<p>Today I had a coffee tasting of Liberica on various roast levels.
I can say that Liberica is totally different from Arabica and Robusta.</p>

<ul>
<li>Arabica generally is bitter with a lack of after taste</li>
<li>Robusta is generally strong with and lack of after taste</li>
<li>Liberica is less bitter, but full of aftertaste (bitter, coco, sweet and a bit of berry taste)</li>
</ul>

<p>I would say Robusta lover may not prefer Liberica, but if you found Arabica and Robusta is too bitter, you may love Liberica wich is full of aftertaste flavours if roasted right. A mid range Liberica is comparable to a high grade Arabica.<br>
An Arabica or Robusta blend with Liberica would complete a full coffee flavour.</p>

<p>Liberica is rare because it was almost extinct due to coffee rust disease and it is very expensive due to scarcity.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-21T14:29:48.127Z
I would't describe Arabica as bitter at all compared to Robusta, if anything it's acidic/sour. Also well roasted Arabica has a quite strong lingering aftertaste. I never drank Liberica so I can't compare it to it, but I tend to disagree with your description of Arabica. Also what do you mean with strong? I associate Robusta with bitter, which sometimes is described as strong.
avocado1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-17T19:49:31.663Z
2018-07-21T13:10:54.660Z
2018-07-21T13:10:54.660Z
eric
<p>I am a new member of stackExchange. I grow liberica in Malaysia. I have been  helping farmers reviving abandoned liberica farms and working to improve the milling process and the subsequent roasting.</p>

<p>There is a growing size of followers of liberica. We are well on our way to get into the specialty league.</p>

<p>To the coffee experts acidity is very subjective. It depends on where the beans originate, the soil type, and the subsequent processing. AS for me, a non expert, based on reaction of my tummy, arabica is generally more acidic. I develop gastritis on drinking arabica but it stopped when i switched to liberica.  </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-27T04:25:11.647Z
2019-09-27T12:57:21.903Z
2019-09-27T12:57:21.903Z
lordofkendal
<p>Today, during a discussion on acidity I realized that I could compare the acidity of the two main species. It's common knowledge that Robusta beans are generally more acidic than Arabica beans. But, what about Liberica?</p>

<p>And maybe a follow up question: could we have a picture of general characteristics of Liberica?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-19T09:08:18.877Z
Just learned something new. Didn't know there was Liberica kind. Is there additional than those 3 known?
Boris_yo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-19T12:16:29.537Z
@Boris_yo Oh, yes. [Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea) you can find the wikipedia page of Coffea genus. There are many Coffea species. Among them, we consume three of the species' seeds to prepare our famous drink named 'coffee'. These are, C. arabica, C. canephora (aka robusta) and C. liberica. Liberica is very rare. I never ever had chance to taste it. I'm willing to find some beans. :)
MTSan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-19T14:56:33.177Z
I searched for Liberica on Amazon and I found several results: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_ex_n_1?rh=n%3A16310101%2Cn%3A16310231%2Cn%3A16318031%2Ck%3Aliberica&bbn=16318031&keywords=liberica&ie=UTF8&qid=1489935336
Boris_yo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-19T21:29:26.460Z
@Boris_yo, I'm in Istanbul. Mostly shipping costs more than the item. :) However, next time I'll be in US, I may collect some. Or I can ask a visiting friend bring some. Thanks.
MTSan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-06T21:58:39.300Z
Are you talking about pH acidity or perceived acidity?  If perceived, I believe the assumption that Robusta has more acid would be incorrect.  Typically Arabica has the more pronounced perceived acidity with Robusta tending to be more harsh and bitter due to the high CGA and Caffiene contents, both of which are very bitter in flavor.  Again, if we are talking perceived acidity, I would hesitate to group this based on species since growing region, washing/drying methods and roast significantly affect a coffees perceived acidity.  As for pH I can only make educated guesses.
Nate M.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-06T22:03:04.003Z
As for Liberica Information, this was a pretty interesting basic historical read, with very generic cupping notes.  It sounds like it is basically just so rare now days that it is never used commercially which I can understand.  Given the tree height, it would be a huge pain to farm.  http://lenscoffee.com/coffee-species-beyond-arabica/
Nate M.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-10T19:52:47.050Z
Pretty sure robusta is less acidic.
mchid
<bean-varieties><arabica>
How acidic is Liberica compared to Arabica and Robusta?
MTSan
# How acidic is Liberica compared to Arabica and Robusta?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-12)

Today, during a discussion on acidity I realized that I could compare the acidity of the two main species. It's common knowledge that Robusta beans are generally more acidic than Arabica beans. But, what about Libusername_4a?

