Aromas: Orange, elderflower, caramel

Cuvée:
80% Yellow Pacamara, pulped natural (Fazendas Dutra, Brazil)
20% Old Paradenia, fully washed (Badra Estates, India)

Wilhelma coffee

The “King Wilhelm II of Württemberg” coffee cuvée can also present itself as the official “Wilhelma Coffee” and a portion of the sales goes towards building and maintaining the “International Collection of Coffee Varieties” at Wilhelma in Stuttgart. In this way, every purchase directly and immediately supports the preservation of the biodiversity of the world's coffee varieties.

Coffee is one of the world's most popular beverages. The abundance of specialties and creations continues to grow, but according to studies, the diversity of the coffee plants themselves is under threat. As a zoological and botanical garden, Wilhelma in Stuttgart is therefore setting up an “International Conservation Collection for Coffee Varieties”, which it presented for the first time at INTERGASTRA, the trade fair for the catering and hotel industry, in February 2020. 60 percent of wild coffee species are considered to be threatened with extinction. “Species conservation is a key concern for both plants and animals,” said Wilhelma Director Dr. Thomas Kölpin. “In the long term, it can only be successful with a global rethink, but we can help locally with this conservation breeding to ensure that the species are not completely lost.” At INTERGASTRA, plantation owners among the exhibitors handed over additional seeds to Kölpin and Peter Hauk, Minister for Rural Areas and Consumer Protection. “Biodiversity is an irreplaceable asset,” emphasized Hauk. “That's why the state of Baden-Württemberg is officially registering the project as a conservation collection. With more than 60 rare varieties and species, it is already one of the most important collections internationally. This project is very much in line with our intention to strengthen regionality and thus protect the climate.”

The background to this is that of the more than 100 known species of coffee plants, only three are used commercially on a large scale: Coffea Canephora (known as Robusta) is considered a mass product, while Coffea Arabica is considered a noble variety. The third of these, Coffea Liberica, bears relatively little fruit on tall trees, which is why its use is less economically attractive But even from these three species, breeders have produced a variety of cultivars over 500 years. “These varieties not only differ in appearance and taste,” explained Dr. Björn Schäfer, Head of the Botany Department at Wilhelma, ”they have developed individual characteristics that allow them to cope with different soils, climatic conditions and harmful fungi, viruses or bacteria.” Weather extremes are increasing and individual pest species can completely destroy a monoculture. For example, the most important banana variety “Cavendish” is dying off worldwide due to a harmful fungus, because only genetic clones that are defenceless against the pathogen are grown everywhere. “It is therefore crucial to preserve coffee plants with versatile defenses for future generations,” says Schäfer. Wilhelma is therefore preserving the varieties outside the natural growing areas in case natural disasters such as floods, droughts, fires or epidemics of plant diseases wipe out the entire population in their natural habitats.

“This can only succeed with an intercontinental network, but the great interest shown by coffee growers suits us well,” says Dr. Steffen Schwarz from the Coffee Consulate. The independent training and research center in Mannheim has established contacts with high-quality plantations in many countries for the project. Coffee from Brazil, China, El Salvador, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand is now growing at Wilhelma. Wilhelma is now represented at the trade fair to talk to the guests of the Coffee Summit Stuttgart. “Our aim is to attract plantation owners from other important coffee regions that are not yet represented in the project,” says Schäfer. “For example, we would be delighted to welcome new members from Ethiopia, Guatemala, Yemen, Kenya, Colombia, Oman, Peru and Vietnam.”

As an ambassador for the new collection, the partners have developed their own “Wilhelma coffee”. It could already be tasted at the trade fair. The coffee cherries for it come exclusively from the sustainable plantations of the cooperation partners. The Neckar roastery in Mannheim makes a cuvée from the blend of Pacamara and Old Paradenia beans. Coffee connoisseurs have tasted nuances of orange, elderflower and caramel during an initial tasting. A portion of the proceeds will go towards expanding the international conservation collection.

In the Zoological-Botanical Garden in Stuttgart, some of the coffee bushes are permanently on display in the Moorish Cottage in the Tropical Crop Plants section. In future, there will also be a display of the growing coffee plant collection every February when it bears fruit.

This unique coffee cuvée has been composed from selected parcel coffees from our partner plantations that participate in Wilhelma's “International Conservation Collection of Coffee Varieties” and thus preserve the diversity of coffee varieties for future generations.