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Vietnam's robusta: the go-to coffee bean in a warmer world?
Robusta coffee has a dire reputation, but a small group of farmers in Vietnam is trying to turn the bean's fortunes around as a warming world threatens the industry.
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This photo taken on March 14, 2023 shows Tran Thi Bich Ngoc pouring coffee beans into a roastery at Mori coffee farm in Plei Bau Can in Vietnam's central highlands, Gia Lai province. (AFP/Nhac Nguyen)
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itter and earthy. Fit for instant brews only. Robusta coffee has a dire reputation, but a small group of farmers in Vietnam is trying to turn the bean's fortunes around as a warming world threatens the industry.
As an interior designer in trendy Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, 42, largely stayed clear of Vietnamese coffee, puzzling over why it didn't taste as good as cups from abroad.
Now, nearly a decade later, she runs her own coffee farm -- "Mori" -- in the remote Central Highlands, cultivating robusta she believes can match the world's favourite bean, arabica, in quality and flavour.
"My beans have a fruity, flowery smell, and they taste strong -- but in a gentle way," Ngoc told AFP at her farm close to the city of Pleiku, in the heart of the Vietnamese robusta region.
"Vietnamese farmers need to know it is possible to make these beans taste good."
'Vicious circle of bad quality'
Long scorned by giants such as Starbucks, robusta -- which has almost double the caffeine content of arabica -- is found in most instant coffees, as well as some espresso blends.
