Unless I'm much mistaken, there are a few species of coffee, the main ones for drinking being arabica and robusta (and arabica being the only "good" one).
So this (arabica) is just one species. But within this species, there is a huge amount of variation in taste. To make a random comparison with chillies, there are hundreds (or thousands?) of separate chilli species, each with different strengths and tastes. But arabica is only one species, yet it has similar variation.
I appreciate that much is down to roasting, extraction, storage etc, but that's not really what I'm getting at -- I'm wondering how/why there are differences in the raw beans.
What are the main factors? Is it location and climate? Is it height above sea level? Is it the way it is grown, e.g. with fertilisers / organicly? Is local wildlife relevant?
If, hypothetically, all arabica beans were grown in exactly the same conditions, would they all taste exactly the same?!
Or am I missing the point entirely? E.g. are there actually thousands of "sub-species" (i.e. strains) of arabica, each with their own genetic profile? (Not that I want to sink into the realms of science, particularly...)
This just occured to me the other day and I've been wondering about it since.....
Tom