Arabica: Accounting for 65% of global coffee production, basically all the delicious things you drink outside are Arabica.
Robusta: has a stronger taste and is more pungent. It is mostly used in instant coffee.
The three major native species are Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica (Liberica). Arabica production ranks first, with total production accounting for about 70-75% of the world's coffee. There are sub-varieties such as Bourbon and Tibica. Robusta accounts for approximately 20-25% of the world's total coffee production. Liberica only accounts for 3% of the total, and is mostly grown in the Asia-Pacific region. First, let’s analyze the difference between Arabica and Robusta through a chart.
As can be seen from the following three pictures, compared with the high-quality washed Robusta green beans (Picture 1) and Arabica Yirgacheffe (Picture 2), the color is yellow-brown and short and chubby. The Yerga green beans look more delicate and slender, and the color is beautiful blue-green. Figure 3 shows the cooked Robusta beans. After roasting, the Robusta beans look more plump.
The Royal Washed Robusta pictured above is grown in high altitude areas of Indonesia and India. It is worth mentioning that in recent years, a few countries (such as Indonesia, India and other regions) have been committed to improving the quality of Robusta coffee. They plant Robusta in high-altitude areas and cultivate it carefully in order to obtain high-quality green coffee beans.
At the same time, the use of water washing treatment can remove the odor of Luodou as much as possible to a certain extent, making the taste cleaner. Even the taste of relatively high-quality, finely processed robusta still cannot make up for its lack of innate flavor. When brewed by hand, it will show obvious characteristics of barley tea, peanuts and brown rice tea, with a heavy bitter taste and no sour taste. Generally, as an experience during lectures, we will make Luodou for students to taste.
The picture below is a comparison of the leaves of Arabica and Robusta. The leaves of the former are elongated and oval, while the leaves of the latter are wider and thicker. The difference in leaf size is already noticeable, not to mention the size of the plant. The height of Arabica coffee trees is usually 2 to 3 meters, and Robusta can generally reach more than 10 meters.
However, the value of Robusta is not limited to being a negative teaching material to set off the nobility of Arabica. It has an unshakable position in Italian blended beans. The Italian blending schools are divided into southern Italy and northern Italy. The roasting degree of northern Italy is lighter than that of southern Italy, and it is made with 100% Arabica beans. Southern Italy, which has a darker roasting degree and pursues a thicker taste, will add a small amount of Robusta to the blend to increase the mellowness of the coffee and produce an Espresso with richer oils. The blend of South Italian-style Espresso and milk presents a mellow and full taste. The milk coffee becomes richer and more fragrant because of the complementation of Robusta and Arabica. Robusta makes up for the mellowness of Arabica, and Arabica enhances the aroma of Robusta. At this time, blending is sublimated into an art.
The design concept of Front Street's classic blend is derived from the above ideas. It uses a 100% Arabica Mamba combination, Brazilian Red Bourbon and Indonesian Mandheling, and adds a small amount of Robusta. Because it is medium-dark roasted, it emits obvious aromas of butter, toast, and caramel biscuits during extraction. It has a strong flavor, solid taste, and delicate oil. The extraction is very stable, making it a must-have home coffee for beginners.
If you want to make the same taste as a coffee shop, or want to be a host, then Front Street Commercial Blend is your first choice. Compared with other espresso coffees, Front Street Commercial Blend adopts the typical combinations of Brazil and Colombia, and also adds a small amount of Robusta, which adds to the original flavor level. The coffee shows complex nutty aromas such as almonds, almonds, and walnuts. It has good oil fluidity, low acidity and mellow taste. Coupled with the price advantage, it is undoubtedly the best choice for opening a store.
Robusta has also made certain contributions in the research and development of new coffee varieties. Although Arabica has rich aroma and delicate taste, it is not tolerant to drought and waterlogging, has weak disease resistance, and has a lower yield than Robusta. In order to improve the disease resistance and yield of a certain variety, Arabica and Robusta are first crossed and then backcrossed to select genes to pursue new varieties with high quality flavor, strong disease resistance and high yield.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
