Chris Kornman and the Royal Coffee team have condensed 20,000 years of Arabica’s evolutionary history into an easy-to-follow infographic. Visually appealing and historically accurate, the flow chart traces the birth, cultivation, selection, distribution, mutation, and hybridization of Arabica’s most popular cultivars. Extensively researched and backed by original and peer-reviewed sources Kornman has created a vital resource for future generations.
Royal Coffee joined forces with the talented duo, Jeremy Yingling and Randy Krum from Infonewt to help conceptualize “Arabica’s genetic story across space and time.” What started as a small side project quickly snowballed into a full-blown obsession. Kornman freely admits that “Coffee’s genetic history is chaotic.” However, a thorough investigation into the origins of coffee’s most common cultivars has unearthed some fascinating results.
“Pulled back to the broadest of views, the winding route Arabica took circumnavigating the planet highlights both the impressive globalization of the crop during the age of industry, as well as the shortsighted nature of colonial interests. But Arabica far predates European meddling.” -Chris Kornman.
The birth of Arabica
Coffee originated in the border regions of Rwanda, southern Uganda, Burundi, the western Democratic Republic of Congo, and northwestern Tanzania. But Arabica is from a much smaller area. The Keffa Zone, which encompasses the western edge of Ethiopia and runs along the northwest border of South Sudan’s Boma Plateau is where two wild species, Coffea canephora (Robusta) and the less-caffeinated and lower-producing coffee tree, Eugenioides spontaneously created Arabica.
Arabica flourished undisturbed in the Keffa region for thousands of years before finally making its way over to Yemen. According to Kornman, the most reliable histories indicate that Arabica was popularised in Yemen around the 15th century by Sufi imams. Where for the next two centuries “Yemen would be coffee’s home away from home, and its hub for introduction to the rest of the world.”
The spread and evolution of Arabica
The Dutch were the first to smuggle Arabica plants out of Yemen and successfully grow them elsewhere. Followed shortly by a Sufi monk from India named Baba Budan. The French cultivated good relations with the Imamte of Arabia Felix (Yemen) and were rewarded with a gift of 100 hundred seedlings, which were quickly replanted on the island of Bourbon, modern-day Reunion.
From these three encounters, Arabica was spread on the wings of colonialization to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. From the end of the 17th century all the way to the middle of the 19th, Arabica cultivars dominated coffee production around the globe.
It wasn’t until a fungal pandemic decimated the world’s supply of Arabicas that new disease-resistant species and hybrids were sought after. By the middle of the 20th century, new cultivars were being designed for specific purposes such as higher yields, and resistance to drought, disease, and pests.
As the author of Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters and Buyers and the Director of Education for Royal Coffee, Kornman harbors a deep respect for the subject. Offering a detailed and fascinating visual representation of Arabica’s journey around the globe is Kornman’s gift to coffee culture. Visit Royal Coffee to learn more.