Coffea Canephora – Robusta Coffee
While there are numerous species of coffee plants, there are two species that are predominantly consumed. Coffea Arabica may be the most commonly consumed coffee plant but Coffea Robusta accounts for approximately 25% to 40% of the coffee grown in the world.
Emile Laurent discovered coffee canephora growing wild in the Congo in 1898, he named it Coffea Laurentii. This coffee was commercially cultivated by an horticultural firm in Brussels, they called it Coffee Robusta. Coffea Robusta is the most commonly grown variety of the Coffea canephora species of coffee plant.
Coffea canephora is grown mostly in Africa and Brazil, where it is often called Conillon. It is also grown in Southeast Asia where French colonists introduced the crop to Vietnam in the late 19th Century. Vietnam is now the second largest coffee exporter after Brazil.
The Coffea Robusta coffee plant is a robust shrub that can grow up to heights of 10 to 12 feet.
Unlike Coffea Arabica coffee plants, the Robusta coffee plant does not need to grow at high altitudes, as a result, it is grown in areas that are between sea level and 800 meter elevation ranges.
Coffea robusta has a shallow root system and the fruits that grow from the plant take up to 11 months to mature.
Robusta tends to be less susceptible to problems related to pests and rough handling, as a result, robusta tends to yield more pounds of finished coffee beans per acre at a lower cost of production than arabica coffee plants. The cherries that grow on the robusta coffee plant require less care, as they remain on the trees after it ripens.
While robusta coffee can range in taste from neutral to harsh, the best robusta coffee cannot match the flavour of Arabica coffee. Once roasted, robusta coffee tends to deliver a distinctive earthy flavour, usually with more bitterness than arabica. This powerful flavour can be desirable in a blend to give it perceived “strength” and “finish”, robusta is used widely in Italian espresso blends to promote the formation of crema. In France, blends with around 70% robusta and 30% arabica are marketed as “traditional” coffee. Usually, coffee brewed from these blends or from straight robusta are mixed in even parts with hot milk in a cup or bowl before drinking.
Robusta has about twice the amount of caffeine compared to arabica