When we talk about coffee, it’s mostly Arabica coffee.
Robusta (C. Canephora) is often mixed only in coffee blends.
It’s a pity, because coffee (Coffea) has many more species. Currently 124 species are known. They taste different and also have a different high caffeine content. For our daily enjoyment we cultivate 60% Coffea Arabica and 36% Coffea Canephora. The remaining 4 % are accounted for:
- C. Liberica originally in West Africa, now also in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
- C. Excelsa growing on Lake Chad.
- C. Stenophylla in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and other West African countries.
- C. Congensis in Congo
- C. Bonnieri in Madagascar
- C. Racemosa in Mozambique
- C. Zanguebariae in Tanzania and
- C. Benghalensis, in Bengal
All other over 100 known species grow mainly in Africa.
Here is a list of all species and their origins, from Coffea abbayesii in Madagascar to Coffea zanguebariae in Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.