[coffeeresearch.com]
Two main species of coffee are cultivated today. Coffea arabica known as Arabica coffee accounts for 75-80% of the world’s production. Coffea canephora, known as Robusta coffee, is more robust than the Arabica plants, but produces an inferior tasting beverage with a higher caffeine content.
[end coffeeresearch.com]

Coffee farms have nurseries where the coffee is germinated, then raised for a bit over a year, then planted out on the farm. The “bean” that we roast, grind, and drink is the actual seed. We visited a farm in across the lake that was making a physical hybrid of Arabica and Robusta in their nursery. To make a sturdy plant that cups well they splice Robusta roots onto Aribica tops. This method was invented in Guatemala and is called “The Reyna Graft.”

The plants stay in covered nurseries until they are sturdy, and will start producing fruit to harvest when they are 3 to 5 years old.



Sprouting beans.



Splice 1.



Splice 2