Normally we love infographics, but this might be the worst coffee infographic of all time. It’s full of blatantly inaccurate facts, it is at times very confusing, and worst of all, for an infographic it is particularly unpleasant to look at. But want to know how we really feel? Click that link first, or scroll down past the kvetching to get a glimpse.
“There are only two types of coffee: arabica and robusta.” Incorrect. There are over a hundred species of coffea, including arabica and robusta.
“Hawaii is the only state in the US that cultivates coffee.” Wrong, wrong, wrong. There are now farms in Southern California, being sold at Farmers Markets in LA.
“The arabica variety includes Columbian, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Sulawesi, Bourbon and Panama.” Pbbt. Let’s ignore the misspelling of “Colombian”, and focus on the author variety confusion. Arabica is a species, the species has several different varieties. Sulawesi isn’t really a variety, it’s a country. There’s Sulawesi Toraja Kalossi (actually S795), but Sulawesi itself is not a cultivar of coffee. Neither is Jamaican Blue Mountain. Blue Mountain, yes. Blue Mountain grows in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, also in Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Cameroon, and Kenya.
Ugh. There’s more?
“Jamaica Blue Mountain and Civet are both examples of premium coffee.” The civet is a cat-like mammal, not a premium coffee. Civets are caged and forced to produce Kopi Luwak, which is just awful, and a total scam.
“The Robusta variety includes Civet and Kopi Luwak.” Robusta is not a variety. Musk-bearing toddycats are not a cultivar. Kopi Luwak factories (read: several small cages in confined areas) use all sorts of coffee, Arabica and Robusta alike.
The verdict? This infographic sucks so much it was worthy of our scorn, tut-tutting, and scoffery. Pass the Doritos please, and some paper towels to ungrease my laptop keyboard.
