If you drink coffee you’ve probably noticed the words ‘Robusta’ and ‘Arabica’ on labels or packaging, at some point in time. But between firing off an email, inhaling breakfast, and walking to your office, it’s not like you have time to consider the origins of your daily coffee and the beans behind it.

Robusta and Arabica refer to the two main types of coffee beans which make up most of the coffee we drink. Robusta, as the name implies, is tougher, less susceptible to disease and insects, higher in caffeine, but only constitutes about 30 percent of world supply. It is grown commercially as it can survive at low altitudes, produce relatively high yields and doesn’t cost a lot to produce. It doesn’t produce a great tasting coffee though - imagine oatmeal mixed up with cardboard - and is thus is most often blended to make espresso coffee where its oily character can develop a good crema (the frothy bit on the top). A lot of coffee brands and shops use it as “filler” in their blends to maximise profits due to its low cost.

Arabica requires more care and attention, can be grown at higher altitudes, has lower caffeine content, and constitutes over 70 percent of the global supply in coffee. This is where the most similarities with wine occur as you could almost apply the word “terroir” to the crops. Rich and moist soils, combined with the milder climates at these higher altitudes, lead a some truly great flavoursome beans. As they are more difficult to grow in this terrain, arabica beans command a higher price due to the lower yields. Like wine, it’s the where, how, and who of the coffee growing process that determines the quality and taste.

Who drinks what around the world?

Arabica is significantly more common. There is something to be said for trusting the market, especially when it is universal, and as widely traded a commodity as coffee. Almost all of us have had a hand in this market, by voting with our wallets, and countries like Brazil have responded with a steady and vast supply of low-grade Arabica beans which are blended with other varieties to make the coffees that most of us drink.

Clearly Arabica is generally assumed to be the superior bean. Robusta must have some redeeming features, surely? Price, market requirements, and in some countries - like Italy and France - taste, keeps Robusta in demand. It can be blended to increase the quantity of an Arabica harvest. For supermarkets, where there is a longer timescale between harvesting and drinking, Robusta is ideal. Albeit lacking in most of the flavour we know you are missing out on.

The Kopi Choice

At Kopi all the coffee we have sourced and sold to date has been Arabica. This is not to say we would never consider Robusta, but in our quest to find the highest quality, most unique, discerning flavours possible, we have not found a Robusta which can compete with the best Arabica. At the end of the day it all comes down to taste.