Coffee, to save it we are rediscovering an ancient variety

One reason for the strident taste of this strain is that Liberica grains tend to be oddly shaped, with pointed ends that can burn easily during roasting. A delicate and lighter roasting but it can bring out a different side of the bean, says Motley, who orders his beans from a grower in the Philippines and roasts them in a three-kilogram roaster in London. Many of his customers are surprised when they try Liberica for the first time. Brewed just right, the strain can produce a much milder coffee than its history suggests.

Davis is particularly enthusiastic about the Excelsa variety of Liberia. The coffee bean is actually the seed of a small cherry-like fruit that grows on coffee trees. The less pulp surrounding the seed, the easier it is to harvest and process the fruit. Liberica plants, including Excelsa, are also more resistant to rising temperatures.

In addition to being palatable for consumers, having multiple coffee species to choose from could prove to be crucial for protect the livelihood of those who grow coffee for a living. Coffee accounts for a quarter of Ethiopia’s total exports, where however between 39 and 59 percent of current growing areas could become unsuitable for growing coffee due to global warming. As temperatures rise in other coffee-producing regions, the need to grow a more heat-resistant plant will become even more pressing.

History is dotted with examples where theexcessive dependence on a single crop leads to disaster. Prior to the 1950s, most of the exported bananas were of a larger and sweeter variety than today, called Gros Michel, which was wiped out by afungal infection. Rising temperatures could make more coffee-producing regions susceptible to the plant rust disease, the infection that sparked Liberica’s rise more than a century ago.

However, the future of coffee plants may not be that much in jeopardy. Within the two main varieties of coffee, ne there are hundreds with distinct flavors and qualities. And there are other grains, such as those of Coffea stenophylla (also known as Sierra Leone highland coffee), which may be grown in locations no longer suitable for Arabica. “You have to be able to produce coffee in a changing and warming climate“, Davis reiterates. If the history of coffee teaches us anything, it is things can really change when the alternative is the disappearance of coffee. Perhaps the time has really come for Liberica.

This article originally appeared on Wired UK.