Those Elusive Coffee Beans!
By Randy Wilson, Fri Dec 9th
With the spread of various coffee beans into our lives, it canbe more and more difficult to discern what you’re buying at themarket. And that’s not surprising given the sheer numbers game.
From what we know, there are more than 6,000 types of coffeesbeans in the world, with at least 25 major types of beansunderneath that. When it comes down to it, though, the threemost commercially important types of beans are Arabica, Robusta,and Kona.
Kona is extremely small commercially compared to Arabica andRobusta,
but is extremely expensive and therefore importanteconomically. Kona
beans are grown in Hawaii. Kona offersaverage bite and body but is
in high demand worldwide because ofits powerful aroma. These coffee
beans are rarely blended withothers because of their high desirability
in and of themselves.
Arabica coffee beans account for over
60% of coffee productionworldwide. The Arabica plant is a large
bush and is verysusceptible to frost, disease, and pests. Because
of this, itsbeans are more expensive.
Arabica can be used
in its pure form or used as the base forcoffee blends with Robusta.
Arabica has a delicate flavor and isused to add body to the coffee
when used in blends.
The flavor of Arabica beans varies
widely according to theregion of the world where they are grown.
Indonesian beansproduce the richest, most full-bodied cup of
coffee. Hailingfrom Java and Sumatra, the brew is a good dessert
coffee andvery suitable to flavoring with cream and sugar.
Arabica
beans grown in Central and South America offer moderatebody
and aroma. Most breakfast blends are made with Americancoffees,
as are most flavored coffees.
By contrast, Robusta
coffee accounts for almost 40% of worldproduction. Robusta
differs from Arabica in that it’s mucheasier to grow and
is resistant to disease and weather and istherefore cheaper.
However,
this does not necessarily mean that a coffee blend withRobusta
is lower quality than pure Arabica - coffee blends
