Basic history of the coffee trees
The original cradle of coffee trees originated in Africa, including three main popular bean varieties: Arabica coffee, Canephora coffee, and Liberia.
1. Arabica coffee
The major genera of Arabica include Ethiopian Heirloom or Arabica (flavors vary depending on soil, altitude, and weather), Bourbon (complex, sweet, and delicate flavor), and Typical (showing pronounced sweetness). , cleaner (cleanliness), bolder (body) than Bourbon)Arabica beans variety, also known as coffee, was discovered in the theKaffa region(the word Kaffa or Kafe is the origin of the word Coffee) of Ethiopia, bordering present-day South Sudan.
Today, some wild varieties of coffee trees are still growing throughout the forest border between these two countries. Commonly named Ethiopia Heirloom due to the unknown genetic source of each coffee cultivar grown in Ethiopia.
In the 8th century, seeds of the arabica plant from Ethiopia were brought to Yemen. The Arabs in Yemen began to grow, roast, and get the finished product by sea to Europe for basic trade.
Since then, the name Moka of Yemen has been included in the history of coffee; this is the name of a type of coffee plant belonging to the Arabica variety, and also a famous trading port for a while. It was not until the 17th century when the monopoly on selling coffee in Yemen was broken that some Dutch merchants brought this plant to grow. Set the stage for European countries to plant throughout the colonies in Asia and America. Arabica is considered the most popular coffee plant globally and produces the wealthiest coffee flavors.
2. Canephora coffee
The variety Canephora, also known as coffee, was discovered along the Lomani River, a tributary of the Congo River. This basic variety is divided into two main “lineages” in the commercial they are all collectively known as Robusta due to the common flavor characteristics.
“The Guinean line” or Robusta, is distributed in Central African countries such as the Ivory Coast and the Republic of Guinea. The “Congo River,” or Conilon, comes from West African countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon along the Kwillou River. Considered the second most popular coffee variety after Arabica. The place with a lot of Robusta production is Vietnam, and in terms of quality, it is Uganda, the Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
3. Liberica
3.1. The LibericaorExcelsavariety, also known as jackfruit coffee, was discovered in coffee’s Liberia, stretching to Uganda and Angola. This variety is popularly grown in Europe in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This is a less popular coffee variety because the flavor is not as rich as Arabica, and the yield is not as good as that of Robusta. There is also another hybrid line between Arabica and Robusta called Timor Hybrid, which comes from hybridization in nature—first discovered on the island of Timor in Indonesia.
3.2.The Timor Hybrid line has the dominant characteristics of two Arabica and Robusta lines as follows:
3.2.1. The flavor is better than Robusta but not as good as Arabica.
3.2.2. The ability to adapt to the environment and disease resistance is better than Arabica but not as good as Robusta.
3.2.3. The price will be above Robusta and below Arabica.
4. Summarize
There are about 125 identified coffee types in the world today, but only two are economically viable: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (the scientific name of the Robusta coffee plant)
As for the Specialty Coffee industry, we know that we can only tap into the flavor potential of Arabica coffee – a coffee variety grown at higher altitudes that contain about half the caffeine and often have more nuances and flavors than Robusta.
However, within the Arabica coffee variety itself, there are hundreds or even thousands of sub-varieties, each of which contains potential flavors far beyond the arrangement of nature.