Their main differences are to be found in taste and where they are grown, and the first major difference is genetic: the arabica has 44 chromosomes and the robust 22, the robust also contains a higher level of caffeine than the Arabica, even of the double. This factor is important to consider for those who have trouble getting to sleep after drinking an extra coffee. What coffee was it?

The arabica (which in brackets is 70% of the coffee produced in the world) is mainly grown in South America, in Central America and in Africa of "reefs", Kenya, Ethiopia and East Africa in general. The robust instead is produced on average from west Africa (Cameroon, Ivory Coast etc) and in the Far East (Vietnam and Indonesia first). In addition to this the arabica grows at its best at high altitudes, above a thousand meters and needs a lot of rain, while the robust grows even at lower altitudes and under conditions, say, less ideal in terms of humidity and soil type; it also has less disease problems.

The arabica and robust beans are distinguishable. Those of arabica are more elongated, oval, those of robusta instead have a more rounded shape and have a more or less straight groove.