The appearance of the average marketable robusta is not very beautiful; the beans are small and irregular, and the average product shows little uniformity. There are, however, great differences between the many different types of robusta. Some of them have comparatively large beans, larger even than arabica, others again have very small ones. As regards the quality, though being inferior to Java-arabica, the taste is generally considered to be good and superior to the ordinary arabica sorts, as Santos.
Doctor Wildeman states:
It is objected that the berries of the robusta group and of other African coffees are small in size and inferior in flavor; but the continually increasing quantities of these coffees sold in Holland, and the satisfactory prices they fetch show that the public is beginning to appreciate them. No objections will be made to the size of the berries when by means of careful cultivation and especially of right preparation, a coffee is obtained equal in flavor to the (old) Java and Arabian coffee.
Summary.
Arabian coffee cannot be successfully grown in the Philippines below an altitude of 800 meters, and even at this elevation, due to its susceptibility to the coffee blight, extensive planting of Arabian coffee cannot be recommended.
Success with Arabian coffee is obtainable only by keeping the plantations clean of weeds and the plants in the best possible condition.
For the rehabilitation of the Philippine coffee industry robusta coffee appears more promising at present than any other kind.
The advantages of robusta coffee are that it thrives under more varied conditions than Arabian coffee, that it is an earlier and a more prolific bearer and that it is resistant to the blight.
Blight resistance in robusta coffee does not mean that it is immune, but that notwithstanding the presence of the blight it grows well and produces abundant crops.