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Ranking 8th in the world for its coffee production, Uganda is a country in East Africa that is primarily known for its robusta exports.

The robusta plant is native to Ugandan soils, something that you wouldn’t find in many coffee-growing nations across the globe. Therefore, it has a longstanding history of being one of the most intensively farmed crops. In fact, it is a source of livelihood for as many as 1.7 million smallholder farmers.

Two prominent varieties of robusta coffee that are produced in Uganda are Nganda and Erecta. 

Get yourself a bag of Nganda if you enjoy coffees with high acidity and bitterness. The Nganda beans tend to have a flavour profile that is earthy and nutty, especially when compared to a typical cup of arabica coffee. 

While in the past several decades, arabica has also begun to be grown at full steam in Uganda, it still doesn’t compare to the volume of robusta plants that are grown in the country. 

A country in the Middle East, Yemen is not as widely spoken of as other countries that produce and distribute coffee on a global scale.

But Yemen played a crucial role in the spread of coffee as a caffeinated beverage to the rest of the world.

Once upon a time, Saudi Arabia and the US were the major importers of Yemeni coffee, but over time, due to the war-ridden state of the nation, its coffee exports became inaccessible and expensive.

Today, Yemen doesn’t export nearly as much coffee as it once did. But still, their coffees are something to be relished.

Let’s understand more about Yemen’s coffee history and traits.

Imagine being able to sip on your coffee and describe it as more than just “bitter” or “strong”.

There’s so much more to the experience of coffees that you may not necessarily realise unless you like to try out different ones and you’ve built somewhat of an expertise in identifying various aspects of it.

One such aspect is called tasting notes. They are nothing but subtle flavour sensations resulting from the origin of the coffee plant, the way it is grown, processed and roasted. 

What is intriguing about this element is that you can sometimes find the most unusual tasting notes and wonder how they came to be. Think about it, how can coffees possibly carry a hint of apricot or green pepper for that matter?

Some may consider these to be a result of artificial or additional flavouring added to coffee, but that’s not the case.

Keep reading to know all about what tasting notes are like and how roasters identify them.

By chance or otherwise, conversations pertaining to coffee tend to be peppered with mentions of only arabica and robusta.

Yes, they are two of the most widely used coffee beans. But by no means do they encompass the diversity of all the coffee plants that can be found in different regions of the globe.

You may find it difficult to comprehend why this is important, considering the cultural significance of coffee and the lack of exposure that the other coffee beans get. 

Even sources suggest that around 75% of coffee consumed in the world is brewed from arabica beans, and almost 20% of the rest is made up of robusta coffee.

What then of the other coffee variants?

We see these words on coffee bags and read about them in articles, but what are the coffee varieties and their effect on your cup?

We don't generally enter a café and ask for a Bourbon varietal latte in the way we would order a glass of wine in a bar. However, the coffee industry inherits terminology from the wine industry. In wine circles, everybody knows the difference between a Shiraz and a Sav Blanc. Whereas, in the coffee world, varieties are much less understood.

There's also a common misuse of the terms so firstly, let's set things straight.