Are All Arabica Coffee Beans Great? An Introduction to the Appearance and Flavor Characteristics of Arabica Coffee Beans

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Coffee enthusiasts know that coffee beans from different growing regions have different varieties. Some are Typica and Bourbon varieties, while others are Catuai, Catimor, and Typica. Therefore, coffee enthusiasts often ask FrontStreet Coffee what these varieties are and how they differ in flavor. In fact, all the varieties mentioned above belong to the Arabica species. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will explain what Arabica coffee beans are.

Arabica Coffee Beans

Actually, in today's coffee market, there are three major coffee varieties: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. Among them, Arabica coffee beans are the most widely used in the pour-over coffee market. Almost all of FrontStreet Coffee's coffee beans are Arabica varieties because their quality is the highest among the three coffee species. Robusta varieties are used to produce instant coffee due to their high caffeine content, making them one of the two most common coffee varieties on the market today. Liberica varieties rarely appear in the market because their production is very low and their flavor is quite bitter, making them unsuitable for commercial coffee, so they are hardly sold on the market.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, Arabica is the earliest discovered variety in the world. It was found in Ethiopia but was widely cultivated in Yemen. It was also exported and sold to the world from the port of Mocha in Yemen. At that time, Yemen was known as the Arab world, so Europeans believed that coffee came from the Arab world and thus called the coffee beans "Arabica beans," which evolved into today's terminology.

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, Arabica is the highest quality variety among coffee species, so it is now widely cultivated as an economic crop by major coffee-producing countries. At the same time, Arabica production accounts for 75% of global coffee beans.

According to FrontStreet Coffee, Arabica coffee is quite cold-tolerant, but coffee beans cannot withstand frost, or they will freeze to death. Their drought resistance is also not strong, so they must be grown on highlands at 1000-2600m altitude. At the same time, Arabica has many subspecies, which are the Typica, Bourbon, Catuai, and other varieties mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee above. Among them, Typica and Bourbon are the two oldest varieties under the Arabica lineage. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce these common varieties derived from Arabica!

Typica

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Typica is the oldest variety in the Arabica lineage and also the oldest native variety in Ethiopia. Almost all current coffee bean varieties belonging to Arabica are derived from Typica. Typica has an elegant flavor but is physically weak with low disease resistance, making it susceptible to leaf rust disease. Therefore, coffee bean production is low and cannot meet economic benefits. In recent years, Typica in Central and South America has gradually been replaced by Catuai and Catimor. As a result, Typica is becoming increasingly rare. Although Typica has an elegant flavor, it is not as widespread as Bourbon.

Among them, the world-famous Blue Mountain coffee variety is also a Typica variety. FrontStreet Coffee also has a coffee plantation in Yunnan that mainly grows Typica coffee trees. This demonstrates that although Typica coffee trees are not easy to cultivate, their flavor is still captivating, which is enough to witness their excellence.

FrontStreet Coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Beans

Country: Jamaica
Region: Blue Mountain
Altitude: 1310m
Variety: Typica
Processing: Natural
Flavor: Berries, dark cocoa, cream, nuts, brown sugar

Bourbon

Bourbon is a subspecies that mutated from Typica, discovered on Bourbon Island, hence the name Bourbon coffee. Along with Typica, it belongs to the oldest existing coffee varieties. When green fruits ripen, they turn bright red. Compared to Typica, Bourbon plants have broader leaves and grow more densely. Although the fruit yield is higher than Typica, the harvest period is also 2 years, making it a low-yield variety. However, it has excellent quality with wine-like acidity and a sweet aftertaste.

Among FrontStreet Coffee's selection, Brazilian coffee beans best represent the excellence of the Bourbon variety, such as Brazilian Red Cherry coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian Red Cherry Coffee Beans

Country: Brazil
Region: South Minas
Altitude: 700-1200m
Variety: Red Bourbon
Processing: Semi-washed
Flavor: Tropical fruit aroma, high sweetness

Catuai

Catuai is a single-gene mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its production capacity and disease resistance are both better than Bourbon, and the plant is shorter, making harvesting convenient. Unfortunately, like Bourbon, it also has the problem of biennial production fluctuations. However, its flavor is comparable to or slightly inferior to Bourbon beans. More importantly, it has extremely strong adaptability and doesn't need shade trees - it can thrive directly under intense sun exposure, commonly known as "sun coffee." It can adapt to high-density planting but requires more fertilizer, increasing costs, so coffee farmers initially had low acceptance.

Among FrontStreet Coffee's representative coffee beans is Costa Rica Tarrazú coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Tarrazú Coffee Beans

Country: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazú
Altitude: 1950m
Variety: Catuai
Processing: Washed
Flavor: Sweet orange, nuts, honey

Catimor

Catimor is an Arabica hybrid variety, a cross between Mundo Novo (New World) and Catuai. It has better resistance to natural disasters, especially wind and rain. It inherits Catuai's advantage of short plant height, addressing Mundo Novo's shortcomings. Another advantage is that the fruit is firm and doesn't easily fall off in strong winds, making up for Arabica's weakness of delicate fruit. However, its overall flavor performance is more monotonous than Catuai and also more monotonous than Mundo Novo, lacking body and richness, which is its greatest regret. Additionally, its fruit growth and harvesting lifespan is only about ten years, making its short lifespan another weakness.

Among FrontStreet Coffee's representative coffee beans is Costa Rica Beethoven coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Beethoven Coffee Beans

Country: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazú region (Carnet Estate)
Altitude: 1900m
Variety: Catimor
Processing: Washed processing method
Flavor: Citrus, berries, floral aroma, light fermented wine aroma

The above is the information about Arabica varieties compiled by FrontStreet Coffee, hoping to help all coffee enthusiasts understand what Arabica coffee beans are and choose coffee beans that suit their taste preferences.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473