Coffee

C. arabica is a tetraploid (44 chromosomes) and is self-pollinating. There are two distinct botanical varieties: arabica (typica) and bourbon. Historically, typica was cultivated in Latin America and Asia, whereas bourbon arrived in South America and, later, East Africa via the French colony of Bourbon (Reunion). Because C. arabica is self-pollinating, these varieties tended to remain genetically stable. However, spontaneous mutations showing desirable characteristics have been cultivated in their own right, as well as being exploited for cross-breeding purposes. Some of these mutants and cultivars are described below.

Mutants: Caturra - a compact form of bourbon Maragogipe - a mutant typica with large beans San Ramon - a dwarf typica Purpurascens - purple leaved forms

Cultivars have been developed to give the maximum economic return under specific regional conditions such as climate, soil, methods of cultivation and the prevalence of pests and diseases. Some of the better known cultivars are:

Blue Mountain - grown in Jamaica and Kenya

Mundo Novo - a cross between typica and bourbon, originally grown in Brazil

Kent - originally developed in India, showing some disease resistance

Catuai - developed as a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra, characterized by either yellow or red cherries: Catuai-amarelo and Catuai-vermelho respectively.


Coffea canephora
C. canephora is diploid and self-sterile, producing many different forms and varieties in the wild. The identification of cultivars is confused, but two main forms are recognised:

'Robusta' - upright forms
'Nganda' - spreading forms

Arabica / robusta hybrids
Coffee has been selectively bred to improve characteristics of: growth and flowering, yield, bean size and shape, cup quality, caffeine content, disease resistance, drought resistance.

Crosses between arabica and robusta aim to improve arabica by confering disease resistance and vigour or to improve on the cup quality of robusta.

Hibrido de Timor is a natural hybrid of arabica x robusta which resembles arabica coffee and has 44 chromosomes.

Catimor is a cross between Caturra and Hibrido de Timor and is resistant to coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix).

A new dwarf hybrid called Ruiru Eleven, developed at the Coffee Research Station at Ruiru in Kenya, was launched in 1985. Ruiru 11 is resistant to coffee berry disease and to coffee leaf rust. It is also high yielding and suitable for planting at twice the normal density.

Icatu hybrids are the result of repeated backcrossing of interspecific arabica x robusta hybrids to arabica cultivars Mundo Novo and Caturra.

Arabusta hybrids are fertile interspecific Fl hybrids from crosses between arabica and induced auto-tetraploid robusta coffee.

Techniques used in coffee breeding
1. Controlled pollination and multiplication by seed
2. Vegetative (clonal) propagation
* Traditional methods: grafting, taking cuttings
* New methods (tissue culture): micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis

In recent years the potential of genetic manipulation of Coffea using recombinant DNA technology and tissue culture techniques has been investigated. By introducing new genes for characteristics such as resistance to pests or to herbicides, or genes coding for desirable cup quality attributes, it may be possible to produce plants with any combination of features required.

source:http://www.ico.org/coffee_story.asp

Robusta trees (Coffea canephora), which are grown exclusively in the eastern hemisphere, also thrive in equatorial climates, but at low altitudes. Their cherries require less care since they remain on the tree after they ripen. Robusta beans have twice the caffeine of Arabica, but less flavor. Some supermarkets carry Arabica, but most of their brands are robusta. Coffee shops generally use Arabica beans, but because their brews are so strong, I don't enjoy them. I had always been satisfied with the various Maxwell House roasts and blends, until I bought my first bag of Arabica beans, ground them, brewed and drank the elixir.

To describe the taste of Arabica is difficult without using trite words like smooth and mellow. It has a round taste that is both rich and delicate, with good acidity. This does not refer to an actual degree of acidity, but to the sharp and pleasing taste that is neither sour nor sweet. The difference was evident in my first cup, probably because I had been drinking robusta for years. I was sold, high cost or not, and now I only buy Arabica.

In fairness, although most robusta coffee is of a lower grade and inferior to Arabica, there is a premium crop that is the top of the line for robusta beans. Premium robusta is primarily used in specialty espresso blends, and is never found in canned coffee. Though it only constitutes 5-15% of the blend, it is used because these beans add body to the taste and make a nice creama in the shot of espresso. This additional body distinguishes the blend in a cappuccino or latte. Premium robusta should only be used for espresso and not other brewing methods.

Surprisingly, I have found 100% Arabica coffee in Kroger decaffeinated and Eight O'Clock regular, both in bags of whole beans. If your coffee is Colombian, it will probably say Arabica on the side or back of the package, since this country produces nothing else. Guatemala, El Salvador, Tanzania and Kenya also produce all Arabica beans.

