Brew-tiful beans: A man holding coffee beans at a coffee tasting fair in Buon Ma Thuot city, Daklak province. — AFP
Bitter and earthy. Fit for instant brews only. Robusta coffee has a dire reputation, but a small group of farmers in Vietnam is trying to turn the bean’s fortunes around as a warming world threatens the industry.
As an interior designer in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, 42, largely stayed clear of Vietnamese coffee, puzzling over why it didn’t taste as good as cups from abroad.
Now, nearly a decade later, she runs her own coffee farm – “Mori” – in the remote Central Highlands, cultivating robusta she believes can match the world’s favourite bean, arabica, in quality and flavour.
“My beans have a fruity, flowery smell, and they taste strong – but in a gentle way,” Ngoc said at her farm close to the city of Pleiku.
“Vietnamese farmers need to know it is possible to make these beans taste good.”
Long scorned by giants such as Starbucks, robusta – which has almost double the caffeine content of arabica – is found in most instant coffees, as well as some espresso blends.
Most experts agree that the bean has potential but is stuck in a “vicious circle of bad quality”, said Mario Fernandez of the Specialty Coffee Association.
“We get bad quality from robusta, therefore it gets a bad reputation, therefore no one wants to pay a premium for it, therefore there’s no motivation to improve the quality.”
But robusta has advantages over its competitor: the yields are greater, and it can better cope with higher temperatures.
Climate change presents a serious concern for the multi-billion-dollar coffee industry, with scientists predicting lower yields and fewer areas suitable for growing.
Arabica prefers average annual temperatures of around 19˚C. Robusta, although by no means immune to a warming world, may be able to endure up to around 23˚C.
Should global production of arabica start to fall short, “people will have to find an alternative supply”, said Pham Thi Diep Giang, deputy director general of Trung Nguyen, one of Vietnam’s top coffee brands. — AFP
