Claude Monet vs. the Velvet Elvis
A look at Altitude and it's Effect on Coffee Production

by Jenny Hodges

(from Ground Control Issue #15)

Most serious coffee drinkers - the ones who talk about varietals and the merits of wet vs. dry processing, the ones who avoid robusta beans at all costs - these people agree that coffee grown at higher altitudes tastes better. But why? Is it barometric pressure? A lack of oxygen? Inaccessability? The words that refer to altitude - high-grown, strictly hard bean, mountain grown, altura - can be found on both specialty labels and generic cans. Novices buy it on marketing value alone, experts look for it based on knowledge. What could it be about altitude that affects coffee?

Well, all this has almost nothing to do with being grown within a certain measurement above sea level. It's more about the soil you find there, the temperature, the light, the humidity, and a myriad of other things. The short answer here is that the coffee cherry matures more slowly at higher altitudes, which gives the bean a chance to develop a complexity that seems lacking in the beans grown below, say, 3,000 feet. (See Home Coffee Roasting, p.78) That explanation sounds a little cryptic to me though. Perhaps accurate, but not very specific. Akin to wine tasters using adjectives like "insouciant" or "chatty." So let's be specific. What is the difference between the development of a bean grown above 3,000 feet - where arabica beans grow best - and below that altitude?

We can start by looking at one distinction I've already made - the most extreme distinction many specialty coffee drinkers can make, as well as an extreme in the matter of altitude- between arabica beans and the low growing robusta beans. The species Coffea Canephora, the botanical name of the Robusta plant, is widely accepted as having an inferior flavor in the cup. So why grow the stuff? Well, the widespread cultivation of this disparaged species was embraced after a bout of leaf rust in the late 1800's decimated the coffee industry in the East Indies. Fearful growers cast about for a species of coffee that was tougher than the prevalent arabica coffee they had been growing. Canephora plants are, indeed, more disease resistant, and, therefore they flourish at the lower, more humid, more disease-friendly altitudes which would distress the less hearty arabica plants.

Low growing robustas can also tolerate higher temperatures than arabicas, another explanation for their success at lower altitudes. Coffea arabica is happiest at an average yearly temperature of 70¡ F. The normal range for good growth is no lower than 55¡ F, and an average maximum of 80¡ F. Coffee grown at lower altitudes generally receives direct sunlight for a longer period in each day. And you know what? It's hot at the equator! It's especially hot in the flat lands. More light and more warmth equals fat, fast growing, tasteless monsters.

Plants that grow on mountainsides, however, are provided with shade by neighboring vegetation as well as the angle of their environment. In the mountains, cloud cover often protects the trees from the direct sun even in the height of summer. So it's a little cooler overall, and swings in temperature are not so great. Less direct light and cooler temps equal slower growth, therefore smaller, slower growing, and denser beans. Also, lower down, coffee plantations are more likely to be clear-cut stretches of land. The growers at these lower altitudes have chosen and created these sunny spots on purpose. Sun ripens cherries. More sun ripens the cherries more quickly, which means more harvests per season. Which means more beans to sell. Which means more money! Plantations at lower altitudes tend to be geared toward quantity production rather than quality production. The bottom-line mentality of these sun farmers is confirmed by their enthusiasm for the dreaded robusta. Compare this to the relatively low volume, slow growing, slower ripening, hand picked, labor intensive, high grown specialty coffees.

I mentioned soil earlier. Coffee trees love good drainage, and volcanic soil offers the pinnacle of good drainage. But, where in the world could we find a lot of available volcanic soil...? Why, on mountain tops of course! That's where they keep the volcanos! Lovely arabica trees grown in a slightly cooler, not excessively sunny locations have a combination of perfect growing medium, and yummy natural mulch. Water in a natural volcanic soil feeds the plant and moves on. Too much water develops the wood of the coffee tree rather than the flowers and fruit. The brutish robustas down below can only dream of wiggling their toes in such soil as they sip their chemical laden cocktails out in a day's worth of direct sun. The issue of water and fruit is especially important at lower levels where the warmth and sun would further promote woody growth.

Adding to the toughness of the robusta plant could also be the amount of caffeine found in this species. Coffea Canephora plants have twice as much caffeine coursing through their systems as do coffea arabica plants. Caffeine in coffee may originally have evolved as a natural pesticide. Since the insect population increases sharply at lower, warmer altitudes, coffee plants living at these lower altitudes needed more protection. Higher grown coffee has slightly less use for this protection as the bugs can't handle the cooler climate. Fewer bugs additionally means fewer chemicals.

These facts lead me to conclude that it is just a tougher life for any coffee plant at a lower altitude. In order to contend with the bugs, the heat, and the disease, the plants grown at lower altitudes have had to butch up. The picture that all this information paints is one of a swaggering, muscle-bound, low altitude robusta plant, working on its tan and shrugging off pests and disease, while the refined, violin-playing, high altitude arabica lives meditatively up above. As the robustas loiter around in truck stops sitting on hot plates for hours, the denser and more complex branch of the family are sipped and coddled in the finest restaurants.

It is certainly unfair to set arabica and robusta side by side to discuss taste, but this is merely an illustration of what higher altitudes have to offer in the development of the coffee bean. High grown coffees have the time to slowly develop and work on their inner complexity in relatively tranquility and perfect conditions. Arabica grown below 3000' don't have it quite so good; while low lying robustas, to the extreme, are coarse and single-minded in their desire to just survive.

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