When we sip on that delicious latte or filter brew, it’s easy to forget that our favorite drink comes from a plant. Yet millions of coffee trees grow around the world, their fruit powering us through the day.

But what does a coffee plant actually look like? How many varieties are there? And how do the flowers and cherries affect the drink we consume every day?

Read on to find out.

You might also like How to Brew Coffee at Home: A Beginner’s Guide

Young coffee seedlings still in bags at Finca San Jerónimo, Guatemala.

A Short History of Coffee

What country comes when you hear the word “coffee:” Colombia, Brazil, Indonesia? Actually, the coffee plant originated in Ethiopia.

Over the centuries, coffee spread throughout Africa and the Middle East and from there across the globe. There are dozens of stories about how this happened, from saints sneaking beans out of Yemen to European powers replanting it throughout their colonies. What seems to be undeniable is that empires had a significant role to play.

Fast-forward to today. Coffee is an integral part of crop economies in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Non-producing countries also thrive on coffee, roasting and consuming vast quantities every single day.

But what actually is this drink? What is it made of?

Discover more in A Brief History of Coffee Consumption

Coffee seedlings at Finca San Jerónimo, Guatemala.

What Does The Coffee Plant Look Like?

The name “coffee bean” is a lie: coffee is a seed. You’ll find two (normally) of these seeds inside each cherry-like fruit of the coffee plant.

The coffee plant could also be categorized as a tree since it has the ability to grow up to about 9 meters. But on coffee farms, it tends to be cut short to make it easier to harvest. As a result, it often looks more like a bush.

• The Branches & Leaves

From the main trunk of the coffee plant, you’ll see primary, secondary, and tertiary horizontal branches. From these, dark green, waxy leaves grow in pairs.

Ricardo Alvarez, an agronomist at Finca Los Tres Potros in El Salvador, tells me, “The leaf is fundamental for the plant since that is where photosynthesis happens.” In other words, no leaves would mean no energy. And without energy, the plants would never be able to grow the delicious cherries that contain our coffee beans.

• The Flowers

Once the coffee plant is about three or four years old, it will flower for the first time. Small, delicate, white flowers will grow where the leaves and branches join, releasing a sweet aroma.

Alvarez tells me, “The flowers are where the sexual organs are located.” In other words, the leaves and flowers help the coffee plant reproduce and sustain itself.

Coffee plants flower in a far in Honduras. 

• Cherries

Six to eight weeks after pollination, a cherry-like fruit will appear where the flowers were located. The unripe cherries are green; over time, they turn red, yellow, orange, or even pink, depending on the variety. And as they ripen, they will grow increasingly sweeter.

Oh, and the caffeine content in the cherries? That actually works as a deterrent against – most – predators. (Unfortunately, it also attracts one of coffee’s worst pests: the coffee borer beetle, which survives on caffeine.)

Within the cherry, you’ll find multiple layers. Alvarez says that it has “an exocarp, which is the actual cherry, then we have a mesocarp which is where the mucilage is.” And within the mucilage lies the seeds we can’t face Monday morning without – coffee beans!

Learn more! Watch Looking Inside The Coffee Cherry

• Seeds

Inside every cherry, you’ll find two small seeds – unless it’s a peaberry or otherwise defective, of course. A peaberry is when the seeds are joined: instead of two almost peanut-like ones, you’ll have a larger, rounder, pea-shaped one. This happens to around 5% of seeds.

These seeds are the coffee beans. They go through extensive processing to remove the fruit and mucilage, before being dried, roasted, ground, and finally turned into our favourite beverage.

But not all coffee plants are the same…

Healthy coffee seedlings ready for grafting, a process that helps make coffee plants stronger.

The Different Kinds of Coffee Plants

Coffee has over a hundred different species, and each species can be further divided into varieties. And all of these have an impact on how the coffee tastes, how much caffeine it has, and how it grows.

