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What is Robusta Coffee? Robusta vs Arabica: 12 Differences

Want to see a little robusta vs arabica action? Well, in this post we dive into robusta coffee, what it is, and how it differs from arabica.

Robusta coffee beans roatsted close-up

Robusta coffee is the second most popular coffee in the world, so if you’re a coffee lover – it makes sense that you’d want to know all about it.


What is Robusta Coffee?

Given that there are over a hundred species of coffee, robusta has done well to become the second most popular coffee on the world market.

So let’s take a look at what it is, and where it comes from.

What is robusta coffee? Robusta coffee is a type of coffee made from the beans (seeds) of the Coffea canephora plant.

Robusta originated in central and western sub-Saharan Africa. It is the second most popular coffee in the world, making up 40% of the world’s coffee production.

It comes second only to arabica (from the Coffea arabica plant) which makes up the remaining 60% (or more) of coffee production worldwide.

Learn more about arabica coffee.

Where does robusta coffee come from?

Robusta coffee is largely grown in the Eastern Hemisphere, mainly in Africa and Indonesia. The largest producer is Vietnam.

Robusta coffee in Viet Nam
Robusta coffee growing in Vietnam

Coffea robusta has become a synonym of Coffea canephora which has two main varieties, C. c. robusta, and C. c. nganda. These varieties are commonly referred to as robusta coffee.

It’s often used in instant coffee, and espresso blends. So when it comes to making coffee at home, the method you’ll want to choose to bring out the best in robusta beans is espresso.

What does robusta coffee taste like?

Robusta coffee tastes earthy and is often said to have a bitter, rubbery/grain-like flavor, with a peanutty aftertaste.

Doesn’t sound appealing, does it? But these flavors are not always present and if they are, may not always be unpleasant.

It could depend a lot on the quality of the beans and the way they are roasted. For example, I tried some Cannonball Coffee robusta, and while the beans smelled earthy, kind of like raw potatoes – I didn’t notice it carried over in the flavor of the brewed coffee.

Once brewed it smelled more like molasses. It did have a bitter flavor, but bitter is not always a bad thing, especially if you’re a fan of bitter dark chocolate which is what I tasted in this coffee.

Robusta coffee beans contain more caffeine and less sugar than arabica beans, and therefore taste stronger and harsher than arabica.

Keep reading: The Strongest Coffee in the World

Is robusta coffee good?

At this point you may be wondering if robusta tastes good – well, high-quality robusta is said to add depth of flavor to an arabica/robusta blend, and a nice crema to espresso blends. But inferior robusta is often described as tasting kinda like burnt rubber.

In espresso land (yes – I mean Italy) high-quality robusta is desired because of the crema and flavor it adds to the espresso.

So if you like harsher, more earthy flavor notes, you may like a little robusta in your blend. Or, if you’re after a nice thick crema on your espresso, then a high-quality robusta might just do the trick.

espresso with crema from robusta coffee beans


All About the Robusta Coffee Plant

The robusta coffee plant is a resilient little plant. It can withstand hot temperatures (30°C and over) and full sun. It likes to stay hydrated and requires a lot of water to be happy & healthy.

It grows at low altitudes – sea level to 600 meters and is resistant to insects and disease.

In the wild, it grows to around ten meters tall, but when grown for commercial use is pruned to a height that makes harvesting easier, around five meters.

Robusta coffee plants

The flowers are white and smell sweet like jasmine.

The fruit of the robusta coffee plant turns deep red as it ripens, and takes around 6 to 8 months to do so. The fruit does not all ripen at the same time, much like blueberries – there can be ripe and unripe fruit on the same branch.

There are usually two coffee beans (seeds) inside each “cherry”, or ripe berry.

Robusta coffee plants with fruit

Need a gift for a coffee lover? Check out these gifts for coffee snobs – you’re sure to find something they’ll love.

How much more caffeine is in robusta?

If you’ve heard that there’s more caffeine in robusta than arabica, you’ve heard right. There’s around twice as much caffeine in robusta.

Robusta vs Arabica Caffeine Content: The robusta bean is around 2.2- 2.7% caffeine, and the arabica bean is around 1.2 – 1.5%.

That higher caffeine content is one of the things that makes the robusta coffee plant less susceptible to pests and disease. The pests don’t like the bitter flavor, and the disease doesn’t like its antimicrobial properties.

