African coffee - Coffea canephora

Coffee originates in Ethiopia, with commercial production dating back a thousand years. The crop spread across the Red Sea to Yemen and eventually to other parts of the world.

African coffees canephora, have a neutral taste. Coffea canephora is better known today as Coffea robusta which is classified as a variety of C. canephora.

In humid tropical areas especially in Africa and Asia where arabica varieties do not thrive well, robusta coffee is cultivated successfully. Coffea canephora is indigenous to tropical West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guineas, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo), eastwards to Uganda and north to south Cameroon to Northern Angola.

C. canephora originated in the equatorial lowland forest of Africa. It was not identified until the 1890s, when it was taken to Belgium and from there to Asia it has subsequently been re-introduced into Africa where it is now the principle species grown.
African coffee - Coffea canephora