🅢 = Story: Nothing Added 

 

I love when people ask us, “What did you add to this coffee?” Usually, the answer is nothing. 

 

The nuttiness, caramel-like sweetness, fruit or chocolate notes they’re excited about were already present in the coffee. They come from where it was grown, the variety, processing method, and how the coffee was roasted. 

 

Before starting Fat Miilk, I never realized how many decisions shaped a coffee before it ever reached my cup. Most consumers only experience the final drink and we rarely think about the years of growing, harvesting, and processing that created its flavor. 

 

I’ve learned, this is especially true with Robusta. For a long time, the industry told us it was harsh, bitter, and one-dimensional, but the more Robusta I taste, the more I realize how incomplete that story is. I’ve tasted Robusta that’s nutty and comforting, others that are bright and fruit-forward, and some with sweetness that’s very tea-like. 

 

Our job is to not force Robusta to taste like something it isn’t. I believe we’re here to understand what is already there and to make intentional choices that allow it to shine on its own. 

 

— Lan Ho, Founder of Fat Miilk

 

🅘 = Insight: Natural Flavors

 

At Fat Miilk, we roast to order, which gives us an intimate understanding of the beans and the process. With 10+ years in the specialty coffee industry, working in quality control, sourcing, sample roasting, and now production, I’ve never been more excited to share what we’re discovering with Robusta. — Kim Nguyen, Head of Coffee Quality and Sourcing

 

During a conversation with a friend who is new to the roasting world and eager to learn more, she posed a question that made me think: Can we roast certain flavors into a coffee?

 

My immediate answer was no. But I could also see her point. For someone who has never roasted coffee before, it makes sense to think about it that way. After all, aren’t we, as roasters, influencing the flavor of a coffee?

 

Robusta is especially tricky because its inherent flavors come as part of an innate package. Altitude, post-harvest processing, and variety all play important roles in determining which flavors present themselves in the cup. Origin will also always be influential because of terroir.

 

Altitude: Flavors from the Earth

 

When coffee is grown at a lower altitude, earthy flavors tend to come through more prominently. Soil minerality and rainfall influence how the coffee ultimately grows and tastes. Since Robusta is generally grown at lower altitudes, it tends to be nuttier and earthier than coffees grown at higher altitudes.

 

When this coffee is roasted, we can bring out flavors such as toasted almond, walnut, or even Brazil nut, which can present as a richer, fattier note in the coffee. These nuttier notes pair well with the way we prepare our drinks and balance the natural sweetness of the milks we use.

 

Post-Harvest Processing: Flavors from the Cherry

 

After ripe coffee cherries are picked, the post-harvest processing method influences how much of the cherry or fruit character remains in the coffee seed.

 

If the pulp and mucilage are removed using a depulping machine, the coffee seed will generally taste sweet and clean, with fewer fruity acids in the cup.

 

If the cherry and mucilage are left intact and dried in the sun without being depulped first, more of the fruit’s natural acids will be present in the seed, resulting in a fruitier cup after the coffee is roasted. This method can also produce overripe notes, depending on how efficiently the coffee was dried.

 

When some of the mucilage is left on the seed, but the entire cherry is not, the honey process can produce a more muted fruit flavor (dried cherry vs. Bing cherry) along with concentrated sweetness and greater clarity than a natural process. When coffee processed this way is roasted lighter, its fruit sugars become more prevalent and meld well with notes of toffee and caramel.

 

Variety: Flavors from Genetics

 

The inherent characteristics of different coffee varieties give each coffee its unique balance of fruit, florals, sugars, acids, and other flavors in the cup. Genetics also play an important role in determining how well a coffee plant can withstand the growing conditions of a particular season. Within those conditions, coffee trees produce certain sugars and acids that enhance the desired flavors in the cup.

 

Gesha varieties produce less fruit and are best grown at higher altitudes, where the trees can withstand the generally lower temperatures. As a result, the flavors they produce tend to be sweeter, with citric and malic acidity and floral notes.

 

Robusta varieties are still being discovered and explored. Through experimentation with growing conditions, higher altitudes, and more intentional care, today’s fine Robusta is becoming increasingly popular and sought after for its inherent complexity.

 

When all of these factors are taken into consideration, it is not surprising that a simple “no” did not fully answer my friend’s question. Roasting does not impart fruity or floral flavors, but it can enhance and bring them forward. It also does not create nuttiness if that quality is not already present within the coffee.

 

Roasting enhances what is already there, and the possibilities are endless.

 

 

🅟 = Pulse: Flavor Starts at the Source

 

For years, much of the coffee industry treated Robusta as though it were one uniform product, something defined more by species than by variety, origin, or processing. That perception is beginning to change.

 

World Coffee Research now catalogs 47 Robusta varieties from eight producing countries, documenting meaningful differences in cup quality, yield, climate adaptability, and disease resistance. Some are already recognized for combining high productivity with strong cup quality, while others are being classified specifically as fine Robusta. This growing body of research confirms what producers and specialty roasters have been discovering firsthand: Robusta contains far more genetic and sensory diversity than the market has historically acknowledged.

 

The industry’s attention is moving further upstream. More emphasis is being placed on selecting the right varieties, improving growing conditions, and experimenting with post-harvest processing, not to manufacture flavor, but to uncover more of what Robusta is capable of becoming.

 

The roaster may be the final person to shape the coffee, but flavor begins long before the beans reach the drum. As more care and investment go into every stage of production, the future of Robusta will not be defined by what we add to it, but by how well we understand and reveal what was already there.