What does arabica beans meaning tell us about bitterness in coffee?

Bitterness is not a sign of quality. All cultivated coffee comes from three species: tetraploid small-bean Arabica, used in most mid-to-high-end coffee for its quality and aroma; medium-bean Robusta, high in caffeine and common in instant and canned coffee; and large-bean Liberica, too bitter and harsh for most drinkers. Coffee belongs to the Rubiaceae family and the genus Coffea.

Caffeine is the direct energy-supplying molecule behind coffee's alertness, which is why the drink first spread as a medicine alongside tea and cocoa. The word coffee comes from the Greek kaweh, meaning strength and passion, and legend credits an Ethiopian shepherd who noticed his flock growing active after eating red fruit.

Many people's first impression of coffee is bitterness, and some even believe that the more bitter the coffee, the better its quality. Is that really true? This article starts with the historical origins of the world's three major beverages, sorts out the botanical classification of coffee and its caffeine mechanism, and focuses on answering two common questions: whether all coffee is bitter, and whether the more bitter black coffee is, the better it is. It also recommends several coffee beans that are not bitter and have highly recognizable flavors for coffee beginners, including popular products such as Front Street Yirgacheffe, Front Street Blackberry, and Front Street Mozart, to help you find the cup that suits your taste buds.

First, let me ask everyone a question: what are the world's three major beverages? That's right—tea, coffee, and cocoa. Interestingly, all three were originally used as medicine. The reason is that theophylline, caffeine, and theobromine can all stimulate the nervous system and make people feel excited. After sick people drank them, they would sweat all over, and half of their cold and fever would be relieved; even if the illness was more serious, they would feel better. Passed on by word of mouth, these three beverages gradually swept the world. Among them, coffee had the most prominent effect and spread across the widest area.

The word coffee first came from the Greek word "kaweh," originally meaning strength and passion. Legend has it that the first person to discover coffee was an Ethiopian shepherd, who noticed that his flock became unusually active after eating a red fruit, and only then did coffee enter human view. Coffee belongs to the Rubiaceae family and the genus Coffea, and there are more than one hundred wild coffee varieties worldwide. However, all cultivated coffee today comes from three species: tetraploid small-bean Arabica, which has outstanding quality and rich aroma, and is used in most mid-to-high-end coffee; medium-bean Robusta, which has high caffeine content and is often used in instant and canned coffee; and large-bean Liberica, which, because its taste is too bitter and harsh, is drunk by almost no one except residents of its place of origin. It can thus be seen that coffee is not better simply because it is more bitter.

Why can coffee refresh you? This comes down to the direct energy-supplying molecule in the human body—adenosine triphosphate. Being full of energy is precisely because adenosine triphosphate is sufficient. But it should be noted that, just as drinking alcohol to warm up is only a superficial phenomenon, coffee can only play a refreshing role and cannot truly make people physically stronger.

Coffee is not all bitter, so which coffees are not bitter? In fact, coffee contains rich layers of flavor. For example, coffee beans from African producing regions mostly have fruity acidity, and if you taste carefully, the interweaving of sweetness and acidity is more like a glass of juice. Front Street Yirgacheffe, known for its floral and lemon flavors, is very suitable for beginners, with high cost performance and strong flavor recognition; one sip leaves a deep impression.

Different from the fruity-acid type, honey-processed coffee emphasizes a sweeter juice-like feel, and the most representative is Costa Rican coffee. For example, Front Street Blackberry, Front Street Mozart, and Front Street Strawberry Candy are all hot-selling products. They can not only be brewed by pour-over, but are also suitable for cold brew, moka pot, and home coffee machine preparation. They are full of coffee sweetness and aroma, with no bitterness at all.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.