Exchange Cafe South Shore – Chicago, Illinois 60649

By Charles Mombo
http://www.chocolatecity.cc/blog  

While there are many types or varieties of coffee out there in the consumer market today, there are really only three main species of coffee plant. From what we know, there are more than 6,000 variations in the world, with at least 25 types of coffee beans underneath that.

To the coffee experts or graduates of the various coffee academies, Yes, I am aware that the coffee beans are not actually beans, but the seeds of a low-lying shrub which produces a cherry-like fruit. Ideally, these bright red fruits are picked at maximum ripeness and processed to remove the coffee "beans" from the unusable flesh and skin. Anyway, for this article, I will refer it as coffee beans.

There are currently three types of coffee beans used in the vast majority of single-source and blended coffees sold today: Liberica, Robusta and Arabica. Each coffee bean type has it’s own strengths and weaknesses, but most people consider Arabica to be the superior bean for coffee making, followed by Robusta and Liberica (Cafe Liberica). 

Cafe Liberica 

Cafe Liberica is a species of coffee that originated in Liberia, West Africa. Cafe Liberica was the first coffee that I drank when I was about 9 year-old. As a matter of fact, while growing up in Liberia as early as the third grade the three types of coffee were taught in geography classes. 

Cafe Liberica tree grows up to 9 metres in height, producing cherries that are larger than the cherries found on Arabica trees. The coffee was brought to Indonesia to replace the Arabica trees killed by the coffee rust disease at the end of the 19th Century. The coffee itself has more in common, cupping wise, with Robusta. It is still found in parts of Central and East Java today.  

Cafe Liberica in different languages: 

CHINESE : Da guo ka fei, Da ka fei shu, Da li ka fei.

DUTCH : Liberiakoffie. 

ENGLISH : Liberian coffee, Liberica coffee. 

FRENCH : Café du Libéria, Caféier du Liberia, Café libérica. 

GERMAN : Liberiakaffee, Liberiakaffeebaum, Liberiakaffeestrauch.

ITALIAN : Caffe liberica.  

PORTUGUESE : Café-libérica. 

RUSSIAN : Кофе либерика Kofe liberika. 

SPANISH : Cafeto de Liberia. 

THAI : Kafae bai yai. 

VIETNAMESE : Càphê Libéri.

Coffee Courses

Coffee University: It was developed by Illycaffe and is taught by Illycafe representatives. Classes are available in wide-ranging subject matters. See www.unicaffe.it for more information including dates and prices.

The Italian Coffee Academy: A coffee course offered by Sandalj Trading, the premier distributor of fine espresso coffees to Europe. Topics include sensorial evaluation of blends and single origins, espresso cupping techniques, and Italian espresso training.

ABIC: ABIC offers excellent and extensive courses in cupping, defect detection, and brewing. The course is only offered in Portuguese, but is highly recommended. See www.abic.com.br for more information or write Teresa Pinto at abic@abic.com.br .

SCAA: The Specialty Coffee Association of America offers a number of courses to its members. Please visit their site for more information www.scaa.org.