And maybe a follow up question: could we have a picture of general characteristics of Libusername_4a?

**Tags:** bean-varieties, arabica

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Just learned something new. Didn't know there was Libusername_4a kind. Is there additional than those 3 known?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Oh, yes. [Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea) you can find the wikipedia page of Coffea genus. There are many Coffea species. Among them, we consume three of the species' seeds to prepare our famous drink named 'coffee'. These are, C. arabica, C. canephora (aka robusta) and C. libusername_4a. Libusername_4a is very rare. I never ever had chance to taste it. I'm willing to find some beans. :)  
> **username_1**: I searched for Libusername_4a on Amazon and I found several results: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_ex_n_1?rh=n%3A16310101%2Cn%3A16310231%2Cn%3A16318031%2Ck%3Alibusername_4a&bbn=16318031&keywords=libusername_4a&ie=UTF8&qid=1489935336  
> **username_0**: @username_1, I'm in Istanbul. Mostly shipping costs more than the item. :) However, next time I'll be in US, I may collect some. Or I can ask a visiting friend bring some. Thanks.  
> **username_2**: Are you talking about pH acidity or perceived acidity?  If perceived, I believe the assumption that Robusta has more acid would be incorrect.  Typically Arabica has the more pronounced perceived acidity with Robusta tending to be more harsh and bitter due to the high CGA and Caffiene contents, both of which are very bitter in flavor.  Again, if we are talking perceived acidity, I would hesitate to group this based on species since growing region, washing/drying methods and roast significantly affect a coffees perceived acidity.  As for pH I can only make educated guesses.  
> **username_2**: As for Libusername_4a Information, this was a pretty interesting basic historical read, with very genusername_4 cupping notes.  It sounds like it is basically just so rare now days that it is never used commercially which I can understand.  Given the tree height, it would be a huge pain to farm.  http://lenscoffee.com/coffee-species-beyond-arabica/  
> **username_3**: Pretty sure robusta is less acidic.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-07-17. Score: 4

Today I had a coffee tasting of Libusername_4a on various roast levels.
I can say that Libusername_4a is totally different from Arabica and Robusta.

* Arabica generally is bitter with a lack of after taste
* Robusta is generally strong with and lack of after taste
* Libusername_4a is less bitter, but full of aftertaste (bitter, coco, sweet and a bit of berry taste)

I would say Robusta lover may not prefer Libusername_4a, but if you found Arabica and Robusta is too bitter, you may love Libusername_4a wich is full of aftertaste flavours if roasted right. A mid range Libusername_4a is comparable to a high grade Arabica.  
An Arabica or Robusta blend with Libusername_4a would complete a full coffee flavour.

Libusername_4a is rare because it was almost extinct due to coffee rust disease and it is very expensive due to scarcity.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: I would't describe Arabica as bitter at all compared to Robusta, if anything it's acidic/sour. Also well roasted Arabica has a quite strong lingering aftertaste. I never drank Libusername_4a so I can't compare it to it, but I tend to disagree with your description of Arabica. Also what do you mean with strong? I associate Robusta with bitter, which sometimes is described as strong.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-09-27. Score: 3

I am a new member of stackExchange. I grow libusername_4a in Malaysia. I have been helping farmers reviving abandoned libusername_4a farms and working to improve the milling process and the subsequent roasting.

There is a growing size of followers of libusername_4a. We are well on our way to get into the specialty league.

To the coffee experts acidity is very subjective. It depends on where the beans originate, the soil type, and the subsequent processing. AS for me, a non expert, based on reaction of my tummy, arabica is generally more acidic. I develop gastritis on drinking arabica but it stopped when i switched to libusername_4a.


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