Naturally caffeine-free

Endemic to Southern Africa, Coffea racemosa has the potential to be a big deal in the coffee industry. With its naturally caffeine-free beans – it’s easy to understand why!

I first heard about Coffea racemosa from a journalist friend who wanders our country in search of stories and friendships. She had spotted it at a farm stall in Zululand. And, being her, had also managed to scoop a seedling that she was nurturing to maturity in a rooftop garden on the Durban beachfront.

The history of Racemosa

Racemosa is one of the 120-plus Coffea species. As are the very famous C. canephora (also known as C. robusta) and C. arabica, from which almost all commercial coffee comes. Canephora is indigenous to western and central Africa, from Angola up to Tanzania and across to Liberia. Arabica originally comes from Ethiopia but was first cultivated in Yemen, hence the Latin name.

Racemosa is another African species, but comes from a very localised 150km2 area in eastern southern Africa, from the coastal parts of Zululand up into southern Mozambique. Here it grows in the coastal forests, usually in sandy soil, on river banks or rocky outcrops. It is believed to be one of the rarest coffee species in the world (although cultivation could hopefully change that). And so is a protected species in South Africa.

The Racemosa plant

The value of racemosa isn’t purely in its caffeine-free beans, though, and it can make a lovely shrub for the garden. (You won’t get much of a coffee harvest from a few bushes anyway!) With sprays of pink flowers on a background of dark green leaves, it can be quite striking in the garden. And the beans are also attractive in their own right. If left to its own devices, the shrub can grow into a spindly tree. So judicious pruning might be in order to maintain its aesthetics.

The plants should be grown in well-draining soil in warm climates, and fed through spring and fall with a slow-release fertiliser. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings, although
C. racemosa does like humidity. They can be grown as an indoor plant too, in a high-light area. Some people have had decent success in propagating racemosa from cuttings.

Let’s chat to Charles Denison of Cultivar

To find out more about the commercial prospects of C. racemosa, as well as the availability of seedlings to the public, we spoke to Charles Denison of Cultivar, who are coffee specialists and consultants. Cultivar is busy creating a viable racemosa farm to supply the extensive demand for this low-caffeine coffee. Their plan is for it to create jobs and small businesses in the value chain, and for all racemosa coffee business to be conducted in a fair, sustainable and equitable manner. Here is what Charles had to say:

GTE: What do we know about racemosa?
Charles: A lot is still unknown about C. racemosa, as most of the records from the colonial Portuguese in Mozambique were destroyed. Most of what we are doing, including our work with Kew Gardens in the UK, is experimental and exploratory. We select seed from the best trees for germination, and once the seedlings are 30cm+ we transplant them into the fields. We are experimenting with cuttings as well.

GTE: How do you harvest the racemosa beans?
Charles: Harvesting is a serious and very labour-intensive process due to the small size of the cherries, and the fact that they ripen over a 2 – 3 month period. This is quicker than arabica, which take up to 9 months to fully ripen.

GTE: If you manage to collect a harvest, what next?
Charles: As with other coffee beans, they need to be roasted before they can be used for coffee. Roasting your own can be done in many ways, such as using your oven or in a skillet or pan on the stove top, as the Ethiopians do. There are also small home roasters available for sale using the drum or air method.

GTE: What does it taste like?
Charles: Racemosa is as different from arabica coffee as tea is from rooibos. It has a more herbal taste with notes of liquorice, spices and tangerine zest.

GTE: Is there a demand for the coffee?
Charles: There really is. Most of the coffee is exported due to the overseas demand, and we have actually pre-sold the next two-years harvest.

GTE: Where can our readers get plants from?
Charles: There are a few indigenous nurseries that stock seedlings. We don’t, but we will in the future when we have stock. (Ed.: The Indigenous Nursery in Pietermaritzburg had some in stock when we spoke to them: 083 293 0249.)

Contact details: Charles Denison, Cultivar, www.cultivar.co.za

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