Once when I was a salesperson, a customer asked if we had leather handbags. After our discussion, I stated, "So, you really like leather purses, huh?" She asked, "Have you ever had a leather purse?" I tentatively said that I wasn't sure and she replied, "Well, once you've had one, you will never want anything else." I purchased a leather purse because of her conviction, and she was right.

So, I state with conviction that once you try well-brewed Arabica coffee, you may never want robusta again. It invades the tongue and palate with a delightful taste and divine aroma. You will be encouraged to close your eyes and savor the flavor, just as I describe in my poem.

Coffea arabica - Arabica coffee

Coffea arabica was first described by Linnaeus in 1753. The best known varieties are 'Typica' and 'Bourbon' but from these many different strains and cultivars have been developed, such as caturra (Brazil, Colombia), Mundo Novo (Brazil), Tico (Central America), the dwarf San Ramon and the Jamaican Blue Mountain. The average arabica plant is a large bush with dark-green oval leaves. It is genetically different from other coffee species, having four sets of chromosomes rather than two. The fruits are oval and mature in 7 to 9 months; they usually contain two flat seeds (the coffee beans) - when only one bean develops it is called a peaberry. Arabica coffee is often susceptible to attack by pests and diseases, therefore resistance is a major goal of plant breeding programmes. Arabica coffee is grown throughout Latin America, in Central and East Africa, in India and to some extent in Indonesia.

Coffea canephora - Robusta coffee

The term 'robusta' is actually the name of a widely grown variety of this species. It is a robust shrub or small tree growing up to 10 metres in height, but with a shallow root system. The fruits are rounded and take up to 11 months to mature; the seeds are oval in shape and smaller than those of C. arabica. Robusta coffee is grown in West and Central Africa, throughout South-East Asia and to some extent in Brazil, where it is known as Conillon.

Coffea liberica - Liberica coffee

Liberica coffee grows as a large strong tree, up to 18 metres in height, with large leathery leaves. The fruits and seeds (beans) are also large. Liberica coffee is grown in Malaysia and in West Africa, but only very small quantities are traded as demand for its flavour characteristics is low.

source:http://www.ico.org/coffee_story.asp

At long last, we have scientific guidance regarding that great question of social lubrication: Should you ask someone to meet for a drink or a cup of coffee? We may also have cause to update Ogden Nash’s famously short poem, “Reflections on Ice-Breaking” — and there’s a prize for the Lab reader who can do it in style.

Pyschologists report in Science that you’re more likely to think warmly of someone else if you’re holding something warm in your hand like a mug of coffee or tea. The experimenters, Lawrence Williams of the University of Colorado and John Bargh of Yale, gave cups of either hot or iced coffee to people and asked them to rate someone’s personality based on a packet of information. The ones who held the hot cup rated that individual significantly higher for “warmth” than did the subjects holding the iced coffee.

The psychologists, unfortunately, did not try the same test with a cold beer, or with something hot and alcoholic like Irish coffee — clearly, further research is needed to compare the exact social effects of liquor and coffee. (Volunteers?) But the psychologists did confirm the effects of heat in another experiment by offering people a gift certificate that they could keep for themselves or give to a friend. The subjects given a heated therapeutic pad to hold were more likely to give the certificate to a friend than were the ones holding a frozen pad.

The researchers suggest that the connection between heat and emotion — indeed, the fact that we call someone a “warm person” or speak of “breaking the ice” — seems to be the result of early associations in childhood. “Maintaining closeness to caretakers during infancy, a period of relative helplessness, is critical for the survival of many animals,” they write, so “a close mental association should develop between the concepts of physical warmth and psychological warmth.”

“Experiences of physical temperature per se affect one’s impressions of and pro-social behavior toward other people, without one’s awareness of such influences,” Dr. Williams said. “At a board meeting, for instance, being willing to reach out and touch another human being, to shake their hand, those experiences do matter although we may not always be aware of them. In a restaurant, it’s been shown that wait staff who touch customers usually get a better tip. It’s a nice gesture, but it also has a warming effect.”

Dr. Bargh points to recent brain imaging studies showing that the experience of hot or cold stimulus triggers activity in the insular cortex, the same area of the brain associated with a personality disorder that makes people uncooperative and distrustful.

“It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behavior as well,” Dr. Bargh said. “Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer – more generous and trusting – as well.”

Will this news change strategies for business meetings and first dates? Should Starbucks’ stockholders rejoice? Will waiters in search of tips start pushing hot drinks and keep finding excuses to touch you?

And is it time to update “Reflections on Ice-Breaking”? Nash wrote:

Candy
Is dandy
But liquor
Is quicker.