What Types of Coffee Beans Are There and Why Does the Coffee Industry Use Diverse Coffee Beans

Introduction to Coffee Bean Varieties

When we buy a bag of coffee from the supermarket, we notice that there are more than one type of coffee bean. But how many types of coffee beans are there? If you care about what kind of coffee you're drinking, you might be overwhelmed by all the mixed information about coffee types. The labels on coffee bags don't help much either. So let FrontStreet Coffee help solve this problem.

Arabica Coffee: The Most Popular Variety

Arabica coffee is the most common and most popular. Arabica coffee (also known as Typica) is the most common ingredient in coffee. This is coffee that originated in Ethiopia. Some might argue that it was originally discovered in Yemen. In fact, it was discovered and domesticated in Ethiopia and shortly thereafter brought to Yemen, where it became popular in the port city of Mocha.

Arabica coffee is the less caffeinated version as it only contains 1.5% caffeine. It happens to be a sweeter, fatter bean than Robusta. This produces a more flavorful, milder coffee that many people prefer. Overall, Arabica coffee and its subspecies account for about 60% of the world's total coffee production. Arabica coffee beans are susceptible to pests and diseases, which has been a pain point in the coffee industry's history.

The growing requirements for Arabica coffee are very specific as it needs an average of about 21°C annually to thrive, along with humidity, sun and shade, and high altitude. Not many countries can provide this landscape and climate.

Robusta: The Harder, More Resistant Coffee Bean

Robusta coffee beans also originally come from Ethiopia, but they weren't recognized as a distinct coffee bean until about 100 years after Arabica coffee came into existence. Its name comes mainly from the fact that it has strong resistance to pests and diseases, so compared to Arabica coffee beans, it ultimately produces a larger crop each year.

But the downside is that Robusta tastes much worse, which is unsuitable for many people. People often say it resembles burnt tires and dirt, but part of this is also influenced by how it's roasted. Considering that Robusta has less than half the sugar and fat content of Arabica coffee but twice the caffeine content (2.7%), you begin to understand why it's not a favorite among the general population.

When it comes to espresso, Robusta seems to be the coffee bean of choice. This is because its chemical composition helps it produce a large amount of coffee oils, which espresso is made to create.

Seeing that Robusta's flavor is so strong, it's also more recommended for making iced lattes with latte coffee beans, as the coffee flavor will stand out, and by default, the brewed coffee is stronger than Arabica coffee.

Coffee Blends: Balancing Flavor and Caffeine

There are coffees that blend Arabica and Robusta coffee. This is done to balance the flavor with caffeine content, as Arabica has lower caffeine content.

Commercial Coffee Subspecies

Some coffee subspecies are grown for commercial purposes. Both Arabica and Robusta coffee beans have quite a few subspecies. And they are rarely called subspecies, partly because they have their own names, and partly because people don't actually know.

For example, you can find a "100% Arabica" bag next to an "Arabica and Blue Mountain blend coffee" and correctly assume that Blue Mountain coffee is a different type of coffee from Arabica coffee.

Liberica

When coffee rust disease caused large-scale death of Arabica coffee crops, it was brought to the Philippines. This coffee has a more woody taste, somewhat smoky. It also has floral notes, but this coffee is quite challenging to cultivate.

Blue Mountain

Blue Mountain coffee, which only grows in Jamaica's Blue Mountains, is not very bitter and has a sweeter side. It is a variety of regular Arabica coffee.

Bourbon

A subspecies of Arabica coffee, mainly grown on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. It mutated and developed its own flavor, and was introduced to East Africa (1897) some time later. There it was called French Missionary because it was introduced to the region by French missionaries. In Rwanda, Bourbon is called Mayagurez.

Catimor

This subspecies is a hybrid between Caturra and Timor subspecies, both of which are Bourbon subspecies. This is a common occurrence in the coffee bean lineage, with many strains being only slightly different from the original coffee beans but having different names.

Why Coffee Bean Diversity Exists in the Industry

What led to such a large collection of coffee bean varieties, and how did Robusta rise to prominence if it wasn't that great to begin with? Well, first of all, Arabica coffee is a very sensitive plant. I'm mainly talking about pests and diseases, but also sunlight and direct sunlight and shade, and general living conditions.

This is a rather laborious plant that only flowers a few years (3-5 years) after its first planting, and when it does flower and then produce coffee cherries, they are not numerous.

Arabica coffee yields much less than Robusta coffee, meaning many more plants are needed.

Therefore, on a fateful day in 1867, coffee rust became widely known in Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon (hence Ceylon tea btw). Originally this fungus came from Ethiopia, and how it made its way all to Sri Lanka is still unknown.

The key is that large coffee farms became useless because Arabica coffee is very easily infected, and to this day there is no known cure.

Therefore, Robusta began to be planted where Arabica was infected, hoping to ward off the fungus. It worked, and now most of Asia's Robusta crop is attributed to that event.

This isn't the only reason Robusta grows there (and not only there), but it was a significant factor.

Liberica was also called upon to help in some places where the fungus spread, as it could also resist it and grow successfully.

Since then, the coffee industry has started planting more and more coffee subspecies, with hybrids meaning delicious and disease-resistant, some cultivated to have certain aromas, and so on.

Origins of These Coffee Beans

Coffee beans have some specific requirements that must be met. They need quite a bit of rainfall, so freshwater nearby, the air shouldn't be very dry (although a subspecies grows in the African desert), and the altitude must be at least 1200 meters (0.74 miles and above).

The soil must be fertile soil, as nutrients must be rich, because coffee is a very hungry plant, so to speak. It eats the nutrients in the soil quite quickly, so it needs a certain type of soil.

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