What are the different types of coffee beans?

There are literally 100’s of different types of coffee beans grown around the world. Names like caturra, bourbon, geisha and mundo nova can be very confusing, so we will take you through the basics so you are ready to take on the geekiest of coffee geeks!

Basically 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 seriously 100’s of deviations of the original typica or its equivalent plant grown all over the world. They differ because coffee started in Africa then went through was 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 you, though on a basic level, just understand 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 understand and taste all the differences between the varietals, source the best from a range of farms across the world and offer it to you on our online bean shop so you can enjoy it all at home. Our freshly roasted coffee beans are the result of many tastings and research, so jump to ‘Shop’ page to see the selection!

At Black Market Roasters, we freshly roasted single origin beans like Sumatra Wahana, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Kenyan, Colombian beans plus much more. Being an online coffee bean store, we freshly roast your coffee to order and ship it FREE to your door! Being a coffee maker and coffee roaster, we know how important it is to use the best beans the world has to offer! Head over to our Beans Page to kick off your order.