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Which beans produce more crema Arabica or Robusta ?

Is it the same for Espresso and Turkish ?

Thanks

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  • I am sure that there is an element of personal preference here, but arabica beans are generally higher quality and produce smoother, better flavors than robusta. Thus, even if robusta beans might produce more crema, why would you use them?
    – BJ Safdie
    Nov 9, 2018 at 20:35

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There are some really amazing Robustas that give body and crema to espresso shots. Kaapi Royale is probably the best Robusta you can get, here's a fact sheet.

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I don't know the exact answer of your question. However, I can say that whichever bean has more sugars, it should produce more crema.

I deduce this such that, crema is composed of three things: some irregularities in coffee (e.g. microscopic ground particles) to trigger bubble production, CO2 to fill into the bubble, and finally some oil that's extracted from the grounds during brewing to jail the CO2 inside.

  • Irregularities are common. So, this should not be the limiting case.
  • Oils... I assume most quality beans have enough of that and a proper brewing extracts them.
  • The amount of CO2 is relevant to the Maillard reaction during roasting. As some of the organic compounds (hydrocarbons) in the bean, mostly sugars, crack down to smaller hydrocarbons and release it. The released CO2 is trapped within the beans' texture till you brew it.

Thus, I assume, the initial amount of hydrocarbons and correct roasting is the key factor. Note that, if you leave beans for long, the trapped CO2 will eventually be released so you cannot have proper crema with stale beans.

And about the brewing method. The crema production is, for sure, affected by the brewing method. Espresso always has more homogeneous crema as it is made by a proper machine and Turkish crema should be marbled that reflects the several phases of brewing. But, the basic bubble formation is always the same.

I hope this helps. Let's wait for another answer that may compare the crema characteristics of Arabica and Robusta.

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    Thanks very much, I found this comparison : coffeeb.net/arabica-vs-robusta it tells that Robusta produces more crema ... Please let me know your ideas ..
    – Zahaby
    Nov 9, 2018 at 0:55
  • Hi @Zahaby, great find. According to the table Arabica has more sugar but Robusta generates more crema. This is against my reasoning. But, this article did not also mention how more crema is produced. I cannot infer anything more at this point.
    – MTSan
    Nov 9, 2018 at 20:51
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Freshly roasted beans produce more crema, regardless of the variety.

Many coffee vendors add robusta to their blend because it adds more crema, but they do that because they are selling beans that have been roasted for months (not fresh). Vacuum sealing cannot stop roasted beans from degrading. Robusta beans are cheaper and have worse taste than arabica beans.

If your arabica beans are fresh (less than 3-4 weeks after roasting) you will get plenty of crema.

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