What's the deal with Arabica and Robusta?
At Farmers Union Coffee Roasters, all the coffees we serve are 100% arabica.
Simply, we love the way Arabica coffee tastes! It's complex and has thousands of subtle nuances to discover. The downside is arabica is much harder to grow than robusta and needs a very specific kind of climate to thrive.
Robusta is a different species of coffee. It grows at lower altitudes, has a simple flavor profile with less fruited notes and is popular in many parts of the world for use in espresso blends, or for brewed coffee. Robusta has double the caffeine content of arabica, and is much more resistant to diseases. We do not serve Robusta coffee at Farmers Union Coffee Roasters... or do we?
Robusta is incredibly important to the world of coffee! You see, arabica is very vulnerable to diseases. Farmers and geneticists use robusta plants to add disease resistance to various varietials- and we have also been to a farm where the roots of robusta plant are grafted right onto the stem of an arabica plant to increase the disease resistance. Either way, you have likely enjoyed coffee that has been hybridized with robusta for the disease resistance.
In fact, many of the Guatemalan coffees we serve at Farmers Union have a little bit of robusta genetics inside to help them resist the coffee rust disease that plagued Central America not so long ago. It's been a crucial aspect of surviving the great coffee blights that have plagued central american coffees and beyond.
In a small way, we do serve robusta- tiny bits of their genetics are present in the Farms of Antigua and likely other coffees we sell as well. You see, without robusta, coffee would be even harder to grow and even less resistant to diseases.
Would you like to try just a tiny bit of robusta? Give our Farms of Antigua a try and make up your own mind about it!
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