What's the Difference Between Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon_How Much Does a Cup of Brazilian Yellow Bourbon Coffee Cost at a Cafe

Introduction to Bourbon Coffee

Bourbon is an Arabica coffee variety and a branch of Typica, native to Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean (now called Reunion Island). It is generally grown mainly in Central and South America -- El Salvador, Brazil, Rwanda, Panama and elsewhere. Early Bourbon was a variant of Ethiopian Typica that had been transplanted to Yemen. France began transplanting round beans from Yemen's Mocha to Bourbon Island on the east coast of Africa in 1715 AD (renamed Reunion Island after the French Revolution), which is how the variety got its name. Bourbon round beans were also passed along to Brazil and Central and South America in 1727, and in 1732 Britain transplanted Yemen Mocha round beans to St. Helena Island. The biggest difference from Typica in appearance is broader leaves, smaller cherries and more concentrated production, so Bourbon cherries look smaller and rounder than Typica's.

Bourbon is often the champion in American specialty coffee cuppings. Taiwan has also successfully cultivated Yellow Bourbon since 2011, mainly in Taichung's Xinshe and Dongshi, Alishan, Dongshan, Pingtung and Taitung. Cultivation there has not yet reached an economic scale, making it quite rare.

Mature coffee beans generally turn red, but mature Bourbon cherries turn yellow, which is why they are generally called Yellow Bourbon. In Brazil, the world's largest coffee export region, Yellow Bourbon accounts for less than 1% of production, making it precious and rare.

Yellow Bourbon Characteristics

Yellow Bourbon beans are harder to cultivate and yield less. Once roasted they present a dry yet sweet taste, with nutty and cocoa or chocolate-like aromas. Yellow Bourbon generally uses the semi-dry (or semi-washed) method, and some Bourbon varieties carry fruity aromas, especially pleasant in aroma and sweetness during brewing.

Brewing Yellow Bourbon

When hand-pouring Yellow Bourbon coffee beans, the recommended bean-to-water ratio is as follows:

15 grams of Yellow Bourbon beans ground to setting 4, starting with 92°C hot water, blooming with about 45 grams of water for about 30 seconds, then using a continuous pour to brew about 220 grams of coffee (about 2/3 of a mug) at once.

When hot coffee enters the mouth, it carries a cocoa or chocolate-like aroma with some caramel sweetness.

When the cooled coffee enters the mouth, it has a slight acidity that blends with the original cocoa or chocolate flavor, and the caramel taste leaves a sweet aftertaste.

Bourbon Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

The Brazilian natural processed Yellow Bourbon coffee beans roasted by FrontStreet Coffee come with full guarantees in brand and quality. More importantly, the value is extremely high. A half-pound (227 grams) bag costs only about 85 yuan. At 15 grams of powder per cup, one bag makes 15 cups, working out to less than 6 yuan per cup. Compared to cafes selling coffee for dozens of yuan per cup, that is a genuinely conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To compare the two faces of Bourbon side by side, start with FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon. A classic Brazilian single origin, it is a red Bourbon put through the semi-washed process and roasted to a medium level, showing cream, peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut aromas with a rounded, low-acid body and a light touch of bitterness. It works in a pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon or French press.

If it is the yellow-fruited mutation that interests you, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate is exactly the rare Yellow Bourbon. Grown in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil, it is a red Bourbon mutation with a cleaner fruit character. Brew it by pour-over, moka pot or home espresso machine to find the sugarcane sweetness that other regions cannot offer, along with fruit and chocolate notes.