As with grapes for wine and hops for beer, coffee cherries come from a tree
that has numerous species and varieties. Although only a few of these
spread across the world, new varieties are continually being cultivated.
The genus of this flowering tree is called Coffea.
A modern way of classifying Coffea is evolving,
as scientists continually discover new species.
Nobody knows exactly how many there are,
but to date, around 124 species of Coffea have
been identified—more than double that of just
20 years ago.
Coffea species are found growing wild, mainly
in Madagascar and Africa, as well as in the
Mascarene Islands, Comoros, Asia, and Australia.
Only the species C. Arabica and C. Canephora
(commonly known as Arabica and Robusta)
are widely grown for commercial purposes,
representing around 99 percent of production
worldwide. It is believed that C. Arabica came
from a cross of C. Canephora and C. Eugenioides
that happened around the border of Ethiopia
and South Sudan. Some countries also grow
small amounts of C. Liberica and C. Excelsa
for local consumption.
There are many cultivated varieties of Arabica.
Records of how it spread around the world are
incomplete and sometimes conflicting, but of
the thousands of native varieties in Ethiopia
and South Sudan, only a few were taken out
of Africa, first to Yemen, and from there to
other countries (see pp10–11).
These trees were referred to as Typica, a
generalized name for “ordinary” coffee. Typica
trees planted in Java were the genetic starting
point for the trees that spread to the rest of the
world. Bourbon, another of our earliest known
varieties, was a natural mutation of Typica that
took place from around the mid-18th to the late
19th century on Bourbon Island, now known as
Réunion Island. Today, most varieties are natural
or cultivated mutations of these two varieties.
C. Canephora was native to West Africa.
From the Belgian Congo, seedlings were also planted
in Java. From there it spread across the world,
to nearly all of the Arabica-producing countries.
There are several varieties of the species, but they
are all commonly referred to as simply Robusta.
In addition, Arabica and Robusta have been
cultivated together to create new varieties.
The look and flavor of coffee is influenced
by many forces, such as soil, sun exposure,
rainfall patterns, wind patterns, pests, and
diseases. Many varieties are genetically similar,
but have acquired different regional or local
names. This makes it diicult to map accurately
the development of Arabica and Robusta, but the
family tree (overleaf) shows some of the most
commonly grown varieties of these species.
Coffee roasters nowdays know very well how to choose the best suitable type.
Comments