Chemical and scientific advances have made everyone's lives easier in a million ways. They've improved products, simplified procedures, prevented pests, and many other benefits, all of which improve our quality of life. However, in recent years, a trend toward natural products has emerged, causing consumers to somewhat dismiss this wonderful world of scientific research and laboratory advancements.
As expected, the gigantic world of coffee couldn't be left behind; the demand for quality and productivity couldn't keep up, so they began to delve into the study of coffee beans—not just coffee, but also fruits that had seeds similar to these, which could also be roasted, ground, and handled in the same way. Selecting those that could be recycled so as not to waste any of their parts, they began to put them through chemical processes to produce molecules that mimic the taste and mouthfeel of coffee, resulting in a completely normal cup of coffee.
It is worth mentioning that one of the most popular methods currently on the market is the honey method, carried out experimentally with aerobic, anaerobic, and even viticulture (carbonic and semi-carbonic) fermentation.
The question is: What is this type of procedure useful for? Well, first, laboratories have often seen exponential improvements in coffee quality, and different forms of crop disease resistance have also been studied. Last but not least, coffee is an industry highly vulnerable to climate change and global warming, which is affecting the plantations of some bean varieties. Additionally, coffee is the agricultural crop with the second largest carbon footprint, just after cocoa. These were the main drivers for beginning to develop coffee varieties in laboratories.
It all started with Kenyan coffee, one of the world's largest coffee producers in terms of volume and specialty coffees. Scott Laboratories then chose to create more resistant and productive varieties based on the Bourbon variety. This project was not very successful at first. However, they created varieties that have been very popular in the market to date, such as SL28 and SL34, boosting the reputation of Kenyan coffee. This also paved the way for the production of forgotten varieties, as well as for the production of these in geographical areas very far from their origin. SL28, a Kenyan heritage, can now be found on specialized farms in Colombia and Central America.
Colombia, a country that has been recognized for its quality coffee, could not be left behind in these advances and great varieties of laboratory coffee have been created that offer not only genetic variability, but also quality, productivity and resistance, such as Cenicafé 1 and Castillo , varieties created by the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia with the help of Cenicafé. Cenicafe 1 and Castillo took 20 years of research to be created, its main objective was to create trees similar to the caturra that were resistant to rust and thus Cenicafe1 and Castillo was born, a cross between Caturra and a Timor 1343 hybrid, it is resistant not only to rust but also to coffee berry disease (a fungus that lives on the bark of trees) it also has a large average grain size receiving high specialty cupping scores, presenting an average supreme coffee of 84.3% higher than the caturra variety with 54.1% and the Castillo variety 79.3%, however, it is essential to accompany it with good agronomic management to obtain the desired profitability in the crop.
As a result of this research, a campaign called "Colombia sin roya" (Colombia without rust) was created. 234,000 Castillo varieties have been renewed to more than 90%, increasing the area planted with rust-resistant varieties by 54%. These varieties inherited resistance genes from Timor, the hybrid being the main source of rust resistance. After planting, flowers appear around 11 months, therefore, the first production can occur between 18 and 19 months.
The results obtained from the cup quality tests show that there is no difference in quality between the Cenicafé 1 and Castillo varieties and other Coffea Arabica varieties.
It's time to educate not only our palates, but also our knowledge regarding scientific research and the quality of the products we consume daily, to unlearn the myths that if it's not natural it's bad for our health, and to give it a chance to jump into the scientific world of coffee.