Arabica Coffee Bean Varieties Classification - Arabica Coffee Bean Characteristics - Arabica Coffee Bean Price

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Introduction to Arabica Coffee Bean Classification

Classifying coffee genetically has always been a complex matter. In terms of coffee varieties available on the market, the most basic classification divides them into Arabica coffee beans and Robusta (hereinafter referred to as "Robusta beans"). Today, we will mainly discuss the lineage classification within the large family of Arabica coffee beans.

Alright, let's get acquainted with the members of the Arabica coffee bean family! However, this article only introduces some of the main members, not all of them!

Two Founding Families

Typica

"Typica" sounds quite majestic, but in reality, it's not that strong... It has a weak constitution, poor disease resistance, is susceptible to leaf rust, and produces relatively few fruits. It is one of the oldest native varieties in Ethiopia, from which many Arabica varieties have derived!

One characteristic of Typica is its bronze-colored young leaves. The beans are relatively large, with a pointed oval or slender pointed shape. Familiar names such as Mandheling, Blue Mountain, Maragogype, Kona, and Yunnan Peaberry are all derived varieties of Typica.

Bourbon

"Bourbon" is an ancient, high-quality variety on par with Typica. Some botanists believe that Bourbon is a variant of early Typica after being transplanted to Yemen.

Bourbon beans are almost all round, slightly smaller than Typica beans, mature later, but yield 30% more than Typica. It is suitable for cultivation at altitudes above 1,200 meters, with flavors significantly more outstanding than those grown below 1,000 meters. However, Bourbon has a drawback: it needs to rest for a year after bearing fruit. Round Bourbon has vigorous vitality, with better resistance to leaf rust than Typica, but its flavor is not inferior, even superior.

In 1810, some round Bourbon beans on Bourbon Island mutated into pointed beans, which became the famous "Pointed Bourbon" (Laurina). Its characteristic is having only half the caffeine content, with low yield and weak constitution, making it extremely rare, like a frail aristocratic young man...

Additionally, the greatest commonality between Typica and Bourbon is that they both need the protection of shade trees. Without shade trees to block the intense sunlight, not only is their growth hindered, but the flavor of the produced coffee beans is also greatly diminished.

Genetic Mutants

Variants from the Bourbon Family

Kenya Varieties

"SL28" and "SL34" are direct descendants of Bourbon, selected and cultivated in Kenya in the early 20th century by French and British missionaries and researchers. Over the past century, they have adapted to Kenya's high-phosphorus soil, producing Kenyan beans with a unique aromatic acidity that differs from Bourbon beans in Central and South America. However, when transplanted to Asia, they lose their distinctive character.

Bourbon Amarello

"Bourbon Amarello" is a yellow-skinned Bourbon variety specific to São Paulo state, Brazil. Generally, coffee cherries turn red when ripe, but Bourbon Amarello remains orange-yellow when ripe, hence its name. Due to its success in nearly sweeping the top three awards in the "Cup of Excellence" (CoE), Bourbon Amarello has become a rising star in the specialty coffee industry.

Caturra

"Caturra" is a single-gene mutant of Bourbon discovered in Brazil in the 1950s. Both its yield capacity and disease resistance are better than Bourbon. The plant is shorter, making it convenient for harvesting. Unfortunately, it faces the same problem as Bourbon - it needs to rest for a year after bearing fruit. Its flavor is comparable to or slightly inferior to Bourbon beans.

However, it has stronger adaptability, can be planted at high density, and doesn't require shade trees - it thrives even when directly exposed to intense sunlight, hence its other name "Sun Coffee."

Caturra is suitable for low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1,700 meters, but the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, though with relatively reduced bean yield. There are also yellow variants of Caturra in Central and South America, but their reputation is not as good as Bourbon Amarello.

Pacas

In 1935, Salvadoran coffee farmer "Don Alberto Pacas" selected high-yield San Remo Bourbon varieties to plant on his farm. In 1956, his coffee trees produced more fruit than other trees of the same type. University of Florida professor "Dr. William Cogwill" determined that this was a genetic mutation of Bourbon and named it "Pacas."

Pacas has high yield and excellent quality, making it quite popular in Central America. Currently, 68% of coffee in El Salvador is of Bourbon varieties, with Pacas accounting for 29%.

Variants from the Typica Family

Maragogype

"Maragogype" was discovered in 1870 in the "Maragogype" region of northeastern Brazil's "Bahia." It is named for being at least three times larger than ordinary Arabica beans, making it the world's largest. It is the most famous variant of Typica, the giant baby of the Typica family.

