Arabica Coffee

Of the two main species of coffee, Arabica and Robusta, Arabica coffee is by far the most popular and, in fact, accounts for over 70% of the coffee production in the world today. The beans are harvested from the Coffea arabica plant which originated in Ethiopia and has been cultivated in Arabia for over a thousand years.

This type of coffee has less caffeine (1.4%) than the Robusta (4.0%) and is the type of coffee that is in most specialty mixes. This plant needs warm temperatures to grow as well as a higher elevation, but the shrubs can grow up to 12 feet tall. Needless to say they grow great in subtropical regions as well as equatorial regions which explains why most of the coffee comes from places like Columbia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The Arabica coffee plant has tons of small red fruits which house two seeds or coffee beans inside. These plants are harvested and undergo an intense process, making this the most flavorful of all the types of coffee. In fact, Arabica has a wide taste range and, depending on the variety, you may get a coffee that is sweet or one that is tangy. Pure blends can be pricey but are also the best tasting.

The coffea Arabica trees can actually be rather difficult to cultivate and do not flower until three or four years after they are planted. The tiny white flowers are reminiscent of Jasmine. One must be careful with these plants, however, because if there are too many flowers there will be too many berries and this will lead to inferior quality coffee. Most plantations prune the trees to prevent this from happening. In addition, one must choose the right time to pick the berries that hold the coffee beans because picking them either too early or too late may result in inferior coffee.

Coffee made from the Arabica plant can be found in specialty shops and coffee stores and is what most gourmet coffee houses use. Robusta coffee, on the other hand, is the type of coffee that is found in the instant coffee jars on your supermarket shelves. Be that as it may, just because the coffee is Arabica doesn't mean it is of high quality as, like with anything else, there can be variations in the quality of the beans.

Arabica coffee has been consumed for thousands of years and the first record of coffee made from roasted beans can be found in Arabian writings from scholars who noted that drinking it helped to lengthen their working hours. Roasting coffee beans to make a brew for drinking is an Arab invention that was later adopted by the Egyptians and eventually found its way to the rest of the world, making coffee the most popular drink today.

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