Types Of Coffee

There are about more than 6,000 species of coffee plants in the world. The two most commercially important types of coffee plant are Arabica (coffea arabica) and Robusta (coffea canephora).

Arabica

Arabica coffee is the more popular coffee used in the world, it holds about 70 percent of the world's coffee production and consumption. The Arabica plant is a large bush which is grown at 600m to 2000m above sea level, and has a lower yield and less caffeine content (0.8 to 1.4%). It is widely recognised to be superior to robusta.

Because the Arabica plant is delicate it is harder to grow and its beans are more expensive. It can be drunk as a pure Arabica or used as the base for coffee blends with Robusta. Arabica has a delicate taste and is used to add acidity and body to the finished brew.

Arabica beans have a distinctive depending on where it is grown at. Arabica coffee is produced in Latin America, Central and East Africa, and in Asia (India and Indonesia) and parts of Oceania. 

Coffea Arabica (Arabica)

Bourbon: Cultivated in France

Caturra: Bourbon variety type of coffee

Mundo Novo: Hybrid between Bourbon and Sumatra coffee

Blue Montain: Jamaican kind of coffee

Catuai: South and Central America coffee

Robusta

Robusta coffee is a popular coffee but not as frequently used as Arabica coffee. It still plays a big part in the contribution to the coffee industry as it takes up about 30 percent of the world's coffee production and consumption. The Robusta plant is a small tree or a small bush which is grown from sea level to 700m above. It has a high yield and a high caffeine content (1.7 to 4.0%).

As the Robusta plant is hardier than the Arabica plant, it is easier and therefore cheaper to grow. But this does not mean that a blend of coffee containing Robusta beans is lower quality than pure Arabica, coffee blends are designed to bring out the best balance of different flavours. Robusta has a strong flavour and is used to give body and a 'kick' to a coffee blend.

Robusta was first found growing naturally in the area now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Robusta coffee is made in West and Central Africa, South East Asia and in parts of South America.

Coffea canephora (Robusta)

Niaouli

Nganda: Uganda and Equatorial Africa

Kouilouensis: West Africa, Madagascar and Brazil