Coffea liberica

A tall tree with large, asymmetric beans from West African forests, grown as a minor crop and known in the Philippines as Barako.

*Coffea liberica* is a tall tree, reaching up to about 20 m and harvested with ladders, with much larger seeds than arabica and an asymmetric bean with a hooked tip. Wikipedia describes it as native to western and central Africa. The checklist data used here list Benin, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo as native. It can grow in acidic peat soils where arabica and robusta typically fail, and it is a small share of commercial coffee, under 2 percent by most estimates.

In the Philippines it is called kapeng barako. Spanish friars introduced it in the 1740s, first planted at Lipa in Batangas, exports grew from the 1860s, and coffee rust devastated Philippine plantations in 1889. The cup is described as fruity with a jackfruit-like aroma, moderate acidity and a relatively full body, and barako is often noted for an aniseed-like fragrance. The status of the related *Coffea dewevrei* differs between databases, and the GBIF backbone lists it as a synonym of *C. liberica* (see `coffea-liberica-dewevrei`).

History

Spanish friars introduced it to the Philippines in the 1740s, exports grew from the 1860s, and rust in 1889 collapsed Philippine coffee. Liberica now supplies under 2 percent of commercial coffee, with a smallholder base in the Philippines.