Robusta

Robusta is not a variety of arabica coffee but a separate species, Coffea canephora, native to the lowland forests of central and western sub-Saharan Africa, from Liberia across the Congo basin to Angola and Tanzania. It was described and brought into cultivation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and its natural resistance to coffee leaf rust made it especially attractive after rust devastated arabica plantations in Ceylon and Indonesia. Robusta plants are generally higher yielding and more disease resistant than arabica, with beans that are more bitter, heavier bodied and lower in acidity, and it now accounts for roughly two-fifths of world coffee production. It is used widely in blends, instant coffee and for espresso crema, and while long regarded as lower in quality and prestige than arabica, some origins and processing methods are increasingly reframing fine Robusta as a speciality category in its own right.