Coffee @ BSU: Asia

Most of the coffees grown in Asia are robusta, for two reasons. The first is that the coffeelands of Asia tend to be lower in elevation and higher in temperature than many of the coffee-growing areas of other continents. Moreover, some areas around the Indian Ocean that did produce arabica suffered such severe crop diseases in the late 19th century that they permanently switched either to robusta or to tea.

Some of the student presentations in this section focus on those robusta producers, including some that have increased dramatically in recent years; others focus the distinctive arabicas of the region -- small as a percentage of total harvests, but very widely known to buyers of specialty coffee.