Are Arabica Coffee Beans American Black Coffee? Where Do Arabica Coffee Beans Come From and What Are Their Flavor Characteristics?

Arabica: The Main Variety of Coffee

Whenever feeling drowsy, early-rising office workers treat themselves to an iced Americano. The refreshing taste combined with the rich, mellow coffee aroma quickly restores them to a working state. Do you know what variety of coffee beans is used for Americanos? This article FrontStreet Coffee will introduce you to the main variety of coffee—Arabica.

Two Major Categories of Global Coffee Beans

There are mainly three species of coffee beans in the world, but only two have significant commercial value and are widely cultivated: Arabica (Coffea Arabica) from small-fruited coffee and Robusta from medium-fruited coffee. Additionally, there is Liberica (Coffea Liberica) from large-fruited coffee, with fruits twice as large as small-fruited coffee. Due to its average flavor, it is relatively rare in the market.

Coffee is a tropical economic crop generally grown in the coffee belt between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. It requires relatively high and stable temperatures, abundant annual rainfall and sunshine, and fertile, well-drained soil—all suitable conditions for growing coffee trees. The "coffee belt" covers approximately 70 countries and regions worldwide, of which about 50 have climates and other conditions suitable for coffee bean growth, making them coffee-producing countries. Countries like Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Indonesia, as well as Yunnan and Hainan in China, are all within the coffee belt. Each coffee-producing region boasts unique planting environments and microclimates that provide diverse growing conditions for Arabica, forming distinctive flavors and textures.

As the main coffee variety in the world, Arabica has extremely stringent requirements for its growing environment. Arabica needs to grow at high altitudes of 800-2,200 meters without frost. The higher the altitude, the more significant the temperature difference, which slows down the maturation of coffee cherries and allows for better accumulation of flavor compounds, resulting in more developed aromas. Besides high altitude, Arabica also requires abundant rainfall, sunshine, loose, well-drained soil, and fertile ground. From a cultivation perspective, it has strong regional limitations. Therefore, to produce high-quality coffee beans, growers need to invest more management, and labor costs are also higher.

Compared to the "delicate" Arabica, Robusta has a caffeine content of 2.7%-4%, twice that of Arabica. Caffeine acts as a natural pesticide for plants, protecting them from most insect pests, making it easier to cultivate and cheaper in price. Additionally, with higher amino acid and chlorogenic acid content, it presents a mellow, deeper bitterness with flavors of walnut, peanut, hazelnut, wheat, and grains. When not processed properly, it can also have an earthy taste, making it less popular and often used in formulas for dark-roasted Italian beans or instant coffee.

In the past, people drank coffee just for its rich, mellow bitterness. With the continuous promotion of specialty coffee culture, everyone has higher requirements for coffee's flavor, texture, and quality. Therefore, Arabica beans with diverse aromas better meet the high demands of today's specialty coffee market than Robusta. FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection includes many pour-over single-origin coffee beans, all belonging to the Arabica variety, showing that compared to Robusta, people prefer the pure flavors of Arabica.

What Are the Representative Members of the Arabica Family?

As a large category, Arabica can be divided into nearly three thousand varieties, all derived from Ethiopia's most ancient native varieties—Typica and Bourbon—after being planted in South America or Asia and undergoing mutation. As an agricultural product, coffee flavor is always closely related to factors such as variety, climate, altitude, soil, and management. It is a natural and true reflection of the variety and local terroir. Here FrontStreet Coffee has selected several representative varieties for you to understand Arabica~

Jamaica's Typica

The most ancient native variety from Ethiopia, discovered around the 15th to 16th century AD. The characteristics of Typica include tall coffee trees with bronze-colored top leaves, and coffee beans that are relatively large and elongated with pointed, upturned ends, somewhat like eggs. Typica coffee often has citrus acidity with a sweet aftertaste, praised by many as elegant and clean coffee beans. Unfortunately, due to its low yield and poor resistance to leaf rust disease, it has gradually been replaced by farmers with other more robust varieties.

Typica was introduced to this country by Sir Nicholas Lawes in the 18th century and soon after was planted in the Blue Mountains, where it has been cultivated for over two hundred years. Jamaica's Blue Mountain Typica has adapted to the local island tropical rainforest climate, evolving stronger disease resistance, particularly much better resistance to coffee berry disease compared to typical Typica. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the exquisite clean flavor of Blue Mountain is inseparable from Jamaica's insistence on carefully cultivating the Typica variety, allowing Typica to integrate with the local terroir. The excellent terroir and unique microclimate of the Blue Mountains also contribute significantly. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the presentation of the coffee's chocolate and nut aromas while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, making the overall taste balanced.

