Coffee Varieties
There are numerous varieties of coffee in the world, it is a world that becomes complex as we investigate its innumerable classifications.
This is a very interesting topic and one in which we can get deeply lost but, don't worry! We tell you about it in the most entertaining way possible.
Many ignorant people have tried to grow coffee in Europe and other places outside the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Poor fools!! Coffee in all its botanical varieties, belonging to the Rubiaceae family, which has more than 500 subgenera, including Coffea, does not develop its full potential without the optimal climatic characteristics for it.
Thus, the cultivation of coffee broke the minds of many thinkers and researchers in the past. We are talking about before the colonial era!
And as we have mentioned, coffee varieties only grow in the tropics, so for many years its cultivation remained in its place of origin, central Africa and part of southern Asia.
Until we Europeans began to expand into the new world, which was not new! and we introduced different varieties of coffee plants to those parts. Thus making the true conqueror of the world the capricious and unique Coffea.
And so far more than 120 species of coffee have been catalogued, and of all of them, only 4 have been commercialized, and not in equal parts ! that its cultivation for little is not easy either.
These four capricious species of coffee plants that have been domesticated have in turn given rise, due to plant mutations or mutations caused by the hand of the coffee grower, to numerous varieties of coffee.
So let's REcap:
Coffea — Coffee species (+ 120) — Cultivable coffee species (4) — Arabica / Robusta / Liberica / Excelso.
Of these four varieties of the coffee plant we find that not all of them produce the same coffee, thus, the fence closes a little more and we end up with:
Robusta Arabica
These two species of coffee have equalized the international coffee market for two reasons that we will see below:
Arabica Due to its aromatic properties, it can be considered the pretty girl of coffee. Its value is intrinsic in its grains, loaded with sweet flavors and beautiful aromas. Being today the most demanded in the world of specialty coffee.
Robust ; On the other hand, this is the toughest of all cultivable species, since it resists the inclement weather and diseases better than any other. Although its fruits are not as rich as the previous one, its production in 2023 accounted for more than 40%. From the market.
Now yes, we come to the coffee varieties! And either due to their own mutations or due to the influence of the coffee grower, these plants and the search for their maximum splendor have evolved as they have conquered the world.
It is up to us to talk about the coffee varieties of the Arabica plant, recognized by all as the plant that provides us with the best fruits but also as the weakest of all cultivable varieties.
It is best to observe the Coffee family tree ( Created by Café Imports, specialty coffee importers):
But wait! This does not stop here since new varieties come out from time to time so this tree is in continuous development.
The most incredible thing is that each of these coffee varieties, depending on how they are grown in one place or another, develop different aromatic characteristics. This is due to contact with the flora that surrounds them, so a coffee of the variety: Arabica—Typica— java does not have to have the same aromatic profile as an arabica—typica—maragogype.
In short, this thing about coffee and its varieties can be too complex if we get into it in depth, but it is fun to understand and curious to know.