Introduction to Robusta Coffee Bean Characteristics - Is Robusta Really Notorious and Bitter?

It is said that Arabica coffee varieties are specialty coffees, and Arabica varieties account for 70% of the world's coffee. For Robusta coffee varieties, many people think they are not very good, with a heavier and more bitter taste that most people dislike. Does this mean Robusta coffee varieties are considered completely useless? FrontStreet Coffee believes this is not the case at all; in fact, they have quite significant uses. We often drink espresso coffee that contains Robusta coffee beans. Without Robusta beans, espresso would lack that beautiful layer of crema, and it is only with the thick crema on top of espresso that it is considered a successful cup. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's commercial espresso blend contains 10% Robusta beans.

The Value of Robusta

As a very important variety in the coffee world, Robusta plays an indispensable role in the commercial world. The value of Robusta is not to serve as a negative example to highlight how premium Arabica's flavor is; it holds an unshakable position in espresso blends. Italian blends add small amounts of Robusta to enhance the coffee's body and create espresso with richer crema.

To make a pure espresso, a certain proportion of high-quality Robusta coffee beans must be blended with Arabica coffee beans. Because among the many choices of coffee beans, high-quality Robusta coffee beans can help espresso express its proper character, enhance the coffee's mouthfeel, make the coffee more intense, and simultaneously intensify the bitterness, making the golden crema more enticing. If tasted carefully, you can also detect notes of chocolate or cocoa.

When Espresso blends with milk, it presents a rich and full-bodied taste. Milk coffee becomes more mellow and aromatic due to the complementary relationship between Robusta and Arabica, with Robusta compensating for Arabica's body. Robusta is mainly used in espresso blends to increase body and obtain rich crema. Although Robusta's flavor cannot be compared to Arabica's, it has its own value.

Actually, coffee is a flowering and fruit-bearing tree species from the Rubiaceae family. Because the fruit is usually red or purple and similar to cherries, it's also called coffee cherries. The most common coffee beans we know are the seeds with the flesh removed. Each fruit typically contains two coffee seeds, and one coffee tree can produce about 0.9kg of green beans annually. There are hundreds of coffee varieties in the world, but today only Arabica and Robusta are widely cultivated for commercial use, with Arabica accounting for 70%.

As a tropical cash crop, coffee is mostly grown in the coffee belt between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. It requires relatively high and stable temperatures, abundant annual rainfall and sunshine, and fertile, well-drained soil - all suitable conditions for producing high-quality coffee. Today, the "coffee belt" covers about 70 countries and regions. Places like Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Indonesia... in FrontStreet Coffee's bean list, as well as Yunnan and Hainan in our country, are all within the coffee belt. Various coffee-growing regions possess unique planting environments and microclimates that provide diverse growing conditions for coffee trees, forming unique flavors and mouthfeels.

Arabica

As the most popular variety on the market, Arabica's sub-varieties develop unique and rich aromas and sweet-sour flavors with growing conditions, especially high altitude, volcanic soil, and microclimates. Its smooth mouthfeel makes it more easily accepted. When we analyze the substances contained in Robusta and Arabica, we find that Arabica's sucrose content is almost twice that of Robusta. During the roasting process, sucrose converts into aromatic compounds, allowing coffee to emit more diverse sweet and fragrant aromas.

The superior flavor of Arabica coffee varieties is due to their requirements for high altitude, shade trees, and poor disease resistance. Robusta coffee trees can withstand high temperatures, cold, drought, humidity, have high yields, are resistant to pests and diseases, and have strong environmental adaptability. They can generally be planted in low-altitude plains and can be directly managed and harvested using mechanized methods, making them naturally cheaper. Robusta coffee beans have a unique fragrance and bitterness, with caffeine content far exceeding Arabica's, so most people cannot accept this taste. However, for espresso, it produces a very beautiful effect. Therefore, the production costs required for growing Robusta are lower, making it more suitable for commercial mass production.

Robusta

The Robusta coffee species should more accurately be called the Canephora species. Robusta is a widely cultivated sub-variety of the Canephora species, so Robusta has almost replaced Canephora as the representative term for this species. Robusta originated in the Congo Basin region of West Africa and is widely cultivated due to its low growing altitude, high yield, and ease of cultivation.

Due to Robusta's extremely strong environmental adaptability, it can grow vigorously even at altitudes from 0 to 800 meters. Robusta has a higher chlorogenic acid content, about 7% to 10%, making it less susceptible to pests and climate impacts. It is generally planted at lower altitudes, producing many fruits quickly.

The characteristics of Robusta coffee beans are: a unique fragrance and bitterness, slightly rounder and smaller fruits, and flatter, rounder beans. Robusta coffee beans are generally used for instant coffee because the extracted coffee liquid is basically twice that of Arabica.

Robusta production accounts for 25%-35% of coffee bean production, with main producing countries being Indonesia (which produces a variety of washed processed coffee beans that is a hybrid of Robusta and Arabica, and is the only variety in the Chinese market that can be used for single-origin drinking), Vietnam, Africa (West African countries centered around Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Angola), and in recent years, Vietnam has been more committed to coffee production and has included it in national policy (Vietnam also produces a small amount of Arabica coffee beans).

The reason Robusta is not well-regarded in the coffee circle is mainly because its flavor is not as pleasant as Arabica's. Robusta has a very high chlorogenic acid content, which is the source of bitterness in coffee. It usually carries a rich, deeper bitterness, as well as flavor notes of walnut, peanut, hazelnut, wheat, and grains. When not processed well, it can also have an earthy taste, so it is often used in formulations for dark-roasted espresso beans or as raw material for instant coffee.

Because dark-roasted Robusta produces abundant crema during extraction, FrontStreet Coffee's commercial espresso blend beans can present rich and aromatic coffee crema, so 10% washed Robusta coffee beans are added. They are combined with Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazil semi-sun-dried coffee (60%) to form FrontStreet Coffee's commercial espresso blend. The resulting espresso has abundant golden crema and nutty aromas. When tasting, there is a burnt coffee bitterness, but it is accompanied more by a creamy, full-bodied mouthfeel, and after swallowing, the bitterness dissipates, leaving a lingering fragrance.

Although Arabica is preferred by more people, this does not mean it has no disadvantages. Arabica plants are very "picky" about their growing environment. Because Arabica has low caffeine content, it is more susceptible to pests, so it needs to be planted at altitudes above 800 meters in frost-free highlands. The higher the altitude, the more significant the temperature difference, which is more conducive to the accumulation of flavor substances in coffee fruits, and aroma development will also be fuller. To express diverse positive flavors, besides high altitude, unique microclimate support is also needed. Many well-known specialty coffees are produced under microclimates. However, high-altitude terrain is often uneven, making planting, management, and harvesting more difficult. Therefore, high-quality Arabica coffee requires more production costs.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee believes that while the variety of coffee beans is certainly important, brewing is also crucial. Moreover, not all coffee beans can be used for espresso! Although Robusta coffee varieties are not well-regarded, for espresso, Robusta beans are very popular!

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Suggestions:

Regardless of what kind of coffee you brew, the freshness of the coffee beans is very important. FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects the flavor of coffee. Therefore, coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee's resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it is at its peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there is no need for a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure created by carbon dioxide in the packaging also helps round out the coffee's flavor, so you can immediately brew a cup when you receive the coffee powder. However, coffee powder needs to be brewed promptly, because it oxidizes relatively quickly after contact with air, meaning the coffee's flavor will dissipate faster, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding them fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

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