Thoraiya Dyer100% Arabica Beans – Exotic Coffee Or Annoying Value Adding?
May 22nd 2008 23:28
From marketing tea to marketing coffee, here I go!
If I hear one more McDonalds Ad telling me about their 100% arabica beans, I’m going to scream.
In restaurant menus everywhere these days, I know it’s the done thing to tinker with the wording for a bit of value adding. I’m going to borrow from the May 2008 menu of one of my favourite restaurants, the Old George and Dragon (oldgeorgeanddragon.com.au) to demonstrate.
Said tinkering can include describing the cooking method, or saying where the produce comes from, eg.
“Fish with vegetables” becomes “Pan roasted pearl perch fillet with sweet corn, zucchini, red capsicum and chorizo.”
You can even describe the breed of cattle, when one breed has a reputation for superior marbling, eg.
“Steak with white sauce” becomes “Stockyard wagyu beef with stilton cheese sauce & snowpeas.”
But how about describing the species just to make it sound more exotic?
Would you appreciate seeing the words,
“Pan roasted Glaucosoma scapulare fillet”?
Or maybe,
“Stockyard Bos indicus?”
McDonalds fancies itself a restaurant and tries to make its McCafes sound like classy gourmet coffee shops by chucking the word “arabica” into the mix, but all “arabica” denotes is the species name of the coffee plant, Coffea arabica.
Is this plant rare? Is it ususual? Is it difficult to find?
“While there are several different coffee species, two main species of coffee are cultivated today. Coffea arabica, known as Arabica coffee, accounts for 75-80 percent of the world's production. Coffea canephora, known as Robusta coffee, accounts for about 20 percent and differs from the Arabica coffees in terms of taste.” – coffeeresearch.org
“Arabica coffee beans are grown all over the world, from Latin America to parts of Africa and Asia. It is believed that Arabica beans were the first type of coffee beans that were ever cultivated, and they have been used for more than a millennium in some parts of Africa. Today, Arabica coffee beans still account for the majority of coffee that is produced.” – casteelcoffee.com
So, NO, it's not rare. Most coffee in the world is arabica, in fact.
Still, is it better quality than its rival, the cheaper and easier to grow Coffea robusta?
“In Italy, many espresso blends are based on dark-roasted robusta. The large industrial roasters use a steam treatment process to remove undesirable flavors from robusta beans for use in mass-marketed coffee blends. Good quality robustas are used in espresso blends to provide a better "crema" (foamy head).” – ccbolgroup.com
“Robusta is renowned for its higher caffeine content, which is why Italians began using it for espresso.” – wholelattelove.com
So, which type of coffee bean you choose depends what you want from your coffee.
Sorry, Maccas, but patting yourself on the back for using arabica beans, which account for 80% of the world’s coffee, is a bit tragic. Sure, the word may sound impressive to those of us who haven’t heard it before, but so does “the crystallised sweet sap of giant, tropical, perennial grasses.”
Why don’t you whack that on your sugar sachets??
If I hear one more McDonalds Ad telling me about their 100% arabica beans, I’m going to scream.
In restaurant menus everywhere these days, I know it’s the done thing to tinker with the wording for a bit of value adding. I’m going to borrow from the May 2008 menu of one of my favourite restaurants, the Old George and Dragon (oldgeorgeanddragon.com.au) to demonstrate.
Said tinkering can include describing the cooking method, or saying where the produce comes from, eg.
“Fish with vegetables” becomes “Pan roasted pearl perch fillet with sweet corn, zucchini, red capsicum and chorizo.”
You can even describe the breed of cattle, when one breed has a reputation for superior marbling, eg.
“Steak with white sauce” becomes “Stockyard wagyu beef with stilton cheese sauce & snowpeas.”
But how about describing the species just to make it sound more exotic?
Would you appreciate seeing the words,
“Pan roasted Glaucosoma scapulare fillet”?
Or maybe,
“Stockyard Bos indicus?”
McDonalds fancies itself a restaurant and tries to make its McCafes sound like classy gourmet coffee shops by chucking the word “arabica” into the mix, but all “arabica” denotes is the species name of the coffee plant, Coffea arabica.
Is this plant rare? Is it ususual? Is it difficult to find?
“While there are several different coffee species, two main species of coffee are cultivated today. Coffea arabica, known as Arabica coffee, accounts for 75-80 percent of the world's production. Coffea canephora, known as Robusta coffee, accounts for about 20 percent and differs from the Arabica coffees in terms of taste.” – coffeeresearch.org
“Arabica coffee beans are grown all over the world, from Latin America to parts of Africa and Asia. It is believed that Arabica beans were the first type of coffee beans that were ever cultivated, and they have been used for more than a millennium in some parts of Africa. Today, Arabica coffee beans still account for the majority of coffee that is produced.” – casteelcoffee.com
So, NO, it's not rare. Most coffee in the world is arabica, in fact.
Still, is it better quality than its rival, the cheaper and easier to grow Coffea robusta?
“In Italy, many espresso blends are based on dark-roasted robusta. The large industrial roasters use a steam treatment process to remove undesirable flavors from robusta beans for use in mass-marketed coffee blends. Good quality robustas are used in espresso blends to provide a better "crema" (foamy head).” – ccbolgroup.com
“Robusta is renowned for its higher caffeine content, which is why Italians began using it for espresso.” – wholelattelove.com
So, which type of coffee bean you choose depends what you want from your coffee.
Sorry, Maccas, but patting yourself on the back for using arabica beans, which account for 80% of the world’s coffee, is a bit tragic. Sure, the word may sound impressive to those of us who haven’t heard it before, but so does “the crystallised sweet sap of giant, tropical, perennial grasses.”
Why don’t you whack that on your sugar sachets??
| 71 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Shaun Inguanzo
Blogocratic Nightmare
Yes, some taste alright, but nothing compared to the best Arabica beans.
The last thing we need is for more people to begin believing that Robusta is better than Arabica. Yes, it has more caffeine, but that does not maketh a coffee bean.
Robusta is cheaper, that's its main selling point. Arabica is more expensive, and often blended with Robusta (that's what really annoys me) because of the way it is grown (often high altitude) and its quality.
At the end of the day not a lot people - unless they are connoisseurs - will taste a big difference. But for coffee snobs and addicts, Robusta is like what fast food is to true restaurant food - a cheaper, barely satisfying fix.
Comment by Thoraiya Dyer
Demented World
I'm glad you enjoy your superior Arabica from the depths to the dizzying heights of its delicious flavour.
And I'm glad to hear you can taste the difference. It's not just wine that deserves its own culture!
Just remember that flavour is subjective.
I know a lot of Italians with very specific coffee requirements who would not accept a 100% Arabica blend - and they would call YOU the barbarian
There's a difference between knowing that something is superior and enjoying it more.
I'm not a coffee drinker, but I'm one of those people who consistently orders my steak well done. Even if that destroys the rainbow of flavours that otherwise might have crossed my palate. I can't enjoy it unless I know that every potential parasite has been Toasted Unto Death, and the world's greatest chef couldn't convince me otherwise