Panama's Geisha

Friends who often drink pour-over coffee must have heard of Panama's Geisha coffee, which has become one of the symbols of contemporary specialty coffee due to its stunning aroma. The Geisha variety is derived from Typica and also originates from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.

Geisha is very particular about its growing environment, requiring high altitude, fertile soil, clouds or plant shade, and cannot be directly exposed to strong sunlight. The owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda mentioned that the farm needs many shade trees to protect the delicate Geisha from sunlight, and traditional pruning methods must be adopted during the initial planting period, otherwise the plants are prone to death. Geisha planted at higher altitudes has longer maturation times for coffee cherries, with more complex and unique flavor expressions. Unlike other coffee varieties, Geisha coffee trees have very thin leaf systems, meaning photosynthesis efficiency is low. The root systems are also fragile, with slow absorption of water and nutrients, resulting in very low coffee yields. Combined with the high-altitude growing environment, the fruit maturation time is also relatively late.

Currently, Geisha is cultivated in many regions worldwide and is the new king of specialty coffee, with higher quality in Latin American countries such as Panama, Guatemala, and Colombia. Panama Geisha, in particular, stands out among specialty coffees. When it comes to Geisha coffee, the most popular on FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection is undoubtedly the Geisha coffee produced by the renowned Hacienda La Esmeralda, which is divided into Red Label Geisha, Green Label Geisha, and Volcanic Soil Geisha according to different characteristics. High-quality Geisha coffee has an intoxicating fragrance of rose flowers, citrus, berries, and honey, loved by many coffee enthusiasts.

Brazil's Bourbon

Bourbon is a natural mutation of Typica, with the bean shape changing from slender and pointed to round. It was first discovered on Bourbon Island (now Réunion) on the east coast of Africa. In 1715, after France transplanted round-shaped Yemen Mocha beans to Bourbon Island on the east coast of Africa (renamed Réunion after the French Revolution), it was named Bourbon. Bourbon round beans were introduced to Brazil for cultivation in 1727.

Although the yield is not high, compared to the weaker Typica variety, Bourbon has better resistance to leaf rust disease. Bourbon grown at high altitudes has rich and delicate flavors, aromatic fragrance, and soft acidity. Generally, the Bourbon fruits we see change from green to light yellow, orange-yellow, red, and finally to fully ripe dark red, which is what we refer to as Red Bourbon.

Brazilian coffee mostly has lower acidity, combined with the mellow aroma of coffee, making it extremely smooth on the palate with a refreshing aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee selected a semi-sun-dried Red Bourbon coffee as Brazil's representative, with distinct nut and chocolate flavors, medium caramel sweetness, and a smooth, balanced overall taste. FrontStreet Coffee added it to the daily bean series. FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans are the representatives of each major producing region, presenting the basic flavors of each region. Coffee beginners can understand the basic flavors of each region and then choose to explore different types of regions according to their preferences.

Caturra from Central and South America

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. The tree shape is relatively small, with moderate disease resistance, but due to its ability to be densely planted with higher fruit bearing rates, its yield is higher than varieties like Bourbon. It is widely cultivated in Central and South American countries. Caturra is suitable for low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1,700 meters. The higher the altitude, the better the flavor, but the relative bean yield decreases. In terms of flavor, Caturra has bright acidity, with a taste full of fruit flavors. After medium-dark roasting, it presents chocolate and nut sweetness, making it a frequent champion in many coffee competitions.

FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection includes many coffee beans containing the Caturra variety. If you want to understand the flavor characteristics of this variety, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Colombian daily beans, which are selected from washed Caturra varieties with very high cleanliness. FrontStreet Coffee aims to highlight the classic Colombian coffee flavor, using medium-dark roasting to present aromas of nuts, dark chocolate, and caramel.

Kenya's SL28 & SL34

Between 1935-1939, Scott Laboratories prefixed selected and cultivated coffee varieties with SL. The laboratory selected 42 varieties from different origins and studied their yield, quality, as well as drought and disease resistance. After individually numbering and screening, SL-28 and SL-34 were finally obtained.

SL28 comes from the Bourbon genetic group, with short, round beans and thick bodies, featuring uplifted acidity and obvious sweetness. SL34 comes from the Typica genetic group, with oval-shaped beans that appear flatter from the side than Typica varieties, featuring balanced sweet and sour fullness with caramel aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Assalia coffee beans are selected from these two varieties, using 72-hour washed processing to present the full acidity of plum, brown sugar, black plum, and cherry tomato.

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