Kew’s forgotten species are tipped to save our coffees

FORGOTTEN coffee species grown at Kew Gardens are being tasted as experts examine ways to save the drink from climate change.

At the moment, two species, arabica and robusta, comprise more than 99 per cent of all coffee production. By 2050, scientists predict, up to 60 per cent of land used for their cultivation could be affected by climate change.

But there are more than 120 other species in the Coffea genus, and many of these could be delicious to drink – and more resilient to climate change.

Working with CIRAD, the French agricultural research centre, scientists from Kew cultivated and roasted beans from three different “forgotten” plants.

They were then tasted by experts from Nespresso, Starbucks and L’arbre à Café to work out their sensory profile.

Experts said the coffee had potential, with one of the blends having a sweet, elderflower undertone, and the others hailed as “amazing” results. The results will be published in a study by the scientists at Kew, out later this year. Coffea stenophylla was chosen because the climate in the Ivory Coast where it grows is warmer, meaning it could survive warming temperatures.

Benoît Bertrand, CIRAD deputy director, said: “Stenophylla was commercialised a century ago, but production was limited. The species

‘Production of stenophylla was limited. The species was [disregarded] for unknown reasons’

was [disregarded] by breeders and agronomists for unknown reasons.”

Coffea brevipes, from West Africa, and Coffea congensis, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, were also tested. Congensis has a poorer yield than robusta, but a more desirable flavour profile, according to a Brazilian journal in 1979.