Your morning cup of coffee could soon get even better, thanks to scientists who have cracked the code for the perfect arabica brew.
It’s taken 10 years for researchers to create a genetic map of the Coffee arabica plant, in the pursuit of better-quality coffee varieties.
And while there’s excitement in the industry over the revelation, growers and roasters still face an uphill battle to convince Australians to make the switch to a locally grown brew.
Arabica vs robusta
Coffee connoisseurs world-wide remain locked in an age-old debate over which is better — the arabica or robusta bean?
They’re the two most popular coffee varieties, with arabica known for being smoother and sweeter, whereas robusta has more caffeine and a stronger, more bitter flavour.
In Australian paddocks, arabica reigns and is the preferred crop for local growers, according to Australian Grown Coffee Association President Rebecca Zentveld.
Rebecca Zentveld says the new research is exciting for local coffee growers. (ABC News: Michael Nudl)
She said it was the only coffee variety grown domestically.
Robert Henry from the University of Queensland, who was a key participant in the recent research, said arabica was also the preferred bean for the everyday coffee drinker, with 60 per cent of coffee products worldwide made from it.
A set of DNA instructions
The mapping of the arabica genome means Professor Henry and his team have managed to find the plant’s entire set of DNA instructions.
It also means they have figured out which gene creates each coffee trait.
Robert Henry is from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovations. (Supplied: QAAFI)
Professor Henry said there were several factors that contributed to the flavour of coffee.
“[There are] the sugars but there are also the fats, they contribute a lot to the appreciation of coffee and [there are] a number of other compounds in there that are quite important,” he said.
“It is the balance of those things, as is usual in many food products, that is actually important.”
The same group mapped the robusta genome a decade ago.
New varieties
The genome research is being welcomed by the Australian coffee industry.
Ms Zentveld, from the Australian Grown Coffee Association, said over the past five years the association had been trialling a range of varieties in different growing regions.
She said the genome map would make it simpler to develop new varieties, which were crucial for the future of their industry.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re producing that excellent cup, or that excellent bean in the ground,” she said.
Bean origin can be a selling point for coffee consumers. (ABC Far North: Miriam Mazurek-Kaminska)
“This DNA testing and genome sequencing is exciting because maybe then we can help select which varieties have the characteristics we’re looking for.”
Professor Henry said the genome map could also help develop varieties that could handle different climates.
“It’d be great to find coffees that can be grown in a wider range of environments in Australia,” he said.
“Climate change is really changing the climate in some of those key areas that coffee grows in.”
A new drinking experience
Australia’s coffee industry is small in comparison to big coffee producing countries like Brazil.
Figures from research and development organisation Agrifutures show around 600 tonnes of green beans are grown in Australia each year in three main growing regions, which are in Northern New South Wales, Far North Queensland and South East Queensland.
The balance of sugars, fats and other compounds contributes to a coffee bean’s flavour. (ABC Far North: Miriam Mazurek-Kaminska)
Australian growers supply about one per cent of the coffee consumed nationally but the industry wants to grow this figure.
And it’s trying to convince Australians to make to the change to locally grown beans to increase consumer appreciation for Australia’s unique coffee flavours.
Coffee grower Robert Jacques from Mareeba in Far North Queensland has even taken the drastic step of getting rid of the espresso machine in his on-farm artisanal coffee lounge, in favour of serving only black coffee.
It’s a controversial decision in a land of flat-white aficionados.
Mareeba coffee producer Robert Jacques said the ‘pour over’ method brings out a coffee bean’s full flavour profile. (ABC Far North: Bridget Herrmann)
He said the idea was to encourage more coffee drinkers to switch their focus to the bean flavour and quality.
“A lot of people don’t know what coffee tastes like when it comes down to it, because of the milk and sugar,” Mr Jacques said.
His hope is that by drinking black coffee, customers will appreciate the “whole gamut” of flavours in Australian-grown beans.
High expectations
Dan Shaw is a specialty coffee roaster and cafe owner from Mackay, in North Queensland, who sources many of his beans from the major coffee producing regions of Central and South America.
He said since 2019, he had been working on blends that satisfied the tastes of a growing number of “educated” consumers.
“They’re asking where it’s grown, they’re asking about the roast profile, they’re asking the details about what’s in the cup,” he said.
Mr Shaw said a bigger local industry would have many advantages for both businesses and consumers.
Dan Shaw says he would like to see more local beans but says the flavour profile will need to match customers’ pallets. (ABC Tropical North: Ashleigh Bagshaw)
He said it could help combat the market volatility in a year like this one, in which coffee producing regions like Brazil and Colombia have had a bad season.
“[This year] we’ve had less coffee come in, we’ve had coffee prices increase,” Mr Shaw said.
However, he said the biggest barrier to Australian-grown coffee entering the market would be the cost of labour, as it was more expensive to harvest here than overseas.
Mr Shaw also said the taste of the coffee produced here would have to match the flavours that avid coffee consumers were chasing.
But with arabica’s genome now mapped, he’s got high hopes it will happen.
“I’d love them to bring in a nice espresso variety in Australia.”
