Maragogipe. This is a variety of Coffea arabica first observed growing near the town of Maragogipe on All Saints Bay, county of Maragogipe, Bahia, Brazil, where it is called Coffea indigena. The green bean is of huge size, and varies in color from green to dingy brown. It is the largest of all coffee beans, and makes an elephantine roast, free from quakers, but woody and generally disagreeable in the cup. However, Dr. P.J.S. Cramer of the Netherlands government's experimental garden in Bangelan, Java, regards it very highly, referring to it as "the finest coffee known", and as having "a highly developed, splendid flavor." This coffee is now found in practically all the producing countries, and shows the characteristics of the other coffees produced in the same soil.
The Characteristics of Mild Coffees
Among the Mild coffees there is a much greater variation in characteristics than is found among the Brazilian growths. This is due to the differences in climate, altitude, and soil, as well as in the cultural, processing, storage, and transportation methods employed in the widely separated countries in which Milds are produced.
Mild coffees generally have more body, more acidity, and a much finer aroma than Brazils; and from the standpoint of quality they are far more desirable in the cup. As a rule they have also better appearance, or "style", both in the green and in the roast, due to the fact that greater care is exercised in picking and preparing the higher grades. Milds are important for blending purposes, most of them possessing distinctive individual characteristics, which increase their value as blending coffees.
Not All Coffees Improve with Age
Although it has long been held that green coffee improves with age, and there is little doubt that this is true in so far as roasting merits are concerned; the question has been raised among coffee experts as to whether age improves the drinking qualities of all coffees alike.
Rio coffees should improve with age, as they are naturally strong and earthy. Age might be expected to soften and to mellow them and others having like characteristics. If, however, the coffee is mild in cup quality in the first instance, then it may be asked if age does not weaken it so that in time it must become quite insipid. Several years ago, a New York coffee expert pointed out that this was what happened to Santos coffees. The new crop, he said, was always a more pleasant and enjoyable drink than the old crop, because it was a more pronounced mild coffee in the cup.