A "lost" species of coffee from West Africa, “Highland Coffee of Sierra Leone.”
"t is widely known that our beloved Arabica coffee in being impacted by climate change, and so the results of the study are extremely exciting. Our analysis shows that stenophylla coffee grows at substantially higher temperatures than Arabica, providing the sort of robust differences we need if we are to have any chance of a sustainable coffee sector under climate change."
— Justin Moat, of Kew Gardens
Stenophylla, meaning "narrow leaves", was at one time cultivated on a small scale throughout Africa, but it later vanished as a cultivated crop, and was rediscovered in the late 1800s. During the 20th century people began to take interest in it again, particularly in light of the possibility of increasing temperatures as a result of climate change.
Like it or not, believe it or not, our world climate is changing, and will continue to do so unless a bloody miracle happens. Among the many things that will happen (changing sea levels and rainfall patterns) will be that many parts of the world will become considerably warmer than they are now. As most of the crops we depend on are reliant on certain temperature bounds, we will soon be facing a situation in which some of our crops will not be able to be grown where we're accustomed to having them.
Coffea arabica, one of the two the major coffee species (of the 121 known species, few are grown commercially at any scale), is no different from any other crop; it has temperature preferences, and grows best in the range 18°C–21°C (64°–70°F). As temperatures continue to climb, some coffee growing areas will be unable to continue to produce. For many years, researchers have been looking for a solution, and finally may have one in Coffea stenophylla.
Stenophylla is a variety that was known to have been grown in many locations in West Africa, but which was lost or forgotten about for many years. It had been last recorded in the wild in 1958, but researchers at Kew Gardens had a tree that produced fruit which they declared was up to arabica flavour standards.
The coffee has a similar flavour profile to arabica; some even reckon it a superior taste. This species and its hybrids could become the salvation of the coffee farming industry, as climate changes in future years. It can be grown in the lowlands and is more forgiving. It may spread cultivation of the crop and will certainly become more widespread, important and well-known. Whether or not it will displace Arabica in the specialty space remains to be seen, but its importance is not in doubt.
James Hoffmann tasting Stenophylla
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