What influences cup quality?
Hendon says the quality of the green coffee beans has the largest influence on the outcome of the cup. Its impact is huge compared with those of roast, water chemistry, and brewing technique (to emphasize, this chart is assuming that the brewer is trying and has technique; an ill-equipped automatic machine in place of the Brewing slice would destroy the rest of the pie). Another way to look at this is to realize that there are limits to what a great roaster and a great brewer can do to improve coffee’s quality. Neither can bring low-quality or defective beans back from the dead. Because the quality of green coffee beans is so important, let’s start by tackling the difference between arabica and robusta beans.
A Tale of Two Species
Coffea, the coffee plant, is a flowering tree that produces small red or purple fruit called cherries. Coffee cherries are drupes (stone fruit), but unlike more familiar drupes such as peaches and apricots, they are grown for their seeds (coffee beans) rather than for their flesh. Each cherry usually contains two coffee beans. According to the National Coffee Association, a single coffee tree produces about 10 pounds of coffee cherries a year, which equals about 2 pounds of green coffee beans. Coffee beans weigh less after roasting, so it’s safe to say that an entire coffee tree produces less than two pounds of roasted coffee per year!
A few species of coffee plants grow in the wild, but only two matter to us: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. They are better known as arabica and robusta, respectively. Most of the commercial coffee grown in the world (70 to 80 percent) is arabica. Originating in the forests of Ethiopia and Sudan, arabica is of distinctly higher quality than robusta. Robusta, which was discovered in 1898 in western and central sub-Saharan Africa, tends to be bitter and unbalanced due to its comparatively low acidity, lipid content, and sugar concentration. I’ve seen it described as tasting like “burnt tires” and “a wet paper bag,” so that gives you an idea of what to expect. However, robusta plants produce about twice as many pounds of beans per plant and impart to those beans almost double the amount of caffeine as arabica plants. They are also generally resistant to the diseases known to destroy arabica fields (e.g., coffee berry disease and coffee leaf rust).
Yes, robusta is robust—in every sense of the word—and its heartiness, productiveness, and aggressive flavor make it less expensive to cultivate and buy. From an economic standpoint, robusta beans cost about half as much as arabica beans, and historically it has not been uncommon for big US commodity brands (aka the common household brands you find at every grocery store) to use robusta in their blends. Today, you’ll find robusta mostly used as filler in lower-quality, mass-market coffee products. Additionally, almost all instant coffee is robusta. However, higher-quality robusta is often still used in espresso blends, particularly Italian-style espresso blends, as it’s thought to provide the desired bold flavor, add extra caffeine, and enhance the crema (the thin layer of caramel-colored foam on top of an espresso shot). But generally speaking, most craft coffee roasters likely would never consider using robusta outside of espresso blends. This makes it irrelevant to our discussion, which is why I’ll focus on arabica from here on out.
To be clear, not all arabica beans are created equal. Green coffee beans are graded and scored before they are exported to the United States (coffee is usually transported in its green state to maintain its freshness; roasted coffee turns stale rather quickly). First, the beans are sorted according to size, shape, weight, color, and defects—all of which are associated with quality—at the processing mill. The specific terminology of this complicated system can vary from country to country, but the idea is to separate the beans into categories from highest quality to lowest quality.
Green Coffee Prices
The pricing sweet spot for a typical specialty roaster might be between $2.50 and $6 per pound for green coffee, but the most expensive beans, often sold at auction, can cost $20, $50, or even $100 per pound. (However, prices that high tend to be linked to rarity or novelty as opposed to top-notch quality.) In contrast, commodity coffee at the time of this writing is about $1.45 to $1.55 per pound. High-quality beans require a tremendous amount of human attention and care, which is reflected in the price. This is why craft coffee costs more than commodity coffee.
Because no one can determine how coffee will taste just by looking at it, people called Q graders brew and taste (i.e., cup) samples of roasted beans right at origin to determine their quality and assign a score to each lot. They score the beans from 0 to 100 based on standardized SCA criteria. To be considered specialty-grade coffee—the grade that specialty and craft roasters use—beans must receive a score of at least 80. While a coffee review website might mention such scores, you’re unlikely to see them on a bag of beans or hear a barista talking to customers about them. Scoring is pretty inside baseball.
What makes a bean bad? Defects, subpar growing conditions, and faulty processing methods—all of which are distilled in the taste of the cup—will reduce a bean’s score. However, lower-scoring beans are cheaper, so they are still used in plenty of mass-market coffee products. Conversely, craft roasters and shops strive to select the highest-quality green coffee available to them within their budget. They try to partner with farmers and importers that treat coffee production like a craft. Together, coffee producers, importers, roasters, and craft coffee shops have all been raising the bar; as a result, a greater variety of high-quality beans are available than ever before.
VARIETALS AND CULTIVARS
I’ve already discussed the differences between the species arabica and the species robusta, but there are also several different types of arabica, known as varietals. According to the SCA, a varietal “retains most of the characteristics of the species, but differs in some way.” In other words, it is genetically and characteristically distinct from its parent plant. Often, a varietal is born when a plant spontaneously produces a mutation or crosses with another varietal, creating traits in the resulting plant that coffee producers find desirable.
