Forgotten species could save coffee in a warming world AFP, PARIS A once-prized coffee species, rediscovered in West Africa decades after it was thought to have disappeared, is just as tasty as high-end Coffea arabica and more resilient to climate change, researchers said on Monday, adding that the forgotten bean could help future-proof quality coffee. While there are more than 100 known coffee species, the world gets its caffeine hit mostly from the beans of just two — Coffea arabica, considered to be the superior brew, and the less-refined Coffea canephora, or Robusta, most commonly used for instant mixes. Climate change presents a serious problem for the multibillion-dollar coffee industry and the about 100 million farmers worldwide who earn a living from cultivating the crop.