• The 2 Main Coffee Species: Arabica & Robusta

Arabica is the most commonly consumed coffee in the world, accounting for about 70% of the industry. It’s known for its quality flavors and aromas; ICFC Panama biologist and coffee value chain analyst Valentina Pedrotti says, “In the specialty market, you go with Arabica.”

Compared to Robusta, it:

• Is more sensitive to the weather
• Is more susceptible to pests
• Thrives at lower temperatures (which often correlate with higher elevations or being grown in the shade)
• Usually produces fewer cherries
• Has less caffeine content
• Tends to be sweeter, more complex, and more aromatic

Robusta, or Canephora, is a more durable, robust tree. It accounts for about 30% of the coffee industry. Compared to Arabica, it:

• Is more resistant to diseases and pests
• Has a higher caffeine content
• Thrives at slightly warmer temperatures
• Has a higher yield, with more cherries and therefore more seeds; however, this means the individual cherries don’t get as many nutrients and so the coffee is often of a lower quality
• Tends to be bitter

Healthy coffee plants at Finca San Jerónimo, Guatemala.

• The Great Big World of Coffee Varieties

Unlike species, we consume numerous coffee varieties. Next time you buy a bag of specialty coffee, look at the label: it may tell you which one you’re drinking.

Some of the most common ones include Typica, Bourbon, and Caturra. And then there’s Gesha/Geisha, which is probably the most famous variety of all. This exquisite coffee is known for its delicate floral flavors and aromas, along with a tea-like body. The green beans have also been sold for as much as US $803/lb.

Find out more in Geisha vs Bourbon: A Crash Course in Coffee Varieties

The coffee industry also sometimes creates hybrid varieties. As Pedrotti says, these are created when the industry “sees the necessity, or the market, for fusing coffees together.” And the aim? Disease resistance, higher productivity, and better flavour.

Lempira coffee cherries ripen on the branch. Credit: Maren Marbee via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

The Life of A Coffee Plant

Pedrotti tells me that a coffee plant could live for up to 80 years. But on a commercial farm? Alvarez says that you might expect them to last for 20 to 30 years, depending on how they’re cared for.

For the first few years of a tree’s life, you shouldn’t expect great productivity. Remember, it won’t flower until it’s three or four years old.

All coffee trees started life as those very same seeds that we roast and brew every day. As it grows, you’ll see its distinctive shoots and bright green leaves. Most producers keep young coffee trees in nurseries until the seedlings are ready to be planted on the farm.

The coffee leaves of a healthy coffee tree in a Guatemalan farm 

Once a coffee plant is mature, it will produce flowers; this normally happens shortly after heavy rainfall. And then, after the flowers, comes the cherries. In some countries, such as Colombia, the climate means that the trees flower twice a year – something that, in turn, leads to two harvests a year.

Arturo Aguirre of Finca El Injerto, Guatemala tells me that the producer and farm staff must learn to identify when coffee is ready for harvesting.

• For Arabica coffee, the time from flowering to harvesting is approximately nine months
• Robusta coffee can be harvested two to three times each year, depending on climate and soil

A coffee nursery at Fazenda Bela Epica, Brazil.

The coffee plant, with its bright cherries and delicate white flowers, is a beautiful sight. Perhaps it’s a strong low-altitude variety or a delicate but flavorsome high-altitude one, a young seedling or an old giant, full of ripe fruit or simply dark green leaves. Either way, it’s thanks to this tree that we can enjoy our daily brew and millions of people around the world have a living.

You might also like How to Brew Coffee at Home: A Beginner’s Guide

Written by Miguel Regalado.

Perfect Daily Grind

(Natural News) Drinking up to three cups of coffee daily may improve longevity and reduce the risk of all-cause mortality, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. As part of the study, a team of researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Imperial College London has examined the beneficial effects of coffee consumption among people across 10 European countries including the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, and Italy. The study has received funding from the European Commission Directorate General for Health and Consumers and the IARC.

The research team has pooled data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study with a total cohort population of  521,330 participants older than 35 years. The scientists have then evaluated the participants’ diet through questionnaires and interviews. Data from a 16-year follow-up has revealed that nearly 42,000 participants died from various conditions such as cancer, circulatory diseases, heart failure, and stroke.

