About Coffea
5 min reading time
Want to learn more about coffee? Let’s start with exploring different varieties and species of the coffee plant - 'Coffea'!
Coffea (Coffee Plant/Tree) is an evergreen shrub or small tree which belongs to the Rubiaceae family. Native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia, coffee plants are ranks as one of the world's most valuable and widely traded commodity crops. The seeds of some species is an important export product for many countries, and is known to us as Coffee Beans.
Coffee trees usually matures and start producing coffee beans at around three years old. Like many fruiting plants, the process starts with Coffee Flowers - once the flowers disappear, it produces Coffee Cherries, the green coffee cherries will turn into yellow, orange and then red (some varieties stays yellow), and the fruits have a distinct sweet taste. The seeds inside the cherries, contain a great amount of caffeine, are the raw green coffee beans.
The two most popular Coffee Species being:
Arabica and Robusta
Robusta (Coffea Canephora) is mostly grown in West Africa and Asia - especially in Vietnam. Robusta trees requires cross pollination, and produces a much bigger yield compared to Arabica species and the beans have a higher caffeine content.
Varietals for Coffee:
Heirloom - In Ethiopia, there are believed to be thousands of different heirloom varietals! And the name really kind of catch-all name for the ancient coffee varietals... You can have a taste of heirloom coffee from our delicious K+ Ethiopia Drip Coffee Bags or the K+ ‘OG!’ Ethiopian Specialty Coffee Beans.
Typica - Typica delivers excellent coffee and is considered the original base for Arabica coffee, wheres many other varietals have been formed from it. Typica usually has a low production and grows to 3.5 - 4 meters in height.
Bourbon - Originates from the Reunion Island and produces 20–30% higher yield coffee than Typica and the cherries are generally more round than Typica cherries. Bourbon is considered a very delicious tasting coffee and best results are achieved when the coffee plants grown at around 1,000 - 2000 meters altitude.
Why not try our K+ '1000 Hills' Specialty Coffee Beans from Rwanda? These beans are grown at 1400M - 1900M from both Bourbon and Typica varieties.
Mundo Novo - First discovered in Brazil in the 1940's and it is well suited to the country’s altitude. This natural hybrid between Typica and Bourbon has about 30% more yield than Bourbon, and brilliant resistance against common coffee tree diseases. Try K+ ‘Rio Deal’ and ‘Rio Decaf’ Coffee Beans from Brazil.
Caturra - This dwarf-ish tree requires a lot of care but in return, Caturra gives good yields and a excellent quality, and very high susceptibility to Coffee Leaf Rust. Caturra is a mutation of Bourbon and grow relatively low at around 450 - 1,700 meters. In Colombia, Caturra was thought to represent nearly half of the country’s production, try for yourself with our K+ Colombia! Drip Coffee Bags and K+ ‘Cumbia!’ Specialty Coffee Beans, which are from Caturra, Typica and Bourbon varieties.
Catuai - A cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra. The plant is highly productive compared to Bourbon, in part because of its small size, which allows plants to be closely spaced and keeps hold of the fruit. Catuai is widely planted in Brazil, so is liked by farmers who are exposed to strong winds and rain and it is highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust. .
Maragogype - Characterised by the very large size, Maragogype is a mutation of low yielding Typica which was discovered in Brazil, and it is often known as the nickname 'Elephant Beans'! Flavour of Maragogype coffee varies depending on the characteristics of the soil as its a relatively porous plant - Rich and fertile soil will produce the most exceptional cup while some may produce weaker flavours.
There are many more coffee varietals such as the increasingly popular ‘Geisha’ - not to be confused with the Japanese Geisha in the picture below! We will explore and explain more about GEISHA Coffee in the future. Stay Tuned!
Explore our K+ Coffee Collection to find out if you can spot the differences in coffee varietals.
Happy sipping! :)
Tags
Coffee 101+
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About Coffea
Want to learn more about coffee? Let’s start with exploring different varieties and species of the coffee plant - 'Coffea'!
