Coffea Canephora is making a comeback. C. canephora, the species colloquially referred to as robusta—though robusta is but one of two varieties of canephora—has seen increased interest as the threat of climate change continues to affect coffee production. A more resilient and higher yielding crop, robusta’s market share in total global production has grown to 44%, bringing it almost on a par with Arabica.
And as robusta’s popularity continues to grow, so too does the need for specialized tools and metrics. Robusta is not Arabica, which is why they are sold separately on the commodities market and why they have their own Q course (Q Robusta, or R Grader). And now, canephora has its own flavor wheel.
Robusta has long been considered inferior in taste and quality to Arabica, but in their study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, a team of researchers led by Fabiana Carvalho posit that it’s a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Robusta is assumed to be inferior so it doesn’t receive the same meticulous cultivation that specialty-grade Arabica does, thus its quality suffers. Were producers to take a similar approach to robusta as they do Arabica, the results would be closer.
And for the researchers, part of changing the perception is creating a specialized flavor wheel to properly assess canephora. To develop it, they brought in 49 professional coffee graders, 40 of which were Q and/or R Graders; 31 were from Brazil, the world’s leader in robusta production, and the other 18 currently work in EU countries.
A total of 67 canephora samples representing 13 different origin countries were evaluated and were cupped over the course of two sessions. In the first session, 34 coffees were assessed in both Switzerland and Brazil using a Rate All That Apply (RATA) protocol. During this cupping, “the development stage,” the researchers goal was to obtain as many flavor descriptors as possible in order to create a more accurate flavor wheel. The second cupping, which included some coffees three to six months off roast in order to include negative flavors associated with oxidative degradation, contained 33 total coffees. The primary purpose of this “validation stage” was to evaluate if the descriptors from the developments stage were broad enough.
Out of the total 202 terms generated by the tasters, the list was combined and edited down to 103 different descriptors, which aligns with the 99 found in the most recent Arabica-focused flavor wheel. Like with the Arabica flavor wheel, the descriptors break down into sub-categories, going from broader terms like Sweet, Umami, and Cocoa to more specific notes like rapadura, shoyu, and cocoa butter.
With more refined tools, producers will be better equipped to cultivate higher quality, specialty grade robusta. And as climate change continues to shrink the areas suitably conditioned to grow Arabica, many growers have already begin to seek answers in the form of new and more resilient varieties. Turns out, the answer (or an answer at least) may have been hiding in plain sight all along.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
