The different types of coffee beans

There are literally hundreds of different types of coffee beans grown around the world. Names like caturra, bourbon, geisha and mundo nova can be very confusing. We’ll take you through the basics so you are ready to take on the geekiest of coffee geeks!

Plant Species

There are two different types of coffee bean plant species groups; Arabica and Robusta. Generally speaking, Arabica has more flavour in the cup, though it is harder to grow. Most of the specialty coffee around is made from the Arabica species, though there are some great Robusta coffee’s coming into play. Within the Arabica strain, there are so many deviations of the original typica or its equivalent plant grown all over the world. They differ because coffee started in Africa. It was then transported around the world and naturally adapted to suit its new environment. Today, scientists have come up with many hybrid varietals by grafting different species together to yield new flavours.

This is all really exciting from a nerdy point of view. For a basic level, there are differences between Robusta and Arabica, and there are many species of the Arabica varietal that we use in specialty coffee. There are big beans, super massive ‘elephant beans’, mini ‘peaberry’ beans and some that grow in all different colours.

At Black Market Roasters, we freshly roast single origin beans every week. As a coffee roaster, we know how important it is to use the best beans the world has to offer! Click here to find out how you can have coffee delivered to your door.