What is Arabic Coffee?

What do we mean when we say Arabica coffee?

There are more than twenty species of coffee (the botanical genus coffee), two of which represent the vast bulk of what is commerically cultivated and consumed in the world. Coffee arabica, known as Arabica, is native to the highlands of Ethiopia. Coffee canephora, known as Robusta, is native to the hotter, wetter lowland jungle forests of West Africa.

The two coffees have fundamental differences in their cultivation, resistance to disease, caffeine content and most significantly their taste!

ROBUSTA, as its name suggests, is a very hearty and will successfully grow at very low elevations. Robusta has a higher resistance to disease and has a much higher caffeine content than high grown Arabica coffees. For these reasons, Robusta is ideally suited to lowland areas where it is easy to irrigate and pick. Robusta has an unmistakable harsh earthy cup quality with very high extraction when brewed. Robusta is used most commonly as a filler in low cost commercial/grocery blend as well as instant coffee.

ARABICA, the gourmet’s choice for cup quality, is the most difficult variety to grow. Arabica varieties are delicate in nature and are sensitive to the impact of disease, soil, sun, moisture and elevation. Arabica coffee doesn’t ripen uniformly and therefore, must be selectively harvested (hand-picked). The best conditions for Arabica coffee trees are volcanic soils at elevations of 2000 to 6000 feet where cooler temperatures and shade canopies help to protect the trees from the intense tropical sun and heat. The general rule is the higher the elevation the cooler the temperatures and slower the ripening of the coffee cherries. The main consequence of slower ripening is that the beans become physically harder and it is bean hardness that is a critical consideration when coffee is graded. ” Hard Bean” coffees are generally cleaner tasting and more flavour specific, ultimately commanding a higher price in the marketplace.

Coffee is also graded by its method of preparation, wet processed (washed) or dry. Unfortunately the way coffee is graded is not conisistent as different origins do use different methods and terminology to describe the grades. For instance in Central America the highest grown Arabica coffees may be described as strictly Hard Beans or Strictly High Grown to indicate that they are grown at eloevations exceeding 4000′. A similar coffee from Africa may be described as AA grade or from Indonesia as a Grade 1. In recent years, coffees have also been graded according to their growing conditions such as “shade grown” or even “fairly traded”. The standards for such certifications are under ongoing evolution and review thus will vary from origin to origin.