The higher caffeine in robusta also lends to a bitter flavor in brewed coffee. A cup of brewed robusta contains around twice as much caffeine as a cup of arabica.

Where is robusta coffee grown?

As mentioned above the majority of robusta is grown in the Eastern Hemisphere, but some also come from South and Central America.

Top 13 Producers of Robusta Coffee

The following list is made up of some of the largest producers of robusta coffee:

  1. Viet Nam
  2. Brazil
  3. Indonesia
  4. India
  5. Uganda
  6. Malaysia
  7. Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
  8. Thailand
  9. Cameroon
  10. Philippines
  11. Madagascar
  12. Guinea
  13. Guatemala

If you see the above countries listed as the source of beans on a bag of coffee (especially countries in Africa and Asia) there may be some robusta in the mix (unless it says that it’s 100% arabica coffee) especially if it has a bitter/smoky flavor going on.

Robusta beans are sometimes added to bags of arabica as a filler (to save $$) or to achieve the flavor notes it carries with it.

Like this bag (pictured below) from the Congo. I was pretty sure by the way the beans look, and taste – that it was a blend of robusta and arabica.

But when I contacted the roaster/importer, they confirmed that it is not a blend – but 100% arabica. You’ll notice the different shapes in the beans – suggesting different varieties – but it turns out that they are actually just different quality arabica beans.

Robusta coffee blend
robusta vs. arabica
The bean on the right looks like robusta – smaller, rounder, thicker… but it is actually just a different grade of arabica. Robusta beans can be difficult to identify visually.

Robusta vs. Arabica: 12 Differences

There are a number of notable differences between these two main coffee contenders. Let’s take a closer look by means of a robusta vs. arabica comparison.

Robusta coffee:

  1. Needs to be cross-pollinated. This means that robusta blossoms need to be pollinated with some pollen from a plant with a different genetic composition. Arabica is self-pollinating.
  2. Matures faster. Robusta produces fruit in around 2 years. Arabica takes around 4 years.
  3. Contains more caffeine. Robusta has twice as much (or more) caffeine as arabica.
  4. Tastes different. Robusta tastes more bitter than arabica. This bitter flavor is in part due to the higher caffeine content. It’s also higher in chlorogenic acid (CGA) which has a bitter flavor, it contains around 7-10% CGA, whereas Arabica has around 5.5-8%. CGA. There is also about half the sugar content in robusta. Overall robusta is described as tasting earthy, harsh, grainy, with hints of burnt wood/rubber, and an aftertaste of peanuts.
  5. Is more resilient. The robusta plant is more resilient, can withstand higher temperatures, and does better in direct sun. Because of the higher caffeine and chlorogenic acid content – robusta is also more pest and disease resistant than arabica.
  6. Produces more. The robusta plant produces more coffee per hectare than arabica.
  7. Costs less. Robusta is more resilient, matures faster, and produces more than arabica – these factors make it less costly to grow. Those things, along with the less sought after flavor also mean it costs less to buy, so some brands will use robusta as a filler, mixing it in among the arabica beans.
  8. Beans are different in size and color. Robusta beans are usually smaller, thicker and rounder than arabica beans. They are also a little darker when raw.
  9. Is younger. Robusta was “discovered” around 100 years after arabica, making it younger on the world market.
  10. Leaves are larger. The leaves of the robusta coffee plant are larger than those of the arabica plant.
  11. Is grown in the eastern hemisphere. Robusta is grown mainly in the eastern hemisphere, whereas arabica is mainly grown in South America.
  12. Has fewer chromosomes. Robusta has 22 chromosomes, arabica has 44.
All about robusta coffee
Roasted robusta coffee beans

Robusta Coffee Brands

Would you like to try some robusta? It can be fun and interesting to experiment with coffee brands and flavors to see what the differences are – and to determine what your taste buds prefer.

To do that you need to know some brands of robusta coffee.

For a flavor comparison of Arabica coffee brands, check out this post all about Arabica coffee. You’ll find a section just like this, but with suggestions for Arabica coffee brands.

