Coffea canephora: the 'R' word.

Despite setbacks, Robusta coffee is on the wane on the grocers shelf in the U.S. due in large measure to the American consumer's reintroduction to higher standards and the his/her own self-taught sense of what "good" is. There are now more varieties of all Arabica coffee at more price points available to the consumer than at any time since the advent of the supermarket era a century and a quarter ago.

In other coffee arenas, where pre-grinding and portion control packaging obscures much, there is a good deal of "gourmet" talk and "gourmet" labeling, but, with the major exception of the 100% Colombian program of The Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, there is precious little in the way of all Arabica coffee being offered to the foodservice operator. Here Robusta coffees can more easily be used by the unscrupulous roaster. In the current fashion of producing pre-ground flavored coffees, Robusta coffee may be buried under the flavoring compounds in these "gourmet" blends prepared for the coffee service and grocery trade.

Espresso was born into the golden age of European colonialism. The traditional taste of espresso is the taste of Robustas and Naturals from far-flung former colonies such as Angola, Ethiopia, etc. While several premium espresso blends, most notably Illycaffe, have developed following the All-Arabica philosophy, most of the Italian and French-made coffees continue to be blended with Robustas. This is in part due to duty on imports in some European countries which favor former colonies over other trading partners.

It is important to remember that, in the United States, espresso is a specialty while, in southern Europe, it is the way of all coffee. Those roasters in the U.S. who are perusing, with gusto, the lure of espresso cuisine are devotes of the all-Arabica school of coffee philosophy. Unfortunately, Arabicas are lower in fat content (important for developing espresso's "creme") than Robusta beans. So, American specialty roasters work to overcome this deficiency by scrupulously watching freshness and percentage of "fines" in the ground coffee (which also play key roles in developing the "creme").

Some European roasters make a case for dark roasted Robustas by pointing out that dark roasted Arabicas of good acidity make bitter espresso as steam espresso amplifies coffee's natural acidity. This one sounds good, but, in practice, I have never found that the idea held water.