What is the difference between Arabica coffee beans and Robusta? Why is Luo Dou not popular? What is the difference between planting altitude and yield?

3.0! 3.0! Jian Dou Baodian 3.0 is coming! In the first two issues of the article, Qianjie shared with you how to identify some subvarieties of Arabica, as well as the differences in the appearance of coffee beans under different treatments. After learning, many friends come to find fault one after another, trying to use knowledge to identify the bean information recommended by Qianjie.

So today, what Qianjie wants to share is Jian Dou Bao Dian 3.0. You are welcome to come and find fault at any time. What we want to teach you this time is to distinguish between Arabica and Robusta, which are two large categories of varieties, what different appearance features they will have, and how we can distinguish them at a glance! (in the past, Baodian went directly to "how to distinguish the varieties of coffee beans at a glance" and "teach you at a glance whether beans are sun-washed or washed")

Of the more than 130 categories of coffee under Arabica and Robusta, only three have commercial value: Arabica, Robusta and Liberia. But at present, the coffee beans sold on the market are mainly Arabica and Robusta, because of their advantages "wider audience"! People will choose to plant different varieties according to their needs, so let's share the different advantages of Arabica and Robusta in Qianjie.

Because Arabica's fruit is the smallest of the three species, it has the nickname "small seed". The advantage of Arabica is that it has a very excellent taste: more prominent aroma and richer layers. As prominent as its aroma is its shortcomings: low yield, weak disease resistance, and very stringent requirements on the planting environment. When planted below a certain altitude, Arabica species are difficult and easy to survive. As a result, the price of Arabica coffee is relatively higher. But after all, taste is paramount, so as of today, Arabica coffee accounts for more than 70% of the world's total coffee production.

On the other hand, Robusta is in the middle of the three kinds of particles, so it is a medium-sized species. Compared with Arabica, Robusta does not show too much flavor. However, its vitality is extremely tenacious! Not only is the yield extremely high, but the disease resistance is also excellent, and caffeine is twice as high as that of Arabica. As a result, it is not as delicate as the Arabica species and can "grow savagely" at low elevations. So when we see that some coffee plants can also produce a very large number of coffee fruits at low elevations, we can make a preliminary guess on its varieties.

Thanks to this, many producing areas are able to grow coffee at low elevations. But also because the altitude of planting is generally low, Robusta's flavor is mainly strong bitterness, and with some woody, mugi-cha flavor. These not-so-excellent flavor performances are combined with the advantages of high output and low price, which makes Robusta become the main material for making instant products. At the same time, for these reasons, Robusta has become synonymous with "shoddy" in the coffee circle.

So far, Robusta accounts for about 25% of global coffee production! In addition to being used as instant ingredients, some of these coffee beans will appear as base beans or specialty coffee beans in blended beans.

So how do you tell Arabica from Robusta? In fact, it is very simple, just like the sun and water washing treatment, the genetic difference will also be reflected in the appearance. And the following is the bean picture of Arabica and Robusta, you can find out what is different.

Many friends may have noticed the shape of beans, but the shape of beans can not be the decisive difference between them, because many Arabica species are also round in shape. The main difference lies in the middle line of the beans. Most of the middle line of Arabica is crooked, not straight! The middle line of Robusta is a straight line. This is our basis for discrimination.

But we need to note that some coffee beans are not obvious because of developmental or genetic problems (Arabica and Robusta hybrids). For example, the midline of several beans in a pile of Arabica beans may be straight. Just like the discrimination between sun-washed beans and sun-washed beans, a handful of sun-dried beans have obvious silver skins on the midline. Therefore, when we observe, it is best not to take individual cases as the research object, but to observe the whole plate or a handful of beans at the same time, so that the results can be more accurate.

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