3 Brands of Robusta Coffee to Try

  1. Death Wish Coffee: Among the brands of robusta coffee this is one of the most popular. It’s a blend of robusta and arabica beans sourced from India and Peru. It’s both organic and fair trade. This is known as the world’s strongest coffee, both in flavor and caffeine content. A cup of Death Wish has as much caffeine as two cups of regular coffee. According to the company they have sourced out some of the best robusta beans to make this blend bold and delicious – with flavor notes of dark chocolate, dark cherry and roasted almond.
  2. Cannonball Coffee: Here is a great choice for robusta beans. I received a sample bag of the Maximum Charge (a single-origin Rwandan robusta) and I enjoyed it. It had flavor notes of bitter dark chocolate and dark roasted almonds, none of those burnt rubber flavors I feared. I brewed it in my stovetop espresso maker (Moka pot) and noticed it tasted more like espresso than the Arabica beans I usually use.
  3. Valhalla Java: This is another among the top brands of robusta coffee, it’s also mixed with arabica. It’s by the Death With Coffee Company and is an organic, and fair trade coffee. The beans are sourced from India, Honduras, Sumatra, Guatemala and Peru. This is not as strong as Death Wish Coffee, and has flavor notes of walnut and toast. Strong coffee lovers say they prefer Death Wish to get them up and buzzing, and Valhalla Java is a bit of a more mellow (but still strong) choice.

There you have it: 3 brands of robusta coffee. As you noticed, most of them are robusta/arabica blends, which goes to show that the harsh flavor of robusta is best paired with the flavor notes of arabica.

These brands would be great for brewing up some really strong coffee. But unless you’re a die-hard black coffee fan, you’ll probably want to drink these blends with some milk and sugar, and maybe make a fancy little treat for yourself – like a cappuccino or a latte.

Cappuccino or Latte coffee

Please let us know what your favorite robusta coffee brand is by joining us in the comments on this post.

More reading: How long does coffee last? Does coffee go bad?


Robusta Coffee and You

So, what do you think about robusta, do you think you’ll give it a try? Who knows – maybe you’ll like the earthy, smoky flavor it adds to your daily java. Or, like wine, you may find that it pairs better with certain foods (like bread and cheese) than arabica does.

I want to try some of that Vietnamese coffee I read about while researching this post. It sounds delicious.

Vietnamese coffee with robusta coffee beans
Vietnamese coffee looks good! 🙂

We would love to hear about your coffee adventures, please share with us – and all who EnjoyJava by commenting on this post.

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Snapdragon

Sunday 8th of January 2023

How long has Vietnam been a major coffee producer? Was it a thing during the 60's & 70's or mostly a post-war agricultural product.

Bryan Haines

Tuesday 10th of January 2023

According to the BBC, "Coffee was introduced to Vietnam by the French in the 19th Century and a processing plant manufacturing instant coffee was functioning by 1950."

And since 1986, coffee production grew quickly. "Coffee production then grew by 20%-30% every year in the 1990s. The industry now employs about 2.6 million people, with beans grown on half a million smallholdings of two to three acres each."

Anthony Brewbaker

Thursday 30th of December 2021

I visited Vietnam for the first time several years ago. Their coffee is absolutely amazing. They do grow Arabica now. But, my favorite is a blend or straight Robusta. I don't know where anyone gets the burnt rubbery flavor. It's probably from bad roasting or the quality of the bean. I have never gotten that from Vietnamese coffee. Their Peabody is very good as well. I will on occasion blend some Jamaican Blue Mountain with a greater percentage of the Vietnamese Robusta. Not sacrilege, an amazing blend also. 👌

Joe Tilman

Friday 27th of August 2021

Why does the entire coffee industry seem to use the word "altitude" (above the ground) when they mean "elevation" (above sea level)?

Bryan Haines

Tuesday 31st of August 2021

According to Merriam Webster, altitude means "the vertical elevation of an object above a surface (such as sea level or land) of a planet or natural satellite".

So I guess that both are correct.

Coffee Industry Statistics [Largest Collection of Market Research] - Coffee xml

Wednesday 16th of December 2020

[…] Plants, Pinoy Bisnes Ideas, Kape Isla, Food-Info, World Fertilizer Use Manual, Trade Winds Fruit, EnjoyJava, International Coffee Trading, Vittoria […]

Richard

Saturday 6th of June 2020

Am a "poor sole" can't afford the "quality/conosewer" brands. Drink coffee only for da caffeine, Don't have a "maker/brewer" live next door to 7Eleven. So which of their coffees has the highest caffeine content? And what about the STOK how much does 1 add to the caffeine content???