Espresso Machines Reviewed

Coffea arabica

We like to do more than just offer you expert reviews of espresso machines.  In this article we take a look into the world of coffee cultivation.  Coffee beans are actually the seeds that are found inside coffee cherries.  Coffee plants belong to one of several species of the genus Coffea.

Coffea robusta and Coffea arabica are the two most popularly cultivated species although Coffea liberica, Coffea excelsa, Coffea stenophylla, Coffea mauritiana and Coffea racmosa are also cultivated to a lesser degree… … …

The beans of Coffea arabica have a richer flavour and are widely held to be superior to the other species.  Coffee products often proudly declare that they contain 100% arabica beans and three quarters of world production is of arabica coffee.  Coffee made from robusta has a more bitter flavour and interestingly contains 40% more caffeine than arabica.  The benefit of this species lies more with the farmer as robusta plants are far less susceptible to disease.

Different species are grown in different parts of the world and the map below illustrates this point very well:

Worldwide coffee distribution

In this map ‘r’ represents robusta, ‘m’ represents robusta AND arabica and ‘a’ represents arabica

However, this differentiation of arabica and robusta is by no means the end of the story; in fact it is only just the beginning!  There are MANY varietals of arabica plant and these all produce beans with quite different flavour profiles. In other words, the coffee you put into your espresso machines matters just as much, if not more than the quality of the machine itself and there are an awful lot to choose from!

Later articles will elaborate on some of the varieties a little more but for now let’s finish by covering some definitions:

Cultivar – the botanical term, is normally and correctly used for selections and forms of cultivated plants; it must be visually distinct from other cultivars and it must be possible to propagate it reliably.

Variety – can be described as a more common and more popular term for cultivar.

Varietal – is a term used in the wine industry to describe a wine made from a single specified variety of grape.  The coffee industry has somewhat adopted this term, but instead of using it to describe a coffee of a specific variety or cultivar (i.e. Bourbon Coffee), it is used in the place of the term variety or cultivar.

In other words, in the coffee world these terms are largely interchangeable so don’t get scared by them!

In our travels, the Espresso Machines Reviewed.com team has been to many coffee producing countries and learned first hand how coffee is produced.  We have personally tasted a large number of different varieties and you can find more coffee related information elsewhere on our site.  Soon you’ll see beyond the coffee beans or the coffee grinds and will know exactly what to look for to guarantee a great cup of coffee everytime!