The study has found out that coffee drinkers have exhibited healthier livers and better glucose control compared with non-drinkers. In addition, the scientists have observed a similar effect after consuming decaffeinated coffee.

“We found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, and specifically for circulatory diseases and digestive diseases. Importantly, these results were similar across all of the 10 European countries, with variable coffee drinking habits and customs. Our study also offers important insights into the possible mechanisms for the beneficial health effects of coffee. We found that drinking more coffee was associated with a more favorable liver function profile and immune response. This, along with the consistency of the results with other studies in the U.S. and Japan gives us greater confidence that coffee may have beneficial health effects,” lead author Dr. Marc Gunter reports in a university press release.

However, the expert has acknowledged the limitations of the study and stressed that moderate coffee intake may improve overall health.

“Due to the limitations of observational research, we are not at the stage of recommending people to drink more or less coffee. That said, our results suggest that moderate coffee drinking – up to around three cups per day – is not detrimental to your health, and that incorporating coffee into your diet could have health benefits,” Dr. Gunter adds.

Harvard study backs coffee’s beneficial effects

A 2015 study has also demonstrated that drinking three to five cups of coffee a day may boost the body’s overall well-being. Health experts at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have pooled data from three large ongoing studies with a total cohort population of 208,501 participants as part of research. The scientists have also assessed the participants’ smoking habits, body mass index, and physical activity as well as alcohol consumption and other dietary factors. (Related: Coffee drinkers have a lower mortality rate and lower risk of various cancers.)

The findings reveal that more than 19,500 women and nearly 12,500 men have died from a range of causes during the follow-up period. However, the researchers have found that participants who had moderate coffee intake are less like to die of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological diseases, and suicide compared with non-drinkers and those with lower coffee intake levels. The scientists have also observed that participants who drank either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee both achieved similar health benefits.

“Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation. That could explain some of our findings. However, more studies are needed to investigate the biological mechanisms producing these effects,” first author Ming Ding explains in a university press release.

Sources include:

WW3.Imperial.AC.uk

HSPH.Harvard.edu

This post originally appeared on www.NaturalNews.com.

2017 U.S. Specialty Coffee Consumption Trends Infographic

The full version of the following post was first published on SCA News

By Heather Ward

Specialty coffee consumption in the U.S. is growing, and 2017 saw a significant increase in daily specialty coffee drinkers.

Over the last 18 years, the number of daily specialty coffee drinkers has consistently increased, strengthening the consumer demand for specialty coffee.

Let’s take a closer look at the data.

The National Coffee Association (NCA) has been tracking U.S. coffee consumption since 1954 through a survey study called the National Coffee Drinking Trends (NCDT). The over sixty-year study is the longest available statistical series of coffee consumer drinking patterns in the U.S. Every year, the NCA surveys adults (18+) in the U.S. and asks if they drink coffee, how often they drink coffee, and what type of coffee they drink. The results provide key data and analysis on American coffee drinkers’ behavior and attitudes.

In 2001, the NCA began tracking specialty coffee consumption, or what is termed in the report as “gourmet” coffee, which is defined by the NCA as “coffee drunk hot or iced that is brewed from premium whole bean or ground varieties. This includes espresso based beverages, iced/frozen blended coffee, cold brew, and iced coffee infused with nitrogen.”

It is important to keep in mind that this data is based on the consumers’ perception of ‘specialty’. There are many ways to identify specialty coffee: cupping score, absence of defects, etc. Since this is consumer research, it is focused on consumer perception, which is critical: after all, the effort put into attaining and preserving quality is meaningless if the consumer cannot perceive it.

Extracting and interpreting data from the NCDT report, the SCA has developed an infographic that paints a picture of specialty coffee consumption in the U.S. over time. The infographic is broken up into three parts: percentage of adults in the U.S. drinking specialty coffee, cups per day per U.S. drinker, and market share of specialty coffee in cups. Let’s focus on each piece separately.