A cultivar is a varietal that humans deliberately cultivate, such as when scientists cross two coffee plants to create a new plant with more favorable traits. It’s rare to see or hear the word cultivar used outside of the scientific community, however; the coffee industry uses the word varietal as an umbrella term for both varietals and cultivars. A bag of coffee may name varietals even if what’s inside of it is technically a cultivar. For the sake of consistency with the industry, I will stick with the term varietal here.
Within the world of Coffea arabica, there are two primary varietals: typica and bourbon. To understand where these came from, we have to go back to Ethiopia, coffee’s birthplace. According to the SCA, coffee was first exported from Ethiopia, its homeland, to Yemen, which is just across the Red Sea from Ethiopia. Yemen, in turn, transported coffee plants all over the world. Those that were taken to Java (an island of Indonesia) are said to be the ancestors of what we know today as typica. Those that ended up on Île Bourbon (a French island known today as Île de la Réunion) are the ancestors of bourbon. (You may have guessed that the French are responsible for this terminology, but note that the coffee varietal is not pronounced like the whiskey; it’s pronounced burr-BONE). From there, many new varietals developed from the original typica and bourbon plants.
As mentioned earlier, arabica plants are more susceptible to disease and generally yield less coffee than their robusta counterparts. But because arabica beans are of much higher quality than robusta beans, farmers are constantly trying to find the best arabica varietal, one that produces good yields and does not fall to disease. Over the years, this has led to numerous types of arabica plants—too many to describe here. Let’s take a closer look at a few you are most likely to hear about or see listed on a bag of coffee. Note that although each coffee varietal has certain characteristics, it can be difficult to predict exactly how any given varietal will taste, as flavor is so heavily influenced by the coffee’s specific growing conditions.
Typica and Related Coffees
One of the grandmothers of arabica varietals, typica is still grown all over the world today, especially in Central America, Jamaica, and Indonesia. It often contains what industry folks call a malic acidity, kind of like what you might taste in an apple. High-quality typicas usually produce a clean cup, which means the coffee is free of off-flavors and negative attributes related to defects. Additionally, typicas are often noted for their sweetness and body. Compared with bourbon plants, typica plants have longer seeds and yield about 20 to 30 percent less coffee. They can also fall prey to all major coffee pests and diseases. In sum, typica plants are capable of producing beans with high cup quality, but they are relatively delicate and low producers. Many of the varietals described in the following sections were created in the hopes of remedying these problems.
MARAGOGYPE/MARAGOGIPE
Pronounced mara-go-HEAP-ay, this varietal is a natural mutation of typica that was discovered in Brazil around 1870. Although it’s relatively low yielding, everything about the maragogype plant is huge: its general size, its leaves, and its beans. Because of these large beans, it takes a bit more skill on the roaster’s part to get the final product right. Maragogype is not grown often (its low yield is not worth it to many farmers), but its relative rarity seems to pique people’s interests and give it some allure. At its best, maragogype’s cup quality is considered among the highest of all coffee beans.
KENT (K7)
This was the first coffee plant cultivated for leaf-rust resistance (although it’s now susceptible to new strains of the disease). Most people believe this varietal was derived from typica grown on the Kent estate in India, but it has since been planted all over the country. A version of Kent called K7 is popular in Kenya.
KONA
Kona coffee is one of the most expensive and prized coffees in the world. It’s not a true varietal (although growers sometimes call it “Kona typica”), as its distinct taste doesn’t come from its genetic makeup. Instead, it comes from the unique (and highly regulated) growing conditions and methods of the Kona region in Hawai’i. Kona farmers were among the first to treat coffee cultivation as a craft—and at a time when few were doing so. (Today, producers everywhere are doing the same thing, and when that aligns with ideal growing conditions, you get superior coffee, even outside of Kona.) You can think of Kona as a brand name of typica. The Kona region isn’t very big, which makes this coffee relatively rare, and because of this, you are most likely to see “Kona blends” (which can contain as little as 10 percent Kona) rather than pure Kona coffee. Is this coffee worth the hype? I’ve personally never tasted it, but I’ve noticed a growing sentiment among coffee people that suggests it may be a little overrated. That being said, I would definitely try it if given the chance!
BLUE MOUNTAIN
Like Kona, this is another branded typica (some Blue Mountain growers may use other trees, but most use typica), this time from the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica oversees this coffee’s growth and processing, and all Blue Mountain coffee sold under that name has been certified by the board. Blue Mountain is said to produce a cup that is well balanced, with bright acidity and almost no bitterness. Like Kona, it’s expensive, and I’ve heard people question whether the price and hype are warranted.
Bourbon and Related Coffees
This is the other grandmother of arabica coffee. Because of its high yield, bourbon rose in popularity quickly after its development on Île Bourbon, and it’s now grown all over the world. Bourbons tend to be sweet, complex, and delicate with crisp acidity, although, like most coffee beans, bourbon beans can taste different depending on where they are grown. While most coffee cherries are red, some bourbon plants can produce cherries that are pink, yellow, or orange. (Occasionally, you may see coffee labeled as “pink bourbon” or “red bourbon”—now you know that those names refer to the color of the coffee plant’s fruit.) A number of popular varietals have stemmed from the bourbon plant, and despite the coveted characteristics of bourbon, some of these varietals have replaced bourbon plants in many parts of the world because they produce higher yields or are more resistant to disease.
