Coffee Beans – Types, flavors, and aromas explained.
This one is for your veteran coffee drinkers, your coffee connoisseurs. The ones that don’t just drink coffee, but rather admire every taste and aroma that is brewed into their cup.
Introducing an analysis of your Liberica, Robusta, and Arabica coffee beans – what they look like, taste like, smell like, there caffeine content and origin.
Liberica Coffee Beans:
Liberica coffee beans were first discovered in Liberia. These large, asymmetrical, teardrop-shaped beans are the 3rd most popular coffee bean covering roughly 2% of the world’s coffee consumption.
Why are Liberica coffee beans so uncommon?
Liberica coffee beans have a reputation for simply being bad coffee. Its smell has been described as unpleasant and its taste bitter with a hint of floral and spice, accompanied by a smokey undertone. Some would say that Liberica and Robusta coffee beans share a similar taste, however, Liberica beans are far more expensive (due to rarity) and have a much lower caffeine content than other coffee beans.
All in all, this type of bean is not as popular amongst the more Western world due to its harsh taste, and disagreeable aromas.
Arabica Coffee Beans:
Arabica coffee beans originated in the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and are the most popular kind of coffee worldwide, dominating up to 75% of the world’s coffee consumption.
These flat, elongated and greasy coffee beans are responsible for Arabica’s sweet smell and slightly acidic profile (with a caramel and chocolate hint at the end). With this type of coffee, bitterness is most definitely not an issue as the flavor is exceptional and world-renowned.
The caffeine content is mild with each bean containing less than 2% of caffeine per volume.
In essence, Arabica coffee beans are enjoyed everywhere in the world as it is known always making a consistently good cup of coffee.
Robusta Coffee Beans:
Robusta coffee beans originate from Africa and Indonesia and are the worlds 2nd most popular coffee bean, responsible for up to 25% of the worlds coffee consumption.
These circular-shaped, pale and dry coffee beans are often used in instant coffee, with a bitter, earthy and peanutty aftertaste.
Robusta coffee beans are said to add a depth of flavor to your coffee blend, however, if you are using bad quality beans or brew a bad cup of coffee, you are likely to get a taste very similar to burnt rubber.
Nonetheless, Robusta beans are loved in Italy because of the crema and flavor that it adds to the espresso.
These beans are also ideal for making iced coffee as they carry twice as much caffeine as your Arabica blend and much less sugar too. This means that you large amounts of sugar and milk will not take away from the strong, pure taste of your Robusta beans.
To conclude, with over 400 billion cups of coffee drank every year, it’s important to know a little more about what you are drinking and why it tastes and smells the way it does.
So next time you see Liberica, Arabica or Robusta coffee beans, don’t be afraid to experiment on which blend is for you.
