Arabica and Robusta – the differences

Taste and product, the differences between Arabica and Robusta?

We tell you something about the two main quality of coffee know in the world: Arabica and Robusta; to understand better the differences, from the point of view of product and the taste that comes in the cup.

Coffee rousting and the coffee brand, the most famouse and the artisanal ones such ABC caffè, produce coffee blends always with secret selections of coffee, often Arabica and Robusta different together or only Arabica coffee and only Robusta coffee.

Coffee blends are always secret and often mention the respective percentages of Arabica and Robusta, but they never clearly mention the variety of one or the other, which is very important.

Let’s start by telling you about the cleary differences that are expressed when tasting and which result in a cup, to then explain the reasons that come from the product and its treatment.

If you like a strong coffee with a rich taste, with an intense and persistent aroma, full-bodied and with a chocolatey taste, you are certainly lovers of Robusta coffee, or a coffee blend with a good percentage of Robusta.
The Robusta coffee has a caffeine between 1.7% and 3.5% depending on the variety.

Arabica coffee is aromatic and fragrant, it is more delicate and soft, almost sweet but at the same time slightly acid. If you prefer this type of coffee you are a lover of Arabica coffee or with a good percentage of Arabica.
Arabica coffee has about half or one third of Robusta’s caffeine, from 0.8% to 1.5%.

The arabica and robusta beans are easily distinguished. The Arabica beens are more long, oval; the Robusta beens instead have a more rounded shape and present a more or less straight furrow.

The Arabica coffea species covers about 70% of world production, Robusta coffee about 28% and the remaining 2% is the minor species of Liberica coffee and Excelsa coffee.

Arabica –
It is the most fine quality of coffee. It is originates in the mountainous territory of Ethiopia and was cultivated for the first time in today’s Yemen. The Arabica grows luxuriantly in the tropical areas between 900 and 2,200 meters above sea level, with temperatures no higher than 20 ° and with a little shade. This species is more delicate than the Robusta variety; it does not tolerate drought or continuous rain, frost or strong wind. This plant thrives easily in Central America and South America, but also in the eastern coasts of Africa.
From the white flowers the fruit (the drupe) is generated which from the green then matures will become red.
Each berry usually contains two seeds or Arabica coffee beans with a greenish yellow color.
Precisely because of their delicacy, Arabica coffee beans must be treated more delicately even during roasting, with greater attention, with lower temperatures and precise times.

Robusta –  Is the second quality of coffee most produced in the world after Arabica. Discovered in the 18th century in Congo, it owes its name to its particular resistance to diseases and parasites. It grows in Brazil, Africa and South-East Asia.
This species is characterized by its adaptability, growth speed and high tolerance to temperature changes, which are decidedly more pronounced than in Arabica.
The Robusta plant is cultivated in flat areas between 200 and 800 meters above sea level, even sunny areas, and produces coffee beans with a bronze yellow color.

What is the best?

Certainly the coffee must satisfy our senses, aroma, taste, smell … it must touch the tongue from the palate and remain in the mouth with taste, but which one is more suitable for us is only a subjective choice.

It is not said that it is the most expensive coffee, it is not necessarily the Arabica coffee that from the chemical point of view is the most complex; perhaps we prefer only a well-combined mixture of the different varieties of the two species.

The important thing is that it is a good coffee, a ABC caffé, prepared in the right way.

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