Introduction to Brazilian Coffee Bean Varieties: Historical and Cultural Stories, and the Flavor Characteristics of Typica Coffee Beans

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Brazilian coffee generally means coffee produced in Brazil. There are numerous Brazilian varieties, the majority of them unwashed and sun-dried, and they are classified by state of origin and shipping port. Brazil has 21 states, 17 of which produce coffee, but 4 states account for 98% of national production. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee has a flavor profile with low acidity that complements the coffee's bittersweet taste. It is extremely smooth on the palate with a faint grassy aroma, offering a refreshing, slightly bitter yet sweet and smooth taste that leaves a pleasant, invigorating aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee · Coffee Bean Varieties Introduction

Typica

Typica is the original variety of all Arabica coffee. It is said to have originated in southern Sudan, flourished in Ethiopia, and finally been cultivated in Yemen around the 7th century AD for commercial production. Typica was brought to the East Indies by the Dutch and was the first coffee variety to reach the West Indies - planted by Gabriel de Clieu in 1720 on the French island of Martinique.

The ripe fruit of Typica is red. The variety yields relatively little and has very poor disease resistance, but its excellent cupping quality has made it popular worldwide.

Bourbon

Bourbon is the result of a genetic mutation of the original Typica variety on Réunion Island, and it is the parent or even grandparent of many popular Latin American varieties, including Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, and Mundo Novo.

Bourbon remains widely popular in Latin America today and has crossed oceans to Africa, taking root in Rwanda and Burundi. The ripe fruit of Bourbon is mostly red, though yellow and orange varieties also exist. Bourbon's yield is about 20-30% higher than Typica; its flavor is slightly sweeter and sometimes better balanced, though the coffee from the two varieties is overall very similar.

Catimor

Catimor is a hybrid of Caturra and Timor - don't confuse it with Caturra and Catuai. This highly disease-resistant plant can resist coffee leaf rust, so it was widely planted across Latin America during the 1980s. Unfortunately, because Timor (also known as Arabusta) is a natural hybrid of Typica Arabica and Robusta, although the Robusta parent gives it disease resistance, the delicate flavor of the Arabica variety disappears.

Catuai

Brazil developed Catuai in the 1950s as a hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo, with strong disease resistance and high yields. Like Caturra, Catuai's ripe fruit naturally comes in both red and yellow varieties (I personally prefer the former). Catuai is known for rich acidity and is a common variety in most Central American countries.

Caturra

In the 1930s, a genetic mutation of Bourbon was discovered near Caturra, Brazil, and named Caturra. It has high yields, and its compact plant shape makes harvesting easier, but at low altitudes that same trait becomes a liability - the coffee there grows quite light, so the weight of the fruit can crush the plant. Grown at high altitudes (above 1200 meters), both the quality and yield of Caturra are better assured. Caturra is a common variety in the Central American coffee belt.

Geisha

Geisha, with slightly elongated fruit and leaves, is a genetic mutation of Typica said to originate from the small town of Geisha in southwestern Ethiopia. In the 1930s, Geisha seeds were taken to Tanzania, and in the 1950s they reached Costa Rica. Those two countries are the only significant growers of Geisha outside Panama, though Panama is Geisha's best advocate.

In Panama's high-altitude growing regions, Geisha has proven to the world through its tropical flavors, citrus, and tea characteristics that it is an undisputed coffee variety (note: Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is known as the king of coffee). Everyone loves good coffee, and I sincerely hope Geisha can reach other countries too.

Maragogipe

Maragogipe is considered a natural genetic mutation of Typica, first discovered near Maragogipe (just one letter different) in the Bahia region of Brazil. Maragogipe is famous as a large coffee bean and is also the parent variety of Pacamara.

Mundo Novo

Mundo Novo (also written Mundo Novo) is a hybrid of Bourbon and Typica that first appeared in the 1940s and is still widely welcomed by Latin American producing countries today. Its disease resistance and yield are superior to Bourbon and Typica, but at the cost of insufficient flavor complexity.

Pacamara

Pacamara was developed by El Salvador in the late 1950s as a hybrid of Pacas and Maragogipe, and it is highly sought after today. Like Maragogipe, although it is large - usually twice the size of standard Bourbon beans - its yield is moderate. Pacamara's quality is widely acclaimed, with clean acidity, refreshing floral notes, and advantages that increase with higher growing altitudes.

Pacas

El Salvador discovered the natural genetic mutation of Bourbon called Pacas in 1949. Its compact plant tolerates relatively low altitudes, so people use it to hybridize with Maragogipe, which has opposite characteristics.

Tekisic

El Salvador's Coffee Research Institute (ISIC) began artificial selection of Bourbon plants in 1949, and after 28 years of relentless effort finally developed the dwarf Tekisic variety in 1977, also known as "improved Bourbon." Although Tekisic yields relatively little, the lengthy breeding process gave it fascinating, complex flavors and a fairly full body. Farmers in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala highly recommend the variety, using it to improve their coffee quality.

SL-28

The "SL" in SL-28 stands for Scott Laboratories, a technology company hired by the Kenyan government from the 1930s onward to identify local coffee varieties best suited to large-scale cultivation. SL-28, partly because of its intense blackcurrant flavor, has become the benchmark variety in several growing regions of Kenya. SL-28 is suited to high-altitude cultivation.

SL-34

SL-34 is slightly inferior in quality to its sister SL-28 (which doesn't mean its quality is poor), but it also has prominent acidity and berry flavors. Compared with SL-28, SL-34 performs better at low altitudes (although its numbers are larger), and at high altitudes its resistance to heavy rain is also superior, so people mostly choose high-altitude cultivation for it. However, both SL-28 and SL-34 are highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Villa Sarchi

This dwarf variety is a genetic mutation of Bourbon, first discovered in Sarchi, Costa Rica. Its branches form steep angles with the trunk, and among the vast ordinary green leaves, its leaves are interestingly bronze-colored. Villa Sarchi has excellent fruity flavors, and its yield is high with decent disease resistance.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to taste Brazil's classic soft-bean profile, start with FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Half-Natural Red Bourbon. Cerrado is a well-known Brazilian region, and this red bourbon is a medium roast that brings out rich cream-peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut aromas, with a round, low-acid body that works for pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, or French press.

For something sweeter and cleaner, choose FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon from Mogiana. This rare yellow bourbon - a natural mutation of red bourbon - is medium roasted and shows a sugarcane sweetness with fruit and chocolate notes that few other regions can match.