Can Arabica Coffee Beans Be Used for Pour-Over? Price, Characteristics, Origin, and Processing Methods

FrontStreet Coffee: Arabica Coffee Beans for Pour-Over Brewing - Price, Characteristics, Origin, and Processing Methods

The vast majority of coffee beans we drink daily are Arabica varieties, though this fact is rarely emphasized. When specifically mentioned, it's typically to distinguish them from another coffee variety (Robusta). In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will explore the characteristics of Arabica coffee.

Arabica Coffee: The Small Bean Variety

Arabica (scientific name: Coffee Arabica) is also known as small-grain coffee beans, originating from Ethiopia. Initially, Arabica coffee was primarily used for medicinal purposes, but people later developed the habit of brewing it after roasting. In the 16th century, Arabs spread it worldwide through trade, gradually developing it into the popular beverage we know today. Many of the specialty coffee beans we're familiar with belong to the Arabica variety, such as Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, Panamanian Geisha coffee, and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee.

Arabica is a relatively large shrub, suitable for growing in mountainous environments at altitudes of 600-2200 meters (though in Ethiopia, there are also extremely high altitudes up to 2350 meters where excellent quality can still be achieved), with temperatures between 15°-24°C and annual rainfall of 1200-2200 millimeters. The leaves are oval-shaped and dark green, and the fruits are also oval, typically containing two slightly flattened beans. The beans are well-rounded, with a long oval shape on the front, narrow and curved S-shaped cracks in the middle, and relatively flat curved backs. FrontStreet Coffee has two Arabica coffee trees planted near its Dongshankou store - customers might want to take a look when enjoying their coffee.

Arabica's chlorogenic acid content is relatively low, about 5.5% to 8%. Besides having antioxidant properties, chlorogenic acid is also an important component for resisting pests, making Arabica more susceptible to pest damage and climate impacts. It's generally grown at higher altitudes, produces fewer fruits, and grows more slowly. Consequently, coffee bean production per hectare is lower than Robusta, making Arabica cultivation costs much higher.

The Flavor of Arabica Coffee

The bitterness we taste when drinking coffee mainly comes from chlorogenic acid. Robusta has higher caffeine, amino acids, and chlorogenic acid content. Therefore, Robusta naturally lacks the ethereal aromatic flavor unique to Arabica beans, replaced instead by a richer, deeper bitterness. Arabica's caffeine content is low, about 0.9% to 1.2%, and its fat content is 60% higher than Robusta coffee. Compared to the strong-flavored Robusta beans, Arabica has lower caffeine content and twice the sugar content, making Arabica coffee taste smooth, sweet, with rich layered acidity and aroma, thus becoming everyone's first choice for drinking coffee.

With the continuous promotion of specialty coffee culture, people have increasingly higher requirements for coffee flavor, texture, and quality. Therefore, only high-quality Arabica beans better meet the current specialty coffee market. Many of FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over single-origin coffees are Arabica varieties, showing that compared to Robusta, people prefer the pure flavor of Arabica.

What Are the Common Arabica Varieties?

As a major category, Arabica can be divided into nearly 3,000 varieties, all derived from Ethiopia's oldest native varieties, Typica and Bourbon, which were planted in South America or Asia and then mutated. As an agricultural product, coffee flavor is always closely related to factors such as variety, climate, altitude, soil, and management - it's a natural and authentic expression of variety and local terroir. Here, FrontStreet Coffee has selected several representative varieties to help you understand Arabica.

Typica

The oldest native variety from Ethiopia, discovered around the 15th to 16th century. Typica is characterized by taller coffee trees, bronze-colored top leaves, and beans that are relatively large and long, with pointed ends that curve slightly upward, somewhat like eggs. Typica coffee often has citrus acidity with 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 hardier varieties.

