Strong Coffee

I want to share some thoughts about "strong coffee".

In my experience making strong coffee is done by increasing the ratio of ground coffee to water used to brew. As an example, espresso would be considered strong coffee. By that definition, any coffee could be strong.

Another definition I’ve seen used in marketing is the darkness of the roast. Most espresso is a dark roast, so an espresso roast, full city, French or Turkish roast would be “strong”. The catch is, a dark roast coffee has LESS caffeine than a light roast. Which brings me to..

Another definition of strong I hear is the amount of caffeine in the coffee. This is a very SUSPECT claim, and the one that worries me the most because or Robusta.

Robusta is a species of coffee that has far more caffeine than the more flavorful and desirable Aribica. Robusta is known for being bitter and inferior in quality when compared to the lowest grade Aribica. Robusta is also far cheaper as it grows more densely and in a larger range of climates. It was was outlawed in Java, in-spite of it’s disease resistant properties.

So, if you are buying a STRONG coffee, that is a DARK roast, and also has abnormal amounts of CAFFEINE in it. You are probably being marketed Robusta.

End of rant.

Casey