Characteristics of Red Bourbon Coffee and Yellow Bourbon Coffee_The Eye-Catching Pink Bourbon Coffee

Red Bourbon

On a typical coffee tree, the cherry changes color after flowering and fruiting in a set sequence: green, then light yellow, then light orange, then ripe red, and finally a deeper red at full ripeness. That is why some people call it the "Red Bourbon variety." In practice, Red Bourbon is what we usually mean by the Bourbon variety. Grown at high altitude, Bourbon tends to have a better aroma and brighter acidity, sometimes even showing wine-like notes in the cup.

Yellow Bourbon

Yellow Bourbon is a cross of Bourbon with other varieties. Because it yields less and resists wind and rain poorly, it has never been widely planted. Grown at high altitude, however, it shows excellent flavor, which has made it more common in recent years. Yellow Bourbon, as the name suggests, produces yellow cherries when ripe, and it was first discovered in Brazil, where it is still grown today. It is generally thought to have arisen from a mutation after crossbreeding red-fruited Bourbon with a yellow-fruited Typica variant known as Amerelo de Botocatu.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queen Estate Semi-Washed Yellow Bourbon

Flavor characteristics: sweet and smooth fruit sweetness, distinct nutty flavors, balanced and gentle acidity, clean and subtle bitterness, rich chocolate aroma and nutty flavors, bright and refreshing mouthfeel.

Pink Bourbon

Pink Bourbon, as the name suggests, produces romantic pink cherries when ripe. It belongs to an extremely rare new variety, created by crossing Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon. Pink Bourbon is considered rare largely because holding on to that beautiful pink is so difficult. Sometimes orange Bourbon cherries turn up instead, because the final color of a coffee cherry is governed by recessive genes in the pollen grains. Among the pollen grains selected for the cross, there are yellow genes leaning toward Yellow Bourbon and red genes leaning toward Red Bourbon, all recessive and easily interfering with one another.

Pink Bourbon is currently found in Colombia and Guatemala. Take this batch of Colombian Pink Bourbon as an example: there are roughly 1,800 coffee trees. Each tree yields about 1.8kg of fresh cherries per harvest season, and after pulp removal that works out to about 0.36kg of coffee beans. In a normal season, the batch produces less than 650kg.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Pink Bourbon

Flavor characteristics: sweet orange, sugarcane sweetness, a pleasant juicy mouthfeel, cherry tomato.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To taste what Red Bourbon does in a gentle, low-acid style, FrontStreet's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a fine starting point. Grown in the well-known Cerrado region and roasted medium, it layers creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut over a round body with just a hint of bitterness - equally good as pour-over or through a moka pot, espresso, siphon, or French press.

For the rare Yellow Bourbon side of the family, FrontStreet's Brazil Queen Estate is worth seeking out. Grown in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil, this Yellow Bourbon - a natural mutation of Red Bourbon - gives an especially clean fruit character, with the fresh sweetness of sugarcane alongside fruit and chocolate notes. Pour-over, a moka pot, or a home espresso machine all show it off well.