Coffee Tao

Oftentimes, your only thought in grabbing that morning coffee is getting the needed jolt to get through your work day. But do you ever wonder where that jolt comes from? Sure, everyone knows it’s the caffeine, but what is caffeine? Where does it come from, and why does coffee have it?

Caffeine, which does in fact take its name from the word “coffee”, is a xanthine alkaloid compound that develops in the coffee bean about 3-4 months after the coffee flower is fertilized. As the coffee flower continues its cycle of turning into coffee cherries, the roots of the coffee plant pull purines (a nitrogenous base responsible for the tastes and aroma of coffee) from the soil and into the bean. As the fruit of the coffee cherry develops the purines break down, forming xanthine compounds as a byproduct–specifically caffeine.

This breaking down of purines isn’t accidental: caffeine is a natural antifungal and pesticide. That’s right–the coffee plant protects itself by giving fatal caffeine buzzes to insects! As a matter of fact, many savvy coffee consumers know that coffea canephora (Robusta coffee) is different than coffea arabica (arabica coffee), but don’t know that Robusta was genetically developed for its higher caffeine content, which makes it more resistant to disease and thus easier to grow in large amounts at lower elevations.

So if you ever wondered why the diner’s coffee often packs more “punch” but doesn’t taste as good as your local coffee shop, it’s because they’re using the cheaper-to-produce Robusta. Remember, caffeine is created by the breaking down of purines, so the more caffeine a bean creates, the hardier it is on the farm, but the less potential flavor it has in the cup.

How much more caffeine does it pack? About twice as much: a double shot of espresso using arabica beans contains about 80-100 mg of caffeine–a simple cup of drip Robusta coffee can contain over 180 mg. So if you find your dad or grandfather resisting the specialty coffee craze and yearning for his daily cup of sludge from the local greasy spoon, it’s hard not to see why. It may not have the same taste, but it will surely wake him up.

On the flipside, this also explains why arabica can be so much more expensive. The subtle flavors of good coffee are the direct result of purine and sucrose production in the bean. The higher an elevation the beans grow, the more sucrose is produced (about a 10% increase for every 1000 m) and the more purines stay intact instead of breaking down to caffeine. Unfortunately, this means a more sensitive crop, as the coffee plant can’t resist insects and disease as easily. The higher price of arabica reflects this increased risk and lower yield, as well as its better taste.