Maragogype adapts well to low altitudes of 700-800 meters, but its flavor is unremarkable and lacks distinctive characteristics, sometimes even having an earthy taste. Therefore, it's better to choose regions above 1,000 meters altitude, where the flavor is better, with mild acidity and pleasant sweet aroma.

Kona

"Kona" is grown at altitudes of just several hundred meters, but Kona from Hawaii's Big Island, nurtured by gentle sea breezes and fertile volcanic soil, possesses exceptionally clean acidity and sweetness. It even surpasses the higher-altitude Blue Mountain in quality.

Blue Mountain

"Blue Mountain," which is globally popular and where even a single bean is hard to come by, comes from the Typica family. Why is Blue Mountain so expensive?! Mostly because it's largely contracted by the "imperial army" (Japanese market), and partly because once it leaves Jamaica, it doesn't adapt well and performs poorly. After two hundred years of domestication, Blue Mountain has finally evolved successfully in Jamaica, with better resistance to coffee berry disease than typical Typica. Where will Blue Mountain be successfully domesticated next? We can look forward to finding out!

Hybrids of the Two Great Families

Mundo Novo

"Mundo Novo" - Bourbon and Typica had an affair! A bastard child appeared in the two great families! It was first discovered in Brazil, with high yield and strong disease resistance. Its only drawback is that the tree can grow up to 3 meters tall, making harvesting difficult. Due to its excellent cupping quality, it was hailed as the new hope of Brazil's coffee industry, hence its name "New World."

Catuai

"Catuai" is a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra, essentially a second-generation hybrid. It inherits Caturra's advantage of short plant height and also compensates for the fragile nature of Arabica cherries. The fruits are firm and don't easily fall off in strong winds. The biggest regret is that its overall flavor is somewhat monotonous compared to Caturra.

Catuai also has red fruit and yellow fruit varieties, with the red fruit variety winning awards more often than the yellow. Catuai, Caturra, Mundo Novo, and Bourbon are the four main coffee varieties in Brazil.

Pacamara

"Pacamara" is the offspring of Maragogype (a Typica variant) and Pacas (a Bourbon variant), another hybrid, with bean size second only to Maragogype. In 2007, it won the "CoE" championships in both Guatemala and Honduras, also sweeping the top three awards in El Salvador, making it a rising star in El Salvador.

Bastards with Robusta

Timor

"Timor" - In East Timor, an island nation at the eastern end of the Nusa Tenggara archipelago, the child of Arabica and Robusta was discovered (oh, you two actually...) - Timor, which is closer to Arabica. Timor has low acidity and lacks distinctive characteristics, often used in Taiwan as a blending bean to reduce costs. Sigh, the importance of genetics...

However, East Timor also has high-altitude pure Typica washed beans. Before purchasing, be sure to clarify whether it's a hybrid or pure Typica washed beans, as their quality differs greatly - the former is unremarkable, while the latter is stunningly impressive.

Catimor

In 1959, the Portuguese moved the Bourbon variant Caturra to East Timor and crossed it with Timor (which has Robusta bloodline), cultivating the second-generation hybrid Catimor, which has extremely strong disease resistance and yield capacity.

Although Catimor inherits Robusta's sturdiness, it also inherits the gene for poor flavor. To improve the poor reputation of Catimor in cupping, botanists from various countries have recently been crossing Arabica with Catimor in multiple generations, attempting to reduce the Robusta bloodline.

Icatu

In the past, the hybrid of Arabica and Robusta called "Arabusta" improved yield and disease resistance but consistently had poor coffee flavor. Scientists then hybridized Arabusta with Arabica varieties such as Caturra, Mundo Novo, and Bourbon across multiple generations, gradually reducing Robusta's unpleasant taste while enhancing Arabica's aromatic richness, thus giving birth to the excellent multi-generation hybrid variety - Icatu.

In addition, there are other hybrids of Arabica and Robusta such as "Ruiru 11" and "Chandragiri." Generally, they inherit Robusta's robust disease resistance but weaken Arabica's flavor. For coffee enthusiasts, whether these hybrids can deliver satisfactory performance remains to be seen through further cultivation and testing!

This article aims to provide newcomers with a concise understanding of Arabica variety classification and should not be used as a reference for rigorous botanical classification methods.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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