is also known as the large-grained variety. Native to Liberia, Africa, it is an evergreen tree. Its fruits are large and oblong, with seed coats tightly attached to the kernels, and turn vermilion when mature. The brewed flavor is strong, with a moderate caffeine content, strong irritancy, and poor quality. Its cultivation area is relatively small, distributed across Liberia, Malaysia, India, and Indonesia.

Knowledge Points

High-altitude growing areas sit at elevations between 4000 and 6000 feet. Growing temperatures need to fall between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius, with annual rainfall reaching 1500-2000 mm. The timing of that rainfall must also align with the flowering cycle of the coffee trees.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Arabica began on the Ethiopian plateau, and Ethiopia remains one of the best places to taste what the species can do. FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the classic introduction: it shows clear jasmine aroma and bright citrus acidity, light and elegant on the palate with a tea-like quality that drinks like a clean, refreshing lemon tea. For anyone who wants to understand why Arabica became the world's dominant coffee, it is a fine first cup.

For a more distinctive take on that floral character, FrontStreet Coffee's Gedeb cooperative coffee is worth seeking out. It comes from the Worka region on the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe. Gedeb was originally part of the Worka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, and in 2012, with about 300 member farmers, it became an independent "single origin" as demand for traceability grew. Because the fruit is stripped before drying, the coffee's own aroma emerges with unusual clarity, showing citrus and lemon alongside elegant white florals.

If you prefer a naturally processed coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's Kafa Forest grows at 1,400-2,100 meters under shade, a very different setting from the garden-plot model most people picture. Given a light-medium roast, it opens with clear white florals in the ground coffee, then bright lemon acidity and notes of sweet orange and bergamot, finishing with a faint melon and nut sweetness and a green-tea-like body.