Robusta | Arabica vs Robusta

Robusta

Robusta coffee flourishes at low altitudes. This makes it easy to grow almost anywhere in the world. Robusta was once responsible for over 60% of the world’s coffee, although in recent years this is dwindling as the consumer's palate becomes more sophisticated and the demand for Arabica increases. Robusta beans are high in caffeine content but lacking in aromatics. Robusta has a rather coarse taste and leaves an oily sensation on your palate.

A Robusta plant produces easily because growing conditions at lower altitudes are better and more accessible to modern farming and harvesting equipment. The soil has more nutrients and there is plenty of rainfall so the roots do not have to go deep in search of sustenance. For Robusta, life is not stressful so it reproduces prolifically. Robusta coffees are the bean of choice for bulk productions such as instant coffee or as a filler to bulk up blended coffees.

The bulk of the world's Robusta supply comes from developing countries where strict wet and dry production process are not adhered to. Some of these Robusta producers use a more traditional form of the Wet process where the cherry is not pulped straight away, but instead is allowed to dry with the coffee beans inside. This causes the bean to ferment inside the cherry as it dries, the end result being that that coffee has a "sickly sweet" taste.

With the general coffee consumer's palate becoming more sophisticated, many Robusta producers are switching to a better wet/dry process. While these coffees are much better than traditionally produced Robusta, they are still not in the league of a well produced Arabica coffee.

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