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Discover Eugenioides - the vibrant coffee variety that's also low in caffeine!


Eugenoides Coffee Variety
Photo Credit: Inmaculada Coffee Farm

If you’ve been into coffee for a while you have most likely heard of the coffee species Gesha (or Geisha). For years Gesha coffees have been prized coffees, with 1lb (454g) of Panama Gesha famously selling for over $1000 at auction! 🤯 Barista champions have used Gesha to win world championships, and some cafes have charged over $100 per cup!


But has Gesha met its match?


Meet the Eugenioides coffee variety. Eugenioides burst onto the scene at the 2021 World Barista and Brewers Cup Championships in Milan. Matt Winton - the World Brewers Cup Champion 2021 used a blend of Eugenioides and Catucai to clinch victory, and Diego Campos - the World Barista Champion 2021 used Eugenioides as his espresso of choice. This little-known variety (separate from Arabica and Robusta) promised intense sweetness with very little bitterness, and a flavour profile that was so unique it clinched victory on the biggest stage in coffee.


What is Eugenioides?

Coffea Eugenioides was actually thought to be a “forgotten” variety of coffee until about 10 years ago when the visionaries at the Inmaculada Coffee Farm in Colombia began reviving and experimenting with the species. The plant has smaller leaves and beans, and is extremely sensitive to touch - meaning that planting trees too close to each other will ruin the crop. In addition to that each Eugenioides tree produces only about 150g of green coffee per harvest (about half of what an Arabica tree produces).


Eugenioides is even thought to be one of the parents of modern-day Arabica coffee - which makes up the vast majority of Specialty Coffee on the market today!


What makes Eugenoides unique?

Apart from being extremely difficult to produce, Eugenioides coffee offers a very unique taste experience. First of all it’s naturally low in caffeine, with about half the caffeine content as Arabica coffee. This low caffeine content means almost no bitterness in the cup!


In addition to its low bitterness, the Eugenioides variety also has a very vibrant set of flavour characteristics. “Flavors of Cereal Milk, Papaya, Bubble Gum, Cake Batter, Sticky Rice, & Cap’n Crunch Crunch berries invade your palate as you know you are tasting a miracle in the making. Strawberry Yogurt, Confectioners Sugar, Toasted Marshmallow, Guava, Lemon Drop” are the official flavour descriptors directly from the Inmaculada farm website itself! 🤯


How to get Eugenioides coffee?

The difficulties of producing Eugenioides coffee also make it extremely rare and very expensive. So rare in fact, that when researching for this article I couldn’t find a single bag of Eugenioides available for the public, anywhere in the world 😮


The two roasters where I did manage to find the coffee, Onyx Coffee Lab in the US and Gardelli Coffee Roasters in Europe, have both sold out of their stock. Maybe it’s time to turn on those availability alerts?


The Eugenioides variety is an exciting and interesting new development in coffee that has burst into the coffee scene. While for the moment the coffee that is available tends to be reserved for Barista and Brewers Cup competitors, it does have the potential to be a unique experience for the everyday coffee drinkers who can get their hands on a bag. If any of you readers DO manage to see Eugenioides on offer anywhere in the world - please let us know by sending us a DM on Instagram, we want to share this coffee with the world (and maybe keep a few bags in the freezer at HQ). 😉


— P.T.



 

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