Percentage of Adults in the U.S. Drinking Specialty Coffee

• This metric illustrates the percentage of adults drinking specialty coffee daily, weekly, and occasionally.
• Over the last 18 years, the number of daily drinkers has seen the strongest growth. Only 9% of adults in the U.S. were drinking specialty coffee daily in 1999 and 41% were drinking daily in 2017.
• It is important to note that this year the number of drinkers has increased 10 percentage points, up from 31% in 2016.
• This year also showed a significant increase in weekly drinkers: 53% drink specialty coffee weekly, up from 45% in 2016. There has been consistent growth since 2001.
• Occasional coffee drinkers have remained steady over the last 16 years at around 60% of U.S. adults drinking specialty coffee occasionally.

Cups Per Day, Per U.S. Drinker

• In the survey, specialty coffee consumers are also asked how many cups they drink daily.
• In 2017, specialty drinkers were consuming 2.97 cups of coffee per day which has increased from 2.24 cups in 2001.

U.S. Market Share of Specialty Coffee, in Cups

• This is a metric that indicates the market share of specialty coffee, in cups.
• To put it simply, of all the cups of coffee consumed, 59% of those cups were specialty versus 41% non-specialty.
• In 2010, the NCA started tracking this metric (which was 40%) and over the last 7 years, the market share has increased to 59%.

Read the full post on SCA News. 

*Source: National Coffee Association’s Annual Drinking Trends Study

Heather Ward is the Market Research Manager for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). 

There was a brief window heading into the summer of 2015 when all kinds of food-focused publications were ready to declare cold brewed cocoa the next big drink trend. Then it really wasn’t.

We’re not totally sure who was first behind the cold brew cocoa buzz that year — a crown year for enlightenment in the cold coffee market among specialty coffee sellers — though one particularly memorable heralding came by way of Quartz, which did a big, splashy feature on the history of cocoa brewed cold.

In short, cold brew cocoa essentially follows the same principles and recipes as cold brew coffee, except instead of ground coffee that sits with filtered water at room- or refrigerated-temperatures for X amount of time, it is typically ground cacao nibs. The resulting beverage is not overly sweet and milk-laden like traditional hot cocoa, but more nuanced and subtle, while begging for use as a base for cocktail or mocktail type drinks.

Some high-end chocolatiers, coffee purveyors and tea shops have indeed been experimenting with cold brew cocoa for years, but a new market trends analysis from the market research firm Mintel suggests cold brew cocoa’s moment in the specialty beverage spotlight may actually be now — as opposed to two years ago — following a major release from Starbucks and increased attention on the potential health benefits of specialty drinks.

“The tea and coffee markets have each successfully made the jump from hot to cold drink, the former most recently with the cold brew and nitro coffee trends,” Mintel Global Food and Drinks Analyst Alex Beckett wrote in the analysis last week. “Now, cocoa may be braced to make a similar transition into the chilled drinks fixture.”

Beckett argues that Starbucks’ launch of a “Cold Brew Cocoa and Honey” bottled beverage this spring, though more of a traditional cold brew coffee with added ingredients, has helped propel consumer consciousness of the cold cocoa concept, while creating some mental separation between chocolate and cocoa as drinks ingredients.

The analysis also points to the potential yet largely unproven benefits of cocoa nibs as drinks ingredients. Cocoa is well-known to be high in theobromine, an alkaloid and stimulant that has been shown to dilate blood vessels and to potentially decrease blood pressure or positively affect mood, while also acting as a diuretic and stimulant that can have the same kind of potential negative effects associated with caffeine.

“At the heart of the relationship between health and chocolate is the cocoa content, and the higher the percentage of cocoa, the bigger the associated better-for-you benefits,” the analysis stated. “In Europe, there is significant consumer interest in seeing more chocolate which retains the nutrients of the cocoa beans. With this in mind, there could be opportunities for cold brew cocoa to communicate the level of cocoa content, or provenance of the cocoa. For various reasons, the cold brewed coffee boom is struggling to replicate its US success in Europe, but maybe the allure of chocolate will help cold brew cocoa find greater success.”

Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. Feedback and story ideas are welcome at publisher@dailycoffeenews.com. This article appeared on Dailycoffeenews.com

In wine, varieties reign supreme. Everybody knows what a Merlot is, or a Chardonnay. But in the coffee world, they’re less understood. You might know of Geisha, but do you know the difference between a Bourbon and a Typica? Or why that matters?

If you answered “no” to any of those questions, don’t worry: today, I’m giving you a crash course in coffee varieties. Get ready to learn why they matter, what a variety actually is, and all about some of the main varieties you should know.

Why Are Coffee Varieties Important?

How important coffee varieties are depends on your role in the coffee supply chain: producer, barista, roaster, consumer…

If you’re a consumer, you might be wondering why you really need to learn another set of labels for your coffee. Is the variety really that important, compared to the country of origin, roast level, and processing method? And if it is important, why do only some coffee bags tell you about it?

The simple answer is that coffee varieties can affect the flavour of the coffee. Some, like Bourbon, are known for their sweet taste. Others, like Gesha/Geisha, are known for tea-like qualities.

But coffee flavour isn’t just about the variety: it’s also about the growing conditions, processing, and more. The uniqueness of a high-quality coffee is part of what makes this beverage so wonderful.

Roasters, you need to know about varieties because they don’t just affect the flavour profile – they also affect how you roast.

Different beans will have different sizes: Maragogype is famously large, while Mokka is tiny. And since roasting is a physical transformation, how heat is transferred throughout the bean is of key importance. You need to understand the physical makeup of your coffee (especially if you’re blending).

And producers, varieties are of critical importance to you. Your choice will affect the flavour profile and potential cup score, the hardiness of the plant and its resistance to disease, its productivity, which altitude and temperature it grows at best, and more.

Another reason to care about varieties is that Arabica coffee has a worryingly low genetic diversity. This means it is more susceptible to disease and climate change – and could even theoretically become extinct in the future. Creating and/or finding more genetic variety is of key importance right now.

Species, Variety, Cultivar… What Do These All Mean?

Now we know why varieties are important, let’s take a step back and look at what they actually are.

There are many different species of coffee – over 100, according to World Coffee Research (WCR) – but the main three are Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. Specialty coffee shops rarely sell anything but Arabica, shunning Robusta for its harsher, more bitter taste – although some shops are making the case for Fine Robustas. Liberica is usually only consumed in the Philippines.

The category below “species”, when describing plants, is “variety”. Varieties refer to different variations within the species. For example, Caturra is a variety of Arabica while Nganda is a variety of Robusta. As for a cultivar, that’s a coffee variety that has been created by humans in an agricultural setting.

Another point that confuses many people is the difference between varietal and variety. Simply put, “variety” is a noun and “varietal” is an adjective. However, because language is almost as complex as coffee genetics, it’s possible to use “varietal” in a way that acts as a noun when discussing the coffee product rather than the plant (something called nominalisation). But this is an article about coffee, not linguistics: it’s enough to say that the differences between “varietal” and “variety” are just grammatical.

Some Coffee Varieties You Should Know

There are many coffee varieties around the world, and we couldn’t hope to cover all of them in just one article. However, we’re going to take a quick look at some of the most famous or noteworthy Arabica varieties.

Typica

Typica coffee is one of the earliest and most important coffee varieties, having been around for centuries and engendered numerous others. Notable Typica varieties include Java, Maragogype, and Timor Hybrid (more on that last one in a little bit).

You’ll find this plant being farmed in Central America, Jamaica, and Asia. The WCR label it as low-yield, high-quality, and susceptible to rust and pests. It’s often described as having a clean, sweet acidity.

Bourbon

A natural mutation of Typica, Bourbon is a high-quality, medium-yield coffee known for its sweet taste. It has, however, low resistance to leaf rust, coffee berry borer, and other diseases and pests. It’s commonly grown in Burundi and Rwanda, as well as throughout Latin America.

