What Types of Bourbon Coffee Are There? A Comprehensive Guide to Bourbon Coffee Varieties and Their Characteristics

Introduction to Coffee Varieties

Early in coffee history, after Typica was transplanted to Yemen, it mutated — the slender, pointed beans became round. In 1715, the French carried those round beans from Mocha, Yemen, to Bourbon Island off the east coast of Africa (renamed Réunion after the French Revolution), which is how the variety got its name. The round Bourbon beans reached Brazil and Central and South America in 1727. In 1732, the British transplanted Mocha beans from Yemen to St. Helena Island (where Napoleon would later be exiled) — also round Bourbon beans. Bourbon has remained a consistent champion in American specialty coffee cuppings ever since.

Bourbon is a sub-variety that mutated from Typica, and together with Typica it belongs to the oldest coffee varieties still in cultivation today. Bourbon cherries ripen to a bright red. Compared to Typica, Bourbon plants have broader leaves and grow more densely. Although its yield is higher than Typica's, the trees still take two years to bear a full harvest, making it a low-yield variety. In return, it offers outstanding flavor — wine-like acidity and a sweet aftertaste. The beans are relatively large, uniform in size, and consistent and glossy in color. To make harvesting easier, farmers typically prune the trees to stay under 150 centimeters in height.

Red Bourbon

After Red Bourbon trees flower and set fruit, the cherries change color in a familiar progression: green > light yellow > light orange > mature red > darker red when fully ripe — hence the name "Red Bourbon." In fact, Red Bourbon is simply what we usually mean by "Bourbon." Grown at high altitude, Bourbon typically develops better aroma and brighter acidity, sometimes even wine-like flavors.

Yellow Bourbon

Yellow Bourbon arose from Bourbon crossed with other varieties. Because of its lower yield and weaker resistance to wind and rain, it has never been widely cultivated. But grown at high altitude it shows excellent flavor characteristics, and it has become more common in recent years. Yellow Bourbon was first discovered in Brazil, where it is still primarily grown today. It is generally believed to have descended from a cross between red-fruited Bourbon and a yellow-cherry Typica variety called "Amerelo de Botocatu."

French Mission Bourbon

In Africa, French missionaries of the Spiritan congregation (the Holy Ghost Fathers) played a crucial role in spreading Bourbon. The first mission was established on Réunion in 1841, followed by a branch in Zanzibar in 1859. From Zanzibar, further branches were founded in 1862 in Bagamoyo (on the Tanzanian coast, then called Tanganyika) and St. Augustine (Kikuyu, Kenya), and another in 1893 in Bura (Taita Hills, Kenya). Each new branch came with the planting of coffee seeds brought from Réunion.

In 1899, seedlings cultivated at Bura were taken to another French mission at Santa Cruz (near Nairobi). In 1900, they were introduced to the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, and seeds were distributed to any local resident willing to grow coffee. That is the origin of what became known as "Missionary Bourbon." The Kent variety was also introduced in 1920 — which is why coffee in Tanzania remains composed primarily of Bourbon and Kent to this day.

Bourbon Varieties Offered by FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon

On some estates in the Cerrado region of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, ancient Bourbon coffee is still cultivated. The Cerrado plateau in western Minas and southern Minas sits mostly above 1,100 meters, with varied topography, distinct wet and dry seasons, wide day-night temperature swings, and abundant microclimates. Those conditions are ideal for flavorful Red and Yellow Bourbon, which is exactly why this region became a cornerstone of Brazilian specialty coffee.

• Roast Level: Medium roast
• Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-over
• Grind Size: 4 (Fuji R440)
• Water Temperature: 88°C
• Dripper: V60/KONO
• Dry Aroma: Nuts, cocoa
• Flavor Profile: Low acidity, prominent nutty flavors, excellent chocolate sweetness and body

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Rainha Estate Yellow Bourbon

From Fazenda Rainha (Queen Estate), a 280-acre estate in an ancient volcanic valley of Brazil called Vale da Grama. Fazenda Rainha belongs to the renowned and highly respected Carvalho Dias family. The four major estates under Carvalho Dias have won awards consistently since the very first Brazil Cup of Excellence in 1999 — more than 12 wins in 7 years. In 2004 they even swept the championship, 9th, and 11th place, outranking estates of every size across Brazil.

• Roast Level: Medium roast
• Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-over
• Grind Size: 4 (Fuji R440)
• Water Temperature: 88°C
• Dripper: V60/KONO
• Dry Aroma: Roasted hazelnuts, spices
• Flavor Profile: Slight fruit acidity, nuts, creamy peanuts, chocolate sweetness, with high body

FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Chania Estate French Mission Bourbon

In Kenya, the names you hear most often are the K72 process and the SL28 and SL34 varieties — so a natural-processed French Mission Bourbon is genuinely rare. The unique red volcanic soil of Chania Estate, combined with temperatures and rainfall well suited to coffee and an outstanding natural environment, creates the singular flavor of this French Mission Bourbon.

• Roast Level: Medium roast
• Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-over
• Grind Size: 3.5 (Fuji R440)
• Water Temperature: 90°C
• Dripper: V60
• Dry Aroma: Fermentation, dried fruit, vanilla
• Flavor Profile: Caramel, vanilla, mixed fruits with a solid juice-like mouthfeel. The aftertaste brings berries, rich jackfruit, and coffee flowers, showcasing the characteristic wild regional flavors of Africa.

Overall, these Bourbon beans — FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon, FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Rainha Estate Yellow Bourbon, and FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Chania Estate French Mission Bourbon — share a similar flavor direction: distinct dark chocolate, cocoa, nuts, and caramel, smooth acidity, and gentle bitterness.

When Bourbon is grown in different regions, microclimate, soil quality, and growing environment nudge the flavor in slightly different directions. Kenya's volcanic ash soil carries higher phosphorus content, which gives FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Chania Estate French Mission Bourbon its tropical fruit acidity while preserving Bourbon's core character, making this Kenyan lot the most complex of the three. Today's sharing ends here — hope it helped!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you'd like to explore Brazilian Bourbon further, FrontStreet Coffee recommends two single origins from its Brazil lineup.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon (Pulped Natural) — A classic Brazilian single origin and the easiest entry into the origin's flavor. Cerrado is one of Brazil's best-known coffee regions, famous for consistently high-quality beans. Roasted medium, it shows rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a round, smooth cup that isn't sour and carries only a light bitterness. It brews beautifully as a pour-over and is equally good in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon, or a French press.

FrontStreet Coffee Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon — Grown in Mogiana near southern Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the cherries and helps them build a full, rich aroma. The rare Yellow Bourbon — a natural mutation of Red Bourbon — offers an even cleaner fruit character. However you brew it (pour-over, moka pot, or home espresso machine), you'll find a sugarcane sweetness that other origins can't match, alongside fruit and chocolate notes.