Every cup starts as one of four species.

Long before it's a flat white or a bag of beans on a shelf, coffee is a plant — and there are only four species that make it into your cup. We roast small batches of each, and this is our field guide to what makes them different: where they grow, how they taste, and why one bean costs three times another.

Look through the specimens below, then head to Coffee Types to see how we turn them into drinks.

Four species, one genus

Roughly 99% of the coffee grown worldwide comes from just two of these — but all four turn up in specialty roasteries, including ours.

• Arabica

  Grown at altitude in cooler climates, arabica accounts for roughly 60–70% of the world's coffee. It has a sweeter, more delicate flavour with brighter acidity, but the plant is fussier to farm and more vulnerable to disease.

  • Origin: Highlands of Ethiopia
  • Character: Sweet, floral, acidic
  • Caffeine: Lower

• Robusta

  Hardier and higher-yielding than arabica, robusta thrives at lower altitudes and resists disease well. It carries roughly twice the caffeine, with a stronger, more bitter, earthy flavour — prized for crema in espresso blends.

  • Origin: Congo river basin
  • Character: Bold, bitter, earthy
  • Caffeine: Higher

• Liberica

  A rare, large, irregularly-shaped bean that makes up less than 2% of global production. It brews with a distinctive smoky, woody aroma and an almost fruity, floral edge unlike either arabica or robusta.

  • Origin: West Africa; grown widely in the Philippines
  • Character: Smoky, woody, floral
  • Caffeine: Moderate

• Excelsa

  Once thought a separate species, excelsa is now usually classed as a variety of liberica. Its beans brew a tart, fruity cup with dark-roast character, and the plant tolerates drought better than most.

  • Origin: Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam
  • Character: Tart, fruity, dark-roast
  • Caffeine: Moderate