CATURRA
A natural dwarf mutation (meaning the plant is short) of bourbon first found in Brazil in 1937, caturra is more productive and more disease resistant than its mom, bourbon. It’s now popular in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, although Brazil still grows a decent amount of it. Caturra tends to produce cups that have bright, citric acidity and low-to-medium bodies. While the cup quality is good, it’s usually considered to be of lower quality than bourbon. When the two varietals are compared, caturra tends to be less sweet and less clean in the cup. Some roasters compare it to pinot noir, as it can have an astringent quality similar to what tannins give red wine.
SL28 AND SL34
Commissioned by the Kenyan government in the 1930s to identify a high-quality, high-yielding, and disease- and drought-resistant coffee plant, Scott Laboratories selected SL28 and SL34 (both generally considered to be of bourbon descent). Though SL28 is not high yielding or disease resistant, its beans are considered to be of a deliciously high quality. In fact, some say its characteristics (juicy body, black-currant acidity, intense sweetness, tropical flavor notes) are unlike those of any other coffee in the world. SL34 is a bit more productive than SL28, and although it’s still considered a high-quality bean, it’s not considered as exciting or flavorful as SL28.
TEKISIC
This relative of bourbon was developed in El Salvador by the Salvadoran Institute for Coffee Research (ISIC) and was first released for commercial production in 1977. The tekisic plant, which has a slightly higher yield than bourbon (but is still considered relatively low yielding), produces small cherries and beans. However, coffee professionals tend to consider it of excellent quality when grown at high elevations. It’s said to be sweet, with notes of caramel or brown sugar, complex acidity, and a heavy mouthfeel. According to World Coffee Research, the name comes from the Nahuatl word tekiti, which means work—very apropos considering the ISIC spent almost 30 years developing it.
VILLA SARCHI
This is a natural dwarf mutation of bourbon that was first cultivated in the town of Sarchi, Costa Rica, in the mid-1900s. Today, Villa Sarchi is still relatively rare outside of Costa Rica. It’s more productive than its parent, bourbon, and it’s known to do particularly well on organic farms and in extremely high-elevation environments, as it is resilient in the face of strong winds. The quality of the cup can vary greatly based on how the beans were processed, but its flavors are generally fruity, sweet, and acidic.
PACAS
Pacas is another natural dwarf mutation of bourbon, this time from El Salvador. It was discovered in 1949 and named after the family who owned the farm where it was found. In the cup, it’s said to be similar to bourbon, but it tends to be less sweet. The pacas plant is slightly more productive than bourbon due to its small size, which allows the producer to plant more of it in the same area. Today, it’s most commonly grown in its home country and Honduras.
Crosses of Typicas, Bourbons, and Their Relatives
PACAMARA
This is a cross between pacas and maragogype. Like its maragogype parent, pacamara’s cherries and seeds are relatively big. The cup profile is said to be quite unique, with floral notes and lots of acidity. Professional cuppers often consider this bean to be among those of the highest quality when grown in the right conditions. On the downside, these plants are extremely susceptible to coffee leaf rust.
MUNDO NOVO
In the 1940s, the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC) in Brazil decided to cultivate this natural cross between typica and bourbon (a variety called red bourbon, to be exact). Some sources say as much as 40 percent of coffee plants in Brazil are mundo novo. The plant is relatively productive (about 30 percent more than bourbon) and disease resistant, which producers tend to like. A typical cup may have notes of dark berries,
chocolate, citrus, or spice.
CATUAÍ
This varietal is a cross between yellow caturra and mundo novo that was also created by Brazil’s IAC. Like its caturra parent, the catuaí plant is relatively short and more productive than bourbon. Now grown all over Latin America, it produces red and yellow cherries, although some roasters believe the red is superior to the yellow. A typical cup is high in acidity, and the best cups are considered of good but not exceptional quality. According to World Coffee Research, the word catuaí is derived from the term multo mom, which means very good in Guarani, an indigenous language in South America.
Arabica/Robusta Hybrids
You know by now that due to robusta’s inherently poor quality in the cup, craft roasters rarely use it outside of espresso blends. But robusta does yield a lot of fruit and is significantly more resilient than arabica. Forced to choose between the pros and cons of each species, growers have not stopped hoping there is a way to get the best of both worlds. Enter hibrido de Timor, aka the Timor hybrid, a naturally occurring cross (many say the only naturally occurring cross) between an arabica plant and a robusta plant that was discovered on its island namesake of Southeast Asia. In the late 1970s, Timor plants were taken to the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Flores, where they continued to evolve, especially in breeding programs designed to perfect the plant so that it produced high-quality beans. The plant is supremely resistant to coffee leaf rust, unlike most arabica coffee plants, but because of its low cup quality, it is not very popular among craft roasters. There continues to be interest in some of its progeny, however.
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