Learn about quality Arabica beans in Vietnam

Arabica and Robusta are two popular varieties of coffee beans and are mainly used for coffee making today. However, Arabica coffee is also classified into many varieties and has different characteristics. To better understand the high-quality Arabica coffee beans as well as how to distinguish and choose the right products, please consult Huongmai Cafe for information through the article below.

1. Learn about Arabica coffee beans

Arabica coffee is known in Vietnamese as "coffee tea" because of its low stem and small leaves like the tea tree. It is known that this is the first coffee variety grown by the French in our country. Arabica coffee is a popular coffee variety, accounting for more than 60% of the total production in the world.

In the coffee family, Arabica is also divided into many different varieties such as: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catimor... And almost all of them are considered the best coffees with a sour taste, after sweet, subtle taste tropical fruit flavors.

Biological characteristics of Arabica coffee varieties are suitable for temperate climates with temperatures from 15-25 degrees Celsius, over 1000m high. Therefore, they are often grown in South American countries.

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2. Quality Arabica coffee varieties in Vietnam

Catimor

It is known that Catimor is a coffee variety that is bred from two varieties of Caturra and Timor (Timor is a cross between Robusta and Arabica lines), originating from Portugal.

With the characteristics of easily adapting to Vietnam's climate, high yield and resistance to pests and diseases. So Catimor is often grown more commonly than Bourbon and Typica strains. Currently, Catimor is distributed mainly in major coffee material areas across the country such as Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Quang Tri, Nghe An, and Son La.

However, besides the above advantages, this coffee variety is evaluated by some experts as when roasted and ground, the quality of drinking water is not high, the seeds are small and the gourd is small. Therefore, it is not possible to satisfy the export market or fastidious customers with high requirements for "appearance".

Typica

Typica is the most famous and delicious coffee variety in Cau Dat - Da Lat. Typica coffee beans have excellent quality, conquering the taste of domestic and international customers. However, due to low yield, this coffee variety has a relatively small quantity in Vietnam, and the price is higher than other coffee varieties on the market.

Bourbon

Arabica Bourbon was one of the first coffee varieties introduced to Vietnam by the French colonialists in 1975. This coffee was only served to the aristocracy and the upper class because of its noble taste, elegant and scrumptious that it brings.

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This is a premium coffee line, which is considered to be of the same quality as "specialty coffee" in the world. This Arabica Bourbon variety is grown and developed in Cau Dat area, Da Lat.

Arabica Bourbon coffee beans have long conquered "coffee followers" thanks to their captivating aroma and lingering sweetness. Coffee when roasted at a moderate temperature will produce a mildly sour, wine-flavored drink. That's why they are called the "Queen of Coffees".

Catuai

Many people find it extremely interesting to see with their own eyes the ripe yellow seed varieties grown in the coffee material areas in Vietnam. Yellow color is also the unmistakable characteristic of Catuai coffee.

Catuai are bred from many different coffee varieties and were introduced from Cuba in the 1980s. They have a round coffee bean, similar to Catimor coffee beans. The Catuai variety was bred from Caturra coffee beans (named after a town in Brazil) - a variant of Bourbon (pure Arabica) with Mundo Novo coffee line (a cross between two pure Arabica lines, Bourbon and Typica). 

This coffee variety inherits genetic characteristics from the original Caturra hybrid, so its resistance to pests and diseases is very poor. Due to such characteristics, this coffee strain is no longer maintained, but only a few gardens and people harvest mixed with Catimor for sale. The seed of the Catuai coffee variety is round, but the rate of occurrence of the seeds is long, possibly due to the lack of uniformity in the variety grown. 

3. Why does Arabica coffee have a high price in the market? 

In the current market, in terms of quality, Arabica coffee is appreciated more than Robusta in terms of taste and foreign market demand. Although Vietnam is the second largest exporter of green coffee beans in the world, the scale and production of Arabica across the country only accounts for about 10% of the total area of ​​raw materials. That is also one of the reasons why the price of Arabica coffee is higher than that of Robusta. However, depending on the taste of each person, it is impossible to judge which coffee is better.

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The reason for limiting Arabica production in Vietnam is largely related to our country's weather and terrain conditions, which are not suitable for this type of coffee. Currently, the State has many research programs to breed good Arabica coffee varieties, resistant to pests and diseases, with high yields to apply to Vietnam's conditions.

Huongmai Cafe is now known as one of the reputable and quality suppliers of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans. We own a diverse source of raw materials, a large growing area that promises to bring customers the best coffee products.