Keep It Simple, Stupid: A Robusta Coffee Bean Breakdown

This month, we added Black Rifle Coffee Company’s Fit Fuel Blend coffee to our daily pre-workout routine. While prior attempts to use a different coffee as a pre-workout yielded negligible results, this roast contains a blend of Robusta and Arabica beans, so we decided to give it another shot.

BRCC’s Fit Fuel Blend is the perfect medium roast Robusta and Arabica blend, ready to fuel your next workout. It features a delicious combination of bold maple syrup, citrus flavors, and a smooth malt finish. And unlike a motivational gym quote, this high-caffeine blend will actually kick-start your workout!

While I feel pretty confident that I could spend two hours explaining the origins and intricacies of the Arabica bean, my knowledge of Robusta needed a bit of a refresher.

Photo courtesy of Black Rifle Coffee Company.

There are countless articles on the differences between Arabica and Robusta, and some provide way more information than the average consumer needs. That’s when the knuckle dragger in me took over.

In the military, we used the KISS principle — Keep It Simple, Stupid — to break down complex concepts. So why not apply it to better understanding this often-misunderstood bean?

The first thought that pops into my brain when hearing the word “Robusta” is a barista in some high-end coffee shop pouring an affluent customer a double shot of espresso. But as I continued down the coffee rabbit hole searching for usable knowledge, the KISS principle helped guide me to a deeper understanding of Robusta coffee beans.

Photo courtesy of Black Rifle Coffee Company.

We revisited seven key pointers to help quickly and easily explain what makes Robusta so unique:

1. Robusta is coffee made from the beans of the Coffea canephora plant.
2. Robusta is often grown at lower altitudes, with the country of Vietnam being a prime example.
3. Robusta has almost twice the caffeine of Arabica, hence the somewhat bitter taste.
4. Unroasted Robusta beans can smell like raw peanuts.
5. Robusta beans are more circular in size, whereas Arabica beans tend to be more oval.
6. Robusta is used in instant coffee, espresso blends, and filler blends.
7. Robusta makes up only about 25% of the world’s coffee production.

Photo courtesy of Black Rifle Coffee Company.

Now, some coffee enthusiasts may claim that there is more to the Coffea canephora plant than just these seven points. But this is an easy way to remember the specifics of Robusta without reinventing the wheel.

Black Rifle Coffee Company’s Fit Fuel Blend is available now in ground and whole bean on the official BRCC website.  

This article first appeared in the June 11, 2021, coffee vertical of Coffee or Die Magazine.