Coffee Tasting Article | How to Taste Typica and Bourbon Coffee - The Flavor Differences Between the Two

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Understanding Black Coffee

Some people believe that black coffee is simply bitter coffee. The bitterness of coffee has long been debated. Some say: "How can it be called coffee if it's not bitter?" Others say: "Good coffee has a pleasant bitterness."

Black coffee (also known as pure coffee) refers to unadorned coffee without any additives such as sugar or creamer. This includes Americano, espresso, and single-origin coffee.

Single-Origin Coffee

Today, let's explore single-origin coffee. As the name suggests, single-origin coffee comes from a specific location, typically as specific as a farm, cooperative, or estate. The terroir of coffee—the geographical location, climate, soil conditions, and other factors specific to a particular place—gives each single-origin coffee its unique flavor profile.

Typica and Bourbon Varieties

Similar to wine tasting, coffee also has many varieties. However, only two varieties have true commercial value and are widely cultivated, producing coffee beans that surpass those from other coffee trees in quality.

Biologically, coffee varieties can be divided into Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. The main varieties consumed worldwide are Arabica and Robusta. Generally, Arabica is used for single-origin or specialty coffee, while Robusta is typically used for instant coffee. From both coffee culture and genetic perspectives, Bourbon and Typica are the two most important branches of Arabica coffee.

The Spread of Bourbon Variety

Red Bourbon Coffee

Brazil Washed Red Bourbon Coffee

Due to the low yield and disease susceptibility of the Typica variety introduced to Brazil in 1727, the Bourbon variety was introduced to Brazil around 1860 through Campinas in the south and rapidly expanded northward to other regions in South and Central America. Today in Latin America, although Bourbon has been largely replaced by its variants (particularly Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo), it is still cultivated in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Peru.

Generally, after flowering and fruiting, Bourbon coffee cherries change color from green → light yellow → light orange → mature red → darker red when fully ripe, which is why some call it "Red Bourbon." In fact, Red Bourbon is simply what we generally call Bourbon. Bourbon grown at high altitudes typically has better aroma, brighter acidity, and may even exhibit wine-like flavors.

To put it simply, Bourbon is a coffee variety belonging to the Arabica family. It typically produces red fruits, hence the name Red Bourbon. Besides Red Bourbon, there are also Yellow Bourbon and Orange Bourbon. Yellow Bourbon has relatively lower yields but better quality.

Red Bourbon Coffee

Tanzania Missionary Washed Bourbon

In Africa, French missionaries known as Spiritans (from the Holy Ghost congregation) played an important role in spreading the Bourbon variety. In 1841, the first mission was established in Réunion, and a branch was established in Zanzibar in 1859. From Zanzibar, branches were established in 1862 in Bagamoyo (on the Tanzanian coast, then called Tanganyika) and St. Augustine (Kikuyu, Kenya), and another branch was established in 1893 in Bura (Taita Hills, Kenya). Each branch establishment was accompanied by the planting of coffee seeds brought from Réunion.

In 1899, seedlings cultivated in Bura were taken to another French mission in Santa Cruz (near Nairobi) and introduced to the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. Seeds were distributed to local residents willing to grow coffee, which marked the origin of what is known as "Missionary Bourbon." Later, the Kent variety was also introduced in 1920. Therefore, to this day, coffee in Tanzania remains predominantly Bourbon and Kent varieties.

Coffee variety: Bourbon, grown at altitudes between 1000-2500 meters, its refreshing acidity and medium body complement sweet citrus and floral aromas.

Bourbon Varieties

Costa Rica Caturra

Caturra: A single-gene mutation of Bourbon, with better yield capacity and disease resistance than Bourbon. The plants are shorter, making harvesting convenient, and have stronger adaptability. They can be planted at high density without shade trees, thriving even in direct sunlight, earning it the nickname "Sun Coffee."

Caturra is suitable for low altitudes of 700 meters up to high altitudes of 1700 meters, but the higher the altitude, the better the flavor. High-quality Costa Rican coffee is known as "Strictly Hard Bean" (SHB), which can grow at altitudes above 1500 meters.

Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to introduce and cultivate coffee, with a long history and a complete system from production to sales. Located in the Central American isthmus with numerous volcanoes, it has natural advantages of sunlight and soil. The coffee produced has unique characteristics of local microclimate terroir, and both in quality and quantity, Costa Rican coffee has been recognized worldwide as one of the high-quality coffees, nurturing coffee beans with complete and rich flavors.

The Spread of Typica Variety

Typica Coffee

Yunnan Baoshan Typica Coffee

Typica: The most classic high-quality Arabica variety, from which many commercial improved varieties originate. It exhibits excellent flavor performance and is recognized as a specialty coffee variety, but has extremely low yields and is susceptible to rust disease, requiring more intensive labor management. Typica coffee originates from Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan and is the most widely cultivated coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere. The plants are relatively robust but not tolerant to direct sunlight, with higher yields in Hawaii. Typica has bronze-colored top leaves, earning it the name "red-topped coffee."

Baoshan City introduced Typica and Bourbon varieties as early as the 1950s, which locals call "old varieties." Because these old varieties have relatively low disease resistance and yields and require more labor in management, from a botanical perspective, Yunnan small-bean coffee shares genetic similarities with the recognized excellent Jamaica Blue Mountain and Hawaii Kona coffees.

Unlike other coffee varieties, Typica coffee fruits are cone-shaped. Typica coffee has extremely high quality and is therefore very popular among plantations worldwide. When properly cultivated, Typica coffee has high sweetness, pure flavor, and pleasant acidity. Yunnan Typica offers Asian herbal plant aromas, lively and bright acidity, mouth-watering effect, balanced soft acidity and body, rich layers, and obvious black chocolate, honey, and brown sugar flavors in the aftertaste. When completely cooled, it reveals brown sugar flavors.

Typica Varieties

Sumatra Mandheling

Mandheling, also known as "Sumatra Coffee," is mostly produced in northern Sumatra as Gayo, primarily of the ateng variety. Lake Tawar in the north can be called Aceh coffee or Tawar Lake coffee, while Lintong and Lake Toba (Toba lake) areas in southern Sumatra can be called Mandheling. The Lintong area is the true Mandheling region. The best Mandheling varieties include four types: Sidikalang, Bergendar, Siborong borong, and Telok Sanggul.

Lake Toba, located in central North Sumatra Province. Dutch colonists moved "Java Mandheling" north to the Lake Toba region in 1888, creating the modern Mandheling legend.

Lake Tawar, located in central Aceh Special Autonomous Region. Situated at the northern tip of Sumatra Island, with an area less than one-tenth of Lake Toba. However, in recent years, coffee quality and production have surpassed Lake Toba.

Mandheling has a strong flavor with rich body and vibrant, lively intensity. It's neither astringent nor acidic, fully expressing its body and bitterness. Mandheling coffee beans may have the ugliest appearance, but coffee enthusiasts say that the less attractive Sumatra coffee beans look, the better, richer, and smoother they taste.

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