Vietnamese Arabica Coffee: Authentic Flavor

Arabica coffee is called Tea coffee in Vietnamese because of its short stem and small leaves like tea plants. It is known that this is the coffee variety first grown by the French in our country. Arabica coffee is a popular coffee variety, accounting for more than 60% of the total production in the world. Let's explore the interesting features of Arabica coffee with iGuide.ai!

1. Learn about Arabica coffee

In the coffee family, Arabica is also divided into many different varieties such as: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catimor... And almost all of them are considered the best coffees with a light sour taste, sweet aftertaste, and a hint of tropical fruit flavor. The biological characteristics of Arabica coffee are suitable for temperate climates with temperatures from 15-25 degrees Celsius, above 1000m. Therefore, they are often grown in South American countries.

2. Quality Arabica coffee varieties in Vietnam

2.1. Catimor

Catimor is a coffee variety that is a hybrid of Caturra and Timor (Timor is a hybrid between robusta and arabica), originating from Portugal. With the characteristics of easily adapting to the climate of Vietnam, high productivity and resistance to pests and diseases. Therefore, Catimor is often grown more commonly than Bourbon and Typica.

Currently, Catimor is mainly distributed in major coffee material regions across the country such as Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Quang Tri, Nghe An, Son La. However, besides the above advantages, this coffee variety is evaluated by some experts as not having high drinking quality when roasted and ground, with small and round beans. Therefore, it cannot satisfy the export market or customers with high requirements for "appearance".

2.2. Typica

Typica is the most famous and delicious coffee variety in Cau Dat - Da Lat. Typica coffee beans have excellent quality, conquering the taste buds of domestic and foreign customers. However, due to low productivity, this coffee variety is quite limited in quantity in Vietnam and the price is higher than other coffee varieties on the market.

2.3. Bourbon

Arabica Bourbon is one of the first coffee varieties introduced to Vietnam by the French colonialists in 1975. At that time, this type of coffee was only served to the aristocracy and the upper class because of its noble, elegant and premium flavor. This is a premium coffee, rated as having a quality comparable to that of “specialty coffee” in the world.

This Arabica Bourbon variety is grown and developed in Xuan Tho and Xuan Truong communes in Cau Dat area, Da Lat. Arabica Bourbon coffee beans have long conquered "coffee lovers" thanks to their charming, lingering aroma and long-lasting sweet aftertaste. Coffee when roasted at moderate temperature will produce a slightly sour drink with a winey aroma. That is why they are known as the "Queen of Coffees".

2.4. Catuai

Many people find it extremely interesting to see with their own eyes the ripe coffee beans grown in the coffee growing regions of Vietnam. The yellow color is also the unmistakable characteristic of the Catuai coffee variety.

Catuai is a hybrid of several coffee varieties and was introduced from Cuba in the 1980s. They have a round coffee bean, similar to Catimor coffee beans. Catuai is a hybrid of Caturra coffee beans (named after a town in Brazil) – a variation of Bourbon (pure Arabica) with Mundo Novo coffee (a hybrid of two pure Arabica varieties Bourbon and Typica).

This coffee variety inherits genetic characteristics from the original Caturra hybrid, so its resistance to pests and frost is very poor. Due to such characteristics, this coffee variety is no longer maintained much, but only a few gardens and people harvest it together with the Catimor variety for sale. The beans of the Catuai coffee variety are round in shape but the rate of appearance of long beans may be due to the lack of uniformity in the varieties grown.

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