What are the differences between Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon coffee?

Bourbon Variety

Bourbon is derived from the ancient Typica variety and features round-shaped beans. It reached Brazil around 1860 and then spread throughout Central and South America. Although its yield is not especially high, Bourbon resists leaf rust better than the delicate Typica. Grown at high altitude, Bourbon offers rich, delicate flavors, an aromatic fragrance, and a smooth acidity. The cherries usually move from green to light yellow, to orange-yellow, to red, and finally to fully ripe dark red, which is what we call Red Bourbon. Brazil also has another Bourbon whose ripe cherries are orange-yellow: Yellow Bourbon, a variant unique to Sao Paulo state.

Yellow Bourbon, or Bourbon Amarello, is a yellow-skinned Bourbon variety specific to Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Coffee cherries normally turn red when ripe, but Yellow Bourbon stays orange-yellow at maturity, hence the name. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Yellow Bourbon is exceptionally elegant in cupping, with prominent sweetness, aroma, and acidity. The Brazilian Queen Estate beans FrontStreet Coffee selects are of this rare Yellow Bourbon variety.

FrontStreet Coffee: Brazilian Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans

• Region: Mogiana region
• Estate: Fazenda Rainha (Queen Estate)
• Altitude: 1400-1950m
• Variety: Yellow Bourbon
• Processing: Natural processing
• Flavor: Nuts, chocolate, cream, peanut, sugarcane

FrontStreet Coffee has learned through research that the world's Arabica varieties consist of Typica and Bourbon and their descendants. Bourbon is mainly popular in Central and South American countries and is one of Brazil's primary varieties. Its name comes from Bourbon Island, now Reunion Island, off the east coast of Africa. In the 17th century it was a French territory named Bourbon Island, until it was renamed at the end of the 18th century. In the 18th century the French brought round-shaped coffee beans from Yemen to Bourbon Island, where they took root. Only in 1860 did Brazil carry round Bourbon back home, after which it spread to the countries of Central and South America and became the most ancient Latin American coffee parent variety.

Bourbon cherries are small and round, and the beans are dense. Grown at high altitude, Bourbon has high sweetness and bright acidity. Like Typica, it is an ancient, excellent variety, but it resists leaf rust better while giving up nothing in flavor. Common Bourbon cherries gradually change from green to light yellow and red between flowering and maturity, finally becoming fully ripe deep red, hence the name Red Bourbon. There are also Bourbon varieties that do not turn red at maturity but instead take on rarer yellow or pink colors, namely Yellow Bourbon and Pink Bourbon.

Pink Bourbon Genetics

There is another theory about the genetics of Pink Bourbon. Some studies have found that Pink Bourbon occurs naturally through hybridization of the Colombia and Caturra varieties. Caturra is a variant of Bourbon, while the Colombia variety, heavily promoted for cultivation in Colombia, has obvious advantages because it carries some Robusta genes: it is high-yielding and resistant to leaf rust. Its drawback is a mediocre flavor with no delicate sweet-and-sour notes.

Pink Bourbon is considered rare mainly because holding this beautiful pink color is extremely difficult. Sometimes orange Bourbon is harvested instead, because the final cherry color is determined by recessive genes in the pollen grains. Among the pollen grains coffee farmers select for hybridization are both yellow genes tending toward Yellow Bourbon and red genes tending toward Red Bourbon, all recessive and easily interfering with one another.

The "yellow" of Yellow Bourbon is determined by genetic inheritance and selection for color. Grown at high altitude, Yellow Bourbon contains a high amount of fructose, giving it sweet, juicy, delicate flavors, which is why it has won multiple excellent rankings in Brazil's Cup of Excellence competitions.

Queen Estate Processing Method

After harvesting ripe Yellow Bourbon cherries, Queen Estate uses natural processing so the cherries absorb more of the pulp's sweetness during drying. Brazil sits near the equator, and the harvest season coincides with the dry season, making the cherries very suitable for direct sun drying. The traditional "scorching sun" method is crude, though: cherries are spread straight on the ground, which easily mixes earthy flavors into the coffee, and uneven heating creates negative over-fermentation aromas. Queen Estate first pours the cherries into water tanks, removing underripe fruit by flotation, then processes the coffee in small batches on better-ventilated African raised beds, turning them regularly, which avoids earthy and over-fermented flavors. Its sweetness is also a level above traditional natural processing.

Because high-altitude Yellow Bourbon beans are denser and richer in glucose, FrontStreet Coffee's roasting approach highlights the classic mellow aroma of Brazilian coffee while showcasing Bourbon's inherent sweetness. After many experiments and cupping comparisons, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Queen Estate beans are roasted medium-dark. Medium roasting significantly changes the internal structure of the beans, making them porous and more absorbent once ground. If the brewing parameters are not adjusted, the coffee easily over-extracts and turns bitter. To get enough aroma without over-extracting, the extraction rate must be reduced. FrontStreet uses a lower water temperature and a coarser grind to slow the release of bitter macromolecules, and a KONO dripper to enhance body and a rounded mouthfeel.

Brewing Parameters

• Water temperature: 87-88°C
• Dripper: KONO
• Grind: Medium (70% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)
• Coffee powder: 15 grams
• Powder-to-water ratio: 1:15
• Three-stage pour method

Use twice the weight of the coffee powder in water to wet the coffee bed, forming a dome, and let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then use a small stream to pour in circles from inside to outside until reaching 125 g for the first stage. Wait for the coffee bed to drop to half the dripper's height, then continue with the same fine stream for the third stage to 225 g. Remove the dripper once all the coffee has filtered through, about 2 minutes. Finally, shake the server to mix the coffee evenly and enjoy.

The pour-over FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon shows aromas of dark chocolate, cream, peanuts, and nuts. The entry is as sweet as sugarcane, with a balanced taste, bright flavors, and a long-lasting aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Red, Yellow, and Pink Bourbon are the same ancient variety wearing three different colors, and tasting them together is the best way to see what the mutation changes. Start with FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon: a red Bourbon from the well-known Cerrado region, processed semi-washed and roasted medium. It shows a prominent sweetness on entry with a light lemon aroma, rich nutty flavors, and clear dark chocolate in the aftertaste, all with a rounded body.

Then try FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon, the bean described throughout this article. From Mogiana at 1400-1950 meters, it is processed natural and offers the fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice and black tea, a smooth fruit sweetness, obvious nutty flavors, balanced gentle acidity, a weak, clean bitterness, and a rich chocolate and nut aroma, bright and refreshing with a smooth, delicate texture.

For something brighter and more floral than either, FrontStreet also carries the rarer Pink Bourbon style in its FrontStreet Colombia Sidra. Roasted light-medium, it shows fresh florals with distinct layers, obvious citrus and small tomato aromas, an acidity that stays soft even as the cup cools, caramel sweetness in the finish, and a smooth, clean texture.