Arabica is the highest quality coffee because the bean is valued for its sweet, smooth, and superior flavor. Indeed, many consumers love this coffee because it’s a more prominent cup to enjoy than Robusta.
Coffee is a universal thing, and we enjoy our favorite cups of coffee every morning. In fact, coffee maintains its position as the second most globally traded commodity after oil for over a century. There are four different types of coffee beans widely produced and sold in the market, but Arabica is the only considered bean as “Specialty Coffee.“
In this post, we’re going to talk more about Arabica. We’ll try to understand what makes this bean the world’s most popular type of coffee.

What is Arabica Coffee?
Coffea Arabica, or simply called Arabica, is one of the many coffee plant species classified under the genus Coffea, a flowering plant that belongs to the botanical family Rubiaceae.
It has a shrub with evergreen leaves and can be grown to over 20 feet, depending on how you will take it to care. Sometimes, this type of coffee plant is pruned to a height of six feet once it reaches optimum height to harvest it with ease.
But with all the types of coffee beans available, Arabica is the most superior in terms of volume, value, and flavor. It’s also the most sold coffee in the market, more expensive coffee, most consumed by people, and the most popular coffee type in the world. Arabica accounts for about 70% of coffee production worldwide.
A Brief History of Arabica Coffee
Nowadays, if someone asked you to identify the type of a particular “coffee,” “coffee bean,” or “coffee tree,” the first thing that pops out in your mind is Arabica, right? But what makes Arabica the face of those coffee beans available?
It’s simple. It’s history!
Arabica was originated in the southwestern part of Ethiopia. Dated back to 1000 BC, the Oromo tribe also consume coffee beans to act as a stimulant. But the beans are crushed and mixed with fat to be able to be consumed easily.
Have you ever heard of the legend that says a young goat herder named Kaldi discovered the coffee? He noticed that his goats have an unusual behavior after eating some of the fruits that came from the tree. But during that time, the coffee wasn’t yet classified as Arabica (Although the type of coffee is really Arabica in today’s context).
The Coffea species got its name from Arabia when the bean crossed the Red Sea from Ethiopia to Yemen and lower Arabia. Since then, at the beginning of the 17th century, the term “arabica.” was considered the first botanical term to describe a coffee tree.
Arab scholars were the first known to try coffee made from roasted coffee beans. They have written that using roasted beans was useful in prolonging their working hours (maybe to stay awake and alert). Since then, Yemen’s Arab innovation was the first written record of making a brew from roasted beans. This experience was spread first among the Egyptians and Turks and eventually reached the other parts of the world.