In the coffee industry, Arabica has long won love and respect, but Robusta is still considered a raw material suitable only for the production of instant coffee. Robusta is also added to espresso blends to reduce the cost and to increase the density of the espresso at the output.
However, Robusta has recently gained popularity. Moreover, in the domestic market of Brazil there is now a label for beans: “zero percent Arabica”. This coffee can have notes of berries, honey, vanilla and even notes of spices. Yes, all this is found in a special category of coffee – specialty Robusta. Its official name is fine Robusta.
So why is it fine?
There are two main types of coffee popular in the world: Arabica and Robusta. The first is respected and appreciated in the specialty industry, while the second is viewed with skepticism due to its negative taste characteristics, which directly depend on the method of processing the beans. Specialty coffee is considered a kind of premium grade, which can only be given to the highest quality coffee. Previously, this “title” was awarded only to Arabica. For decades, it was believed that Robusta was a priori bad. Its taste was described as bitter and rough, reminiscent of sawdust or rubber. At the same time, no one focused on the fact that no one treated Robusta the way they did with specialty Arabica.
Robusta is picked from the trees, including unripe berries. When harvesting mechanically, small leaves are also found along with the berries, which significantly reduces the quality of the future drink. Drying is done naturally: on the ground. But if you approach harvesting more carefully, using stations for washed processing of beans, then the beans begin to show amazing results.
Specialty is a complex of processes
As it turns out, if you collect the berries correctly during the production process, subject them, like Arabica, to the correct technical processing, fermentation, and send them for export in special packaging, and not just in jute bags, then you can get amazing results.
Gabe Shohet, co-founder of Black Sheep Coffee in London, points out in his article that the way the coffee is harvested and processed is to blame for the unpleasant bitter taste of Robusta. And if this variety is hand-picked, double-washed, and dried on a diarrhea, the result will be a strong, tasty drink with a high caffeine content and new nutty, chocolatey, dried fruity notes. This is how the Sethuraman Estate company processes the coffee harvest in India.
Moreover, if we take into account the unpretentiousness of this coffee tree in cultivation, its resistance to pests and temperature changes, Robusta can enter the coffee market far ahead, satisfying the tastes of the most demanding coffee lovers.
The seminars achieved important goals in working with Robusta:
- We developed a protocol and cup shape for preparing Fine Robusta Coffee
- Established standards for classifying Robusta coffee and a classification system for green bean defects
- determined the roasting techniques for this variety
- A dictionary of taste descriptions was created especially for him
- certified the first 8 Q Robusta Graders
During the work, two important factors were noted: Robusta can be divided by country of origin, and also, this variety can be considered specialty if it scores 80 points on a 100-point scale. In this case, the sample must contain 0 primary and a maximum of 5 secondary defects. Before that, only Arabica was tested this way.
Robusta was appreciated and noticed by gourmets
The first export of specialty robusta from Brazil took place in 2018 and was a truly landmark event. Fazenda Venturim farmers were the only ones in the region who dried beans on African beds and also conducted fermentation experiments in collaboration with the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (IFES). It was on this farm that they began packing beans in bags designed by Flavio Borem, which are used at the Cup of Excellence, the most prestigious coffee award in the world. Previously, only Arabica was packed in such containers.
According to Valentina Moksunova, one of the best Russian experts in coffee quality, Robusta gave her a real surprise. In an interview, the girl notes that she has tried many different types of coffee “… from disgusting Brazil with defects to the most expensive at the Cup of Excellence. I also tried fermented coffee, the well-known geisha for $500. And I felt the same enzyme structure in a cup with this Robusta. It was a powerful impression.” The specialist also noted that the taste had notes of sweet raisins, prunes, cognac and expensive tobacco, but no acidity! The improvement in taste was amazing.
Will Robusta replace Arabica?
Due to global warming, it is becoming increasingly difficult to grow Arabica , which likes a stable temperature: +17C — +21C. To maintain an optimal environment, plantations will have to be moved higher and higher into the mountains. This is impossible to do in Brazil, which is why so much time and effort has been devoted to Robusta production in the last decade.
But Robusta is no substitute for Arabica, even though it has a clean taste and complex descriptors, in which instead of burnt rubber, tree bark and earthy aftertaste, notes of expensive cognac, tobacco, prunes and dark chocolate are felt. Due to the higher caffeine content, this variety is more bitter than Arabica.
Is there a future for specialty robusta?
The market for this type of coffee is at the very beginning of its development. Importers create demand, due to which coffee farms develop.
Valentina Moksunova explains how supply and demand are formed. She notes that it is impossible to buy a large batch of specialty robusta at once, since the beans are not yet in the required volume. In order to sell more expensively to importers, it will be necessary to improve the quality of production, invest a lot of time and effort in growing and properly processing the grain. Therefore, it is important for the farmer himself to modernize the production process, but to do this, he must see that his costs will pay off. In this case, the demand for a new product goes hand in hand with its production, which forms the supply.
Even the quality Arabica we are used to took 20 years to develop its unique taste qualities. According to Valentina Moksunova, Robusta still has a long way to go. Coffee experts and gourmets are just beginning to explore this topic, all the possibilities are yet to be explored. It takes time to reveal the potential of this variety. Perhaps in the future, specialty Robusta will even be able to compete with Arabica.