What's the difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee?

Arabica coffee has a varied and broad potential flavor. Arabica coffee produced in different regions, different elevations and different climates usually has its own characteristics and can show a completely different flavor. "Arabica" coffee smells like grass when it is not roasted. After proper roasting, it shows "fruity" (medium-light roasting) and "caramel sweetness" (deep roasting). Generally speaking, it has a better aroma and flavor than Robusta beans.

"Robusta" coffee usually has an ordinary, rigid and pungent flavor, and because the vast majority of robusta around the world are grown in low-altitude areas (author's note: as of May 2008, only India has rare high-altitude, high-quality, washed Robusta coffee beans). The flavor produced by different regions and different climates is not very different, relatively lack of personality. When unbaked, it smells like raw peanuts, and the taste of cheap robusta coffee beans is usually between "wheat tea" (light baking) and "rubber tire flavor" (deep roasting). It is difficult to show fine flavor.

Difference between market price and use

High-quality Arabica coffee requires a cumbersome process of hand picking, selection and fine processing, so the world's most expensive and best coffee beans are Arabica coffee. "Robusta" coffee is usually used to produce instant coffee and canned coffee because of its low cost. A small number of better quality "Robusta" coffee are also used in mixed coffee (with Arabica coffee) espresso beans.

Other differences

There is another important difference: the amount of "Caffeine" (C8H10N4O2). Robusta coffee contains about twice as much caffeine as Arabica coffee, which is why drinking some canned coffee is prone to palpitations and insomnia.

After seeing so many differences between Arabica Coffee and Robusta Coffee, we must finally emphasize:

"Arabica coffee" is not the same as "good coffee", "Robusta" is not absolutely cheap coffee!

Arabica coffee accounts for 75% of the world's coffee production, and its quality varies widely, from good to bad. In recent years, a few countries (such as India) have devoted themselves to improving the quality of robusta coffee. They have planted robusta in high altitude areas, given the most careful care, and carefully washed the coffee. As a result, they get very good quality robusta coffee beans! Top Robusta beans are not cheap either, getting rid of the old impression that Robusta are cheap beans! Therefore, the quality of coffee beans can no longer be judged by the crude and outdated ancient judgment standard of "is it Arabica beans"?