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 refers to coffee produced in Brazil. There are numerous varieties of Brazilian coffee, with the majority being unwashed and sun-dried. They are classified according to their state of origin and shipping port. Brazil has 21 states, 17 of which produce coffee, but 4 states account for 98% of the total national production. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee has a flavor profile with low acidity, complementing the coffee's bittersweet taste. It's 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 species. It is said that Typica originated in southern Sudan, flourished in Ethiopia, and was finally 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 arrive in the West Indies—when Gabriel de Clieu planted it in 1720 on the French island of Martinique.

The ripe fruits of Typica are red. This variety has relatively low yields and extremely 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's also the parent or even grandparent variety of many popular Latin American coffee varieties—including Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, Mundo Novo, and others.

Bourbon remains widely popular in Latin America today and has crossed oceans to Africa, taking root in Rwanda and Burundi. The ripe fruits of Bourbon are mostly red, though there are also yellow or orange varieties. Bourbon's yield is about 20-30% higher than Typica; although the flavor is slightly sweeter and sometimes better balanced, the coffee from these 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 has the ability to resist coffee leaf rust, so it was widely planted in Latin American countries during the 1980s. Unfortunately, because Timor (also known as Arabusta) is a natural hybrid of Typica Arabica and Robusta, although the latter 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, featuring strong disease resistance and high yields. Similar to Caturra, Catuai's ripe fruits naturally come in both red and yellow varieties (I personally prefer the former). Catuai is known for its rich acidity and is a common variety in most Central American countries.

Caturra

In the 1930s, people discovered a genetic mutation of Bourbon near Caturra, Brazil, and named it Caturra. Caturra has high yields, and its compact plant shape facilitates harvesting, but if grown at low altitudes, this characteristic becomes its own worst enemy—the coffee here becomes quite light, so the weight of the fruit itself can crush the plant. If cultivated at high altitudes (1200 meters above), both the quality and yield of Caturra coffee are more guaranteed. Caturra is a common variety in the Central American coffee belt.

Geisha

Geisha, with slightly elongated fruits 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 transported to Tanzania, and in the 1950s, they traveled to Costa Rica. These two countries are the only significant growing countries for Geisha outside Panama—although Panama is Geisha's best advocate.

In Panama's high-altitude growing regions, Geisha has proven to the world with 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.

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 famously known as a large coffee bean and is also the parent variety of Pacamara.

Mundo Novo

Mundo Novo (also called Mundo Novo) is a hybrid of Bourbon and Typica, first appearing in the 1940s and still widely welcomed by Latin American coffee-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's highly sought after today. Similar to Maragogipe, although it's 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 can withstand relatively low-altitude conditions, 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 the Tekisic variety has relatively low yields, the lengthy breeding process has given it fascinating complex flavors and quite full-bodied taste. Farmers in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala highly recommend this variety, striving to use 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 to identify local coffee varieties most suitable for large-scale cultivation. SL-28, partly due to its intense blackcurrant flavor, has become the benchmark variety in several growing regions of Kenya. SL-28 is suitable for cultivation in high-altitude areas.

SL-34

SL-34 is slightly inferior in quality to its sister SL-28 (but this doesn't mean its quality is poor), but it also has prominent acidity and berry flavors. Compared to SL-28, SL-34 performs better in low-altitude areas (although its number is larger), and if cultivated at high altitudes, its resistance to heavy rain is also superior, so people mostly choose high-altitude cultivation methods. 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. Additionally, its yield is high, and its disease resistance is decent.

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