Readers of our articles on Buyorganiccoffee.org will have realized that our decided coffee preference is Arabica coffee as opposed to Robusta or other kinds.. They will also have noted that there are many varieties of Arabica coffee. In fact, there are more than ten thousand different varieties of coffee! The majority of these are not commercially available or even commercially viable as they are sub-varieties growing where coffee started in the mountains of Ethiopia. Nevertheless, for those interested in checking out different coffee varieties, here is a bit of useful information.
What Is a Coffee Variety?
Varieties of coffee are types that are genetically different from each other. The genetic differences result in slightly different tastes, aromas, caffeine content, plant size, plant yield, tolerance of extreme temperatures, resistance to plant diseases and pests, and productive life of the coffee plants. A commonly used example for varieties is the apple. There are Granny Smiths, Gala, and Red Delicious. A red delicious may be better for peeling and eating but Granny Smith is generally better for making an apple pie! Similarly with coffee, slight genetic differences will result in a coffee that you prefer versus another that you dislike.
How Do New Coffee Varieties Happen?
Coffee grows in the wild. It started in Africa but can grow anywhere in the tropical regions of the world. When a plant is left alone it may experience genetic changes. If the changes result in better survival, the changes are passed on and when genetic changes are damaging that strain commonly dies out. This process has to do with plant survival and little to do with you getting the best cup of coffee.
Commercial Coffee Varieties
Since humankind first started domesticating plants about 10,000 years ago, people have chosen the seeds of the best tasting, best producing, hardiest, individual plants and selectively replanted them. This speeds the process so that it goes faster than natural selection. And, while plants are selected for their hardiness they are also selected for taste, aroma, ability to store their fruit, and any other quality that humans wish. Thus, we have high quality Arabica coffee and its many sub-varieties because it is a great coffee.. And we have Robusta and its sub-varieties because it produces more caffeine, larger plants, and greater yield. Since the arrival of coffee leaf rust on the scene, growers have selected for qualities of plants that confer resistance to the disease. Folks like the Colombian Coffee Growers Association have even cross bred Arabica and varieties like Robusta to obtain greater disease resistance. The goal is always to preserve the fine taste and aroma of Arabica while gaining resistance against leaf rust and other plant diseases.
How Many Arabica Varieties Are There?
Although there are more than 100 potentially available commercial coffee species and thousands of wild species, there are many fewer commercially viable varieties or cultivars, which is a common term for domestic varieties. An early domesticated variety or cultivar is tipica. This was the variety of coffee that first left Ethiopia for the Arabian peninsula and subsequently was grown all over the world. A problem with basic typica is that it has a poor yield and is susceptible to plant diseases. This issue has been remedied by creating typical sub-varieties such as Arusha, Benguet, Bergendal Sidikalang, Bernardina, Blue Mountain, a Bourbon varieties, Catuai, Catimor, Caturra, Kona, Maragogipe (a natural typical mutation), Mundo Novo, Pacamara, Pacas (natural mutation), Pache Colis, Pache Comum, Sagada, and Santos. In a major coffee growing region like Colombia the predominant varieties are standard Arabica (typica), Bourbon, and Caturra.
Why Are Some Coffee Varieties More Common?
Coffee farmers are creatures of habit. They plant the same variety of coffee on the same land time and time again because they get a good yield of a good coffee and a good price for their product. They generally only change varieties when they have been having problems with disease like leaf rust. In this case a grower in Colombia would change from standard Arabica or typica to Caturra because it has a higher resistance to leaf rust. Because a healthy Arabica coffee plant can produce normally for thirty years and as long as fifty with lower yield, it is entirely possible that a grower is never confronted with the need to plant new plants and thus consider different varieties in their working lifetime. On the other hand, when left rust or other infestations kill entire fields of coffee, this becomes an issue. When a coffee variety reliably produces good yield, acceptable disease resistance, and a good price it goes into common use and that only changes when those conditions change.
Thus, for the coffee drinker interested in finding new varieties to try, it can be difficult to find most of them unless one were to travel to remote regions of the world where a given variety is grown and consumed.