Why should you know about Bourbon? For the same reasons why you should know about Typica: its early appearance in the “coffee variety tree” makes it a common variety that has also engendered numerous others.

Ethiopian Heirloom

While most Arabica coffee varieties come from Typica or Bourbon, coffee originally comes from Ethiopia – and Kew Gardens have established that the country holds 95% of coffee’s genetic diversity. When you see “Ethiopian Heirloom” written on a bag of coffee, it means that it was probably grown wild or in a lightly cultivated garden.

Timor Hybrid

Timor Hybrid is a controversial coffee, since it’s a (spontaneous) Arabica-Robusta hybrid. Robusta is a more, well, robust coffee species: it offers hardiness and resistance to coffee leaf rust in exchange for a less appealing flavour and aroma profile.

As a result, this unique coffee has been used in many cultivars, particularly Catimors and Sarchimors. Catimors are a group of Caturra and Timor Hybrid crosses, Sarchimors a group of Villa Sarchi and Timor Hybrid crosses. Examples of these include Castillo, Colombia, and Marsellesa.

Specialty coffee buyers can be wary of any plant with a Timor Hybrid parentage – but some producers, especially those at lower altitudes where coffee leaf rust is more likely, believe less risk is worth a potentially lower cup quality and price.

Gesha/Geisha

Gesha/Geisha originated in the village of Gesha, Ethiopia, but remained under the radar until 2003 in Panama. Since then, Panamanian Geisha has become one of the industry’s most-famous coffees. With most coffee championship finalists using it, and a recent green bean auction price of US $601/lb, it’s become a byword for excellence – and exclusivity.

It has a distinctive profile: tea-like with a jasmine aroma, orange blossom and bergamot notes, and delicate florals.

As for the plant, it grows best at high altitudes (WCR recommend above 1,400 m.a.s.l.), is low-yielding, and can be delicate. While it has earned high prices at auction, there have been horror stories of producers growing it outside of Panama only to see their plants die in incompatible climates and soil.

F1 Hybrids

F1 hybrids are a new generation of coffee varieties that have the potential to be high-quality, rust-resistant, and high-yielding. They are typically mass-produced in advanced nurseries. Notable F1 hybrids include Centroamericano, which has seen recent success in the Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence.

One of the most important points about F1 hybrids, for producers, is that they are typically more expensive and harder to obtain. They are mass propagated in sophisticated nurseries with tissue culture labs (i.e., they are cloned) instead of by seed. This is necessary because their germinated seeds (the F2, or second generation) will not necessarily possess the same great qualities as the F1 mother plant, meaning that farmers cannot rely on the performance of the plant. For this reason, WCR advises that producers only buy from reputable nurseries.

For more information on F1 hybrids, read our in-depth article here.

Caturra

A natural Bourbon mutation, Caturra is a dwarf tree with an average yield, average quality, and average bean size – in fact, the WCR description of an average yield is “Caturra-like”. It is susceptible to rust and pests, and commonly grown throughout Brazil and Latin America. I’ve included it here because of how common it is.

Catuai

Catuai is a Mundo Novo and Caturra cross that shares many of the same characteristics as Caturra: average yield, average quality, average bean size, susceptibility to rust and pests, and dwarf status.

This is only an introduction to the wonderful world of coffee varieties. There are many more that deserve attention: Pacas, Pacamara, Maracaturra, Rume Sudan, Laurina, SL-28, SL-34… The list goes on and on.

Producers, pick your coffee varieties carefully. Do your research: understand the demands of each one, and the risks that come with it. When planting a new variety, consider starting slowly, with only a small portion of your farm.

As for you, coffee lovers, take the time to taste as many varieties as possible. Pay attention to how they vary. Compare different varieties grown in the same region – or the same variety grown across different regions. As you start to learn more about how the variety can affect your cup, your appreciation of coffee will only grow.

This article appeared on Perfect Daily Grind and was written by Tanya Newton, with thanks to World Coffee Research for their input on F1 hybrids.