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| Photo by Vlada Karpovich |
Welcome back and happy Monday!
What's there to be so happy about it, you may ask. In that case you probably didn't have your coffee yet. Don't look any further, you've come to the right place!
As part of the A - Z Blogging Challenge, as well as the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I'm going to be talking you up about all things coffee!
Let's start with the distinction between the two main types of coffee: Arabica and Robusta.
Even though I am a proud Coffee Master Alumni who went through the process of studying many coffee facts, I learned something new upon researching these differentiations:
A factual explanation on why I did not like coffee before joining Starbucks.
What?
That's right. For the first 30 years of my life, I was a non-coffee drinker.
I liked everything about coffee culture: Getting together for a cup of, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, the food pairings.
However I did not like the taste of coffee. Correction: I did not like the taste of what I had been served as "coffee":
Instant coffee, drip coffee, light roast varieties. Pods and capsules didn't exist back then, but they would mostly fall into this category as well.
Interestingly these are the types of coffee that contain Robusta beans. What I didn't like was the strong, bitter and acidic aroma! Plus the watered-down feel of some coffees.
It all makes sense now! Robusta beans have more acidity but less sugar and less oils. Thanks to the double amount of chromosomes and oils, the fruits of Coffea Arabica have a great aromatic richness by nature.
Boom!
A bit of bad news though:
Harvesting of Arabica beans is done according to the individual ripeness of the coffee cherries. By hand. In steep terrain. Hence the high price.
What's more: Due to climate change, the sensitive Arabica bean will probably have a hard time in the future. High temperatures, temperature fluctuations, drought and heavy rain do not please the plant at all.
Robusta coffee, on the other hand, can cope better with such fluctuations, which is why the still fairly young market will most likely take up more space in the coffee market.
Speaking of... the global coffee market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.28% during the forecast period 2022 - 27.
Meaning we will need more coffee in the future.
However, many more hurdles than climate change must be overcome to meet demand. There are disease and infestation to battle, infrastructure and training investments are needed in the growing regions, succession planning has to happen on many farms, plus there's the good old economic cycle.
Just like oil, coffee is a tradeable commodity. And we all know what happens when demand increases: Prices rise as well.
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| Source: the Ice |
Friends, I could go on and on, telling you about coffee cultivation, processing and roasting. Good thing the month is still young, so we will definitely cover some more. Actually tomorrow you'll learn about roasting, so be sure to drop in!
For now you deserve a nice cup of whatever kind of coffee suits you best!
Which one is it?
PS: In case you're wondering whether your favourite coffee is made from Arabica or Robusta beans, and the label does not tell you, it's most likely Robusta. There's also blends containing a certain percentage of each.
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| Photo Credit: Burst |
I really began liking coffee after I tasted what here in South India we call 'Filter Coffee' . It is a sort of percolated coffee.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! Good info about differentiating between the two types. India especially south India has coffee plantations. Many people are drink only coffee. There are others who drink 'only' tea. Never the other!
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting. I drink coffee everyday. I make sure to buy organic/fair trade but have never thought about any other aspect. Can't wait to learn more!
ReplyDeleteI'm like you used to be. I love the idea of coffee, coffee shops, and the way it smells. But, I don't like the taste. It seems way too bitter, even with tons of sugar and milk. Now I'm wondering if I might like Arabica coffee. I'd love to become a coffee drinker.
ReplyDeleteI am with Danielle! I love the smell of coffee and going to visit coffee shops. But I still don't like the taste to drink. Weirdly enough, I like coffee ice cream and coffee flavor in other products. Just not to drink...
ReplyDeleteI used to buy coffee to brew in the morning to smell as I got ready for my day. I would then dump it out and go to work...
I think a big part of it is that my parents did not drink coffee either. They didn't like it. So maybe there's something genetic there.
I don't drink coffee, but I'll look forward to the x,y & z of coffee ;)
ReplyDeleteAll the best for the rest of the challenge.
Sharing this post with my husband, the avid coffee lover!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great informative post - which I enjoyed reading with a cup of wonderful fragrant and delicious coffee.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw a Good Eats episode about the different beans. It's interesting how so many things go into the growing of them.
ReplyDeleteI do like my morning coffee which I drink daily--usually two cups. I rarely buy coffee away from home unless I'm traveling and when I do it's typically the syrupy sweet coffee blends from McDonalds. I like Starbucks but don't get it often partly because it's so expensive and often they don't have a drive through. Most often when I do get Starbucks it's at the rest plazas on toll roads back east. Most often the coffee I buy for home consumption is the whole bean Jose's Columbian from Costco. Don't know what exactly kind it is but it's the one that my wife and I have come to like best.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Tossing It Out Battle of the Bands
I drink at least 4 cups of coffee every morning. I like mild roast but I also like flavored coffees. When my hubby worked at Sara Lee Coffee and Tea we had lots of choices and he could tell which beans made which coffee. He worked on the machines that ground and packaged it. We also got free coffee for about 18 years so it was a shock when we had to pay for it again after the plant shut down. He smelled so good when he came home from work!
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
There's alot to a cup of coffee. Good thing I'm not much of a coffee drinker these days. I have discovered that I really love the coffee premix with gingseng in the Chinese grocer. It's a 3 in 1 instant coffee. It's probably alot of the unhealthy stuff that makes it taste so good. And it doesn't keep me awake at night.
ReplyDeleteThese information helped me a lot to distinguish the type of coffee I prefer, which is Arabia. My son would definitely prefer Robusta.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these well researched information about coffee.
Have a good day!
Would you believe I'm 73 years old and NEVER had a cup of coffee?? Tea is for me!
ReplyDeleteI've never been a fan of any hot beverages other than the occasional hot cocoa. But, recently I developed a love of green tea so even though I don't drink coffee yet there's still hope. Weekends In Maine
ReplyDeletei used to drink gallons; now, it's barely a cup a day. perhas that's due to the lack of sociability during the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the growth of Brew houses which use drip coffee rather than Espresso machines - seems you can get a choice of more varieties that way since most espresso bars only have one grinder so only one variety of bean - thoughts please...
ReplyDeleteI only like plain black coffee if I'm having an extra rich sweet dessert, to cut the sweet. When I was pregnant with my youngest the smell of coffee made me sick. It was years before I could even try coffee again!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you didn't drink coffee for so long, but you're very knowledgeable!
ReplyDelete