Gourmet Coffee Beans – Whats the Difference between Arabica and Robusta?

Arabica vs. Robusta coffee beans
What is the difference between Arabica and Robusta gourmet coffee?

While both widely cultivated, Coffea Arabica (Arabica) and Coffea Canephora (Robusta) display marked differences. The coffee beans are different. The plants are different. And consequently, the use varies as well.

Arabica is grown at higher altitudes. Its cultivation demands great care, and it can be likened to the finest grapes grown at the world's leading vineyards. Its rich flavor and smooth tastes. Its no bitterness. Its usually not real strong either.

Robusta, as the name suggests, is a hardier plant, and it displays greater resistance to climate and weather conditions, diseases and heat. Its strong flavor and harshness, It can be bitterness and strong aftertastes. Its lots of flavor.

Perhaps the most significant difference rests in the cup.

Arabica is distinctly milder and more aromatic. It possesses fewer sharp and bitter tastes than Robusta, and it is therefore considered the superior species by those who cultivate specialty coffees, single estates and varietals. Its also rarer and more expensive.

Robusta is renowned for its higher caffeine content, which is why Italians began using it for espresso. Its hardy flavor. Its easier to grow and can be grown at low and high altitudes.

The coffees are also botanically different. Arabica's greater complexity derives from its 44 chromosomes – twice the number of Robusta. An Arabica bean is flatter and more elongated; in addition, and the furrow on its flat surface is elongated. It is relatively deep green in color before roasting, sometimes with a bluish tinge.

The Robusta bean is more convex and roundish. The bean's furrow is straight, and it is pale green with grey or brownish tinges.

next -> Gourmet coffee bean Price Economics