If you’re a coffee snob like I am, you’ve probably scoffed at, dissed, snorted, spat, or otherwise abused the idea of drinking robusta coffee more than once. I roast my own beans, and have heartily encouraged others to do so as well in pursuit of the best cup you can get. I’ve never roasted robusta beans – why not?
This article in Saveur, written by venerable roaster James Freeman, the founder of Blue Bottle Coffee, got me to shut up, read and consider what I’ve been missing – if you’re a coffee fan, I highly recommend it.
Robusta, aka Coffea canephora, is the second most popular coffee variety worldwide – it’s found in Africa, and is the number one cultivar in Vietnam. Coffea arabica, cultivated throughout Central and South America is the number one variety, and what we drink most here in El Norte. We know what happens to monocultural crops all too often, right – especially in a rapidly changing global climate.
Why the bad rap for robusta? It’s been described as earthy, bitter, kind of gritty and a bunch of other less than pleasant things. I think the reasons are twofold – One, it’s what’s used for cheap and instant coffee most of the time, and two, it hasn’t always been given the experimentation and care in roasting that a bean deserves in order to discover its best qualities. Sounds like that’s changing, and that makes it worth a second or third look – for drinkers and roasters – I’m in.
UrbanMonique 
I’d be up for giving that a try. The longer storage time, the lower heat/longer roasting time seem to be a win for the commercial coffee company. An extra kick in the pants from bigger caffeine hit would be a bonus for the consumer. Anywhere around here that robusta can be found?
Yuppers – try http://www.sweetmarias.com – my fave source