Typica was introduced to the country by Sir Nicholas Lawes in the 18th century and soon spread to Blue Mountain cultivation, where it has been grown for over two hundred years. Blue Mountain's Typica has adapted to the local island tropical rainforest climate, evolving stronger disease resistance, particularly much stronger resistance to coffee berry disease than typical Typica. FrontStreet Coffee believes that Blue Mountain's delicate and clean flavor is inseparable from Jamaica's careful cultivation of the Typica variety, allowing Typica to integrate with the local terroir - the excellent terroir and unique microclimate of the Blue Mountains also play a significant role. FrontStreet Coffee's authentic Blue Mountain No. 1 uses medium-dark roasting to maximize the presentation of chocolate and nutty aromas while preserving soft acidity and sweetness, making the overall taste balanced.

Geisha

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

Geisha is very picky about its growing environment, requiring high altitude, fertile soil, cloud cover or plant shade, and cannot be exposed to direct sunlight. The owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda mentioned that the farm needs many shade trees to shield the delicate Geisha from sunlight, and traditional pruning methods must be used during the initial planting period, otherwise the plants easily die. Geisha planted at higher altitudes has longer coffee cherry maturation time and more complex and unique flavor expression. Unlike other coffee varieties, Geisha coffee trees have very thin leaf systems, meaning photosynthesis efficiency is low, and their root systems are fragile with slow absorption of water and nutrients, resulting in very low coffee yields. Combined with high-altitude growing environments, fruit maturation time is also relatively late.

Currently, Geisha is grown 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. Panamanian Geisha is particularly outstanding among specialty coffees. When discussing Geisha coffee, the most popular on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list is undoubtedly the famous Geisha coffee produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda, which is divided into Red Label Geisha, Green Label Geisha, and Volcanic Geisha based on different characteristics. High-quality FrontStreet Coffee Geisha has an intoxicating fragrance of rose flowers, citrus, berries, and honey, loved by many coffee enthusiasts.

Bourbon

Bourbon is a natural mutation of Typica, with the slender, pointed bean shape becoming rounded. It was first discovered on Bourbon Island (now Réunion) on the east coast of Africa. In 1715, after the French transplanted round 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 coffee grown at high altitudes has rich, delicate flavor, fragrant aroma, and smooth acidity. Generally, the Bourbon fruits we see change from green to light yellow, orange-yellow, red, and finally to fully ripe dark red - what we refer to as Red Bourbon. There's also a rarer Yellow Bourbon where ripe fruits呈现 bright yellow. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate coffee belongs to the Yellow Bourbon variety.

Brazilian coffee mostly has lower acidity, combined with rich coffee aroma, and is extremely smooth on entry with a refreshing aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee's semi-washed Red Bourbon coffee as a Brazilian representative has distinct nutty and chocolate flavors, moderate caramel sweetness, smooth texture, and overall balance. FrontStreet Coffee includes it in its daily bean series - FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans are representatives of each major production region, presenting the basic flavors of their regions. Coffee beginners can understand the basic flavors of regions, then choose to explore different regional types according to their preferences.

Caturra

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. The plant form is relatively small, with low disease resistance, but due to the possibility of intensive planting and higher fruit-bearing rates, its yield is higher than Bourbon and other varieties. It's widely planted in Central American countries. In terms of flavor, Caturra has bright acidity, with a texture full of fruit flavors. After medium-dark roasting, it presents chocolate and nutty sweetness, making it a frequent winner in many coffee competitions.

Many coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list contain Caturra varieties. 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 classic Colombian coffee flavors, using medium-dark roasting to present nutty, dark chocolate, and caramel aromas.

SL28 & SL34

Between 1935-1939, Scott Laboratories prefixed all selected cultivated coffee varieties with SL. The laboratory selected 42 varieties from different origins and studied their yield, quality, drought resistance, and disease resistance. After numbering and screening them one by one, SL-28 and SL-34 were finally obtained. SL28 comes from the Bourbon genetic group, with short, round beans and thick bodies, featuring upward acidity and obvious sweetness characteristics.

SL34 comes from the Typica genetic group, with oval-shaped beans that appear flatter from the side than Typica varieties and less full-bodied, featuring balanced sweet and sour flavors and caramel aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Cherry Tomatoes 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 tomatoes.

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