Robusta Revival
Coffee quality is usually defined on standard packaging with the words ‘100% Arabica’. Even 100% Canephora (Robusta) can taste fantastic. Probably needs to be removed because it's on our blog.
Admittedly, you have to be almost crazy to go up against the universal coffee marketing slogan ‘100 percent Arabica’ – but worse things have happened to me. When I set off this morning, there it was again – that message that is so false and yet so familiar: 100 percent Arabica quality. I stare at the paper cup of coffee that the young man next to me is holding on the platform and want to scream out loud. This automatism, which is at once trite, simple and probably therefore so popular, must be urgently questioned and then consistently eradicated.
First of all, quality (from Latin qualitas) simply means ‘characteristics’, which in the actual (Latin) sense cannot be wrong, because every product has certain characteristics. It is simply descriptive, without making any statement about the quality of the product – but that is how it is usually understood. And those who spread this message want it to be understood that way by the recipient. This is a deliberate miscommunication that is all too readily used as a universal Trojan horse in coffee marketing and self-indulgent pseudo-connoisseurship.
The background to this information is a ‘quality absolution’ for coffee, which is very useful for many roasters – at least in the short term. In the long term, taste will always prevail, and not every Arabica coffee is automatically a quality coffee.
No winemaker – nor any wine merchant or wine buyer – would ever think of using or accepting the type of wine alone, e.g. red wine, as sufficient evidence of good or high quality. So why is this possible with coffee? A wine bottle with a label saying ‘100 per cent red wine quality’ would certainly never find a buyer – except perhaps a consumer protection advocate.
And the term Robusta, which is considered synonymous with poor-quality coffee, is wrong in two respects. The second most important species on our planet after Coffea Arabica (approx. 65 per cent of the world market share) is Coffea Canephora (with around 35 per cent of the world market share). Unfortunately, Canephora is widely – and incorrectly – referred to as Robusta.
However, no one would assume expertise in the statement ‘there is red wine and Riesling wine’. It would be correct to refer to red and white wine. And so, unfortunately and incorrectly, the world (even the stock exchanges in New York and London and the ICO (International Coffee Organisation)) refers to the Coffea Canephora species as Robusta. A collective communication accident. And worse still, because according to this information, Arabica is presented and perceived as good and Canephora as bad or inferior. That is even worse than the incorrect nomenclature. To put it briefly: there are outstanding Canephora coffees. Full-bodied, strong, delicately tart, caramel-flavoured coffees with notes of nougat and cognac. A real treat. Just not like Arabica coffee. And when measured against this standard, Canephora is a poor Arabica. Interestingly, this is the case everywhere, because white wine is really poor red wine... even the colour alone is very poorly developed.
#RobustaRevival #CoffeeQuality #100PercentArabica #CoffeaCanephora #CoffeeEnjoyment #CoffeeMarket #BrandCommunication # CoffeeTrends #CoffeeKnowledge #WineVsCoffee #CoffeeDiversity #CoffeeTaste #CultureOfEnjoyment #CoffeeCulture #QualityOverQuantity #Roastery #CoffeeLovers #CoffeeCriticism #CoffeeIndustryStandards #GenuineCoffee #CoffeeEnthusiasts
However, no one would assume expertise in the statement ‘there is red wine and Riesling wine’. It would be correct to refer to red and white wine. And so, unfortunately and incorrectly, the world (even the stock exchanges in New York and London and the ICO (International Coffee Organisation)) refers to the Coffea Canephora species as Robusta. A collective communication accident. And worse still, because according to this information, Arabica is presented and perceived as good and Canephora as bad or inferior. That is even worse than the incorrect nomenclature. To put it briefly: there are outstanding Canephora coffees. Full-bodied, strong, delicately tart, caramel-flavoured coffees with notes of nougat and cognac. A real treat. Just not like Arabica coffee. And when measured against this standard, Canephora is a poor Arabica. Interestingly, this is the case everywhere, because white wine is really poor red wine... even the colour alone is very poorly developed.
#RobustaRevival #CoffeeQuality #100PercentArabica #CoffeaCanephora #CoffeeEnjoyment #CoffeeMarket #BrandCommunication # CoffeeTrends #CoffeeKnowledge #WineVsCoffee #CoffeeDiversity #CoffeeTaste #CultureOfEnjoyment #CoffeeCulture #QualityOverQuantity #Roastery #CoffeeLovers #CoffeeCriticism #CoffeeIndustryStandards #GenuineCoffee #CoffeeEnthusiasts
Author:
Dr. Steffen Schwarz
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