What are the delicious Arabica coffee varieties? Are they bitter? Why are Arabica beans so popular in the market?

Overview of Arabica Coffee Varieties

The coffee we are familiar with can generally be divided into two major categories: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica varieties, with their pure flavors and aromas, represent premium coffee and are widely cultivated around the world. FrontStreet Coffee will now organize the common varieties of Arabica.

Two Major Original Arabica Varieties

When FrontStreet Coffee reviews the history of coffee propagation, it can be summarized that there are mainly two ancient original varieties: Typica and Bourbon, each with their own propagation paths. All other numerous Arabica varieties are derived from them.

Typica

Typica originates from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. It was introduced to the Arabian Peninsula for medicinal treatment purposes between the 9th-10th centuries, and subsequently spread to India, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central America, taking root in various regions.

The Typica plant has a tall form, with young leaves at the top presenting a reddish-copper color, also known as red-topped coffee. The coffee beans produced are elliptical and slender-pointed. The most commendable aspect of Typica is that when cultivated at high altitudes, it can present elegant and pure flavors, rich acidity, and floral and fruity aromas. For example, Yunnan small-grain coffee in China is famous for the strong aroma characteristic of Typica.

However, Typica has poor resistance and is easily infected with leaf rust and coffee berry disease. It also requires shade, and farmers need to invest more effort in cultivation. Additionally, Typica plants produce fewer fruits per plant compared to other varieties, unable to bring substantial income to growers, so most coffee-growing areas have switched to other high-yield varieties.

The Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee beans and FrontStreet Coffee's own Yunnan coffee beans (Frontsteet 2013) on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list are Typica varieties. Blue Mountain Typica has rich nut and chocolate aromas, with a mellow taste and balanced sweet, sour, and bitter flavors.

Bourbon

Bourbon is an early variety of Yemeni Typica, introduced by the French from Yemen to Bourbon Island (Réunion Island) on the east coast of Africa in the 18th century, where it began to take root. After a long period, in 1860, the Bourbon variety was introduced to Brazil, thereby spreading to various countries in Central and South America for cultivation. Bourbon is also often a cupping champion in many Central American coffee competitions.

According to the different color manifestations of coffee fruits, Bourbon can be divided into Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon. Red Bourbon is the most common. The ripening process of coffee fruits goes from green to light yellow to orange until the mature coffee cherry's outer skin presents red. If mature Bourbon fruits are yellow, they are Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon is similar. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate coffee beans are of the Yellow Bourbon variety.

In terms of yield, Bourbon is higher than Typica, but its pest resistance and ability to withstand strong winds and heavy rainfall are relatively weak, similar to Typica. However, this has not hindered Bourbon's excellent cupping performance, and it is often a champion member in many Central American coffee competitions.

Common Arabica Varieties

Caturra

As a natural mutation of Bourbon, Caturra was discovered in Brazil in 1927 and has a shorter tree form.

Caturra has higher yields and can be planted at high density. Moreover, it doesn't require shade trees and can thrive directly under intense sunlight, hence it also has the name "Sun Coffee". Intensively planted Caturra has close branch spacing, greatly increasing the fruit yield per plant, making it relatively popular among growers.

After its discovery, Caturra was first introduced to Guatemala in the 1940s, and subsequently spread to Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, and other origins. Until now, Caturra is mainly widely cultivated in Central America, with better flavors when grown at higher altitudes. Among FrontStreet Coffee's many coffee offerings, such as Guatemala's Flora God, Honduras's Lychee Orchid, Colombia's Rose Valley, and Panama's Flower Butterfly, all contain Caturra varieties.

Mundo Novo

A natural hybrid variety of Arabica Bourbon and Sumatran Typica, first discovered in Brazil. It has high yield, disease and pest resistance, and excellent cupping quality, hailed as the new hope of Brazil's coffee industry, hence the name Mundo Novo (New World). Although it never made it into Brazil's top three, it has appeared multiple times in the top twenty rankings. Brazil extensively cultivated it after the 1950s. Its biggest disadvantage is that the tree height often exceeds 3 meters, making harvesting inconvenient.

Catuai

Catuai was hybridized from Caturra and Mundo Novo in 1949, also known as the second-generation hybrid. Inheriting Caturra's genes, it has the characteristic of low tree height, convenient for harvesting, high fruit yield, and solid fruits that don't easily fall off when exposed to strong winds, while also compensating for many of Arabica's weaknesses.

In Central and South America, many growing areas plant Caturra and Catuai together, so we can often see them present together in a bag of coffee beans. Catuai is also divided into Red Catuai and Yellow Catuai according to color display. It has bright acidity and a clean taste. The overall flavor richness of Catuai is quite good, with relatively good performance in cupping.

Geisha

The wild Geisha variety was discovered in 1931 from the Geisha forest in Ethiopia, then sent to Kenya's Coffee Research Institute. It subsequently spread to Uganda, Tanzania, Costa Rica, and other countries, until it was officially introduced to Panama for cultivation in the 1970s. Initially, due to low yields and unfavorable harvests, it received no attention. It wasn't until Hacienda La Esmeralda carefully cultivated it and sent it to participate in Best of Panama in 2004, winning the championship, that it began to gain recognition.

With the growing popularity of Geisha, many countries have introduced it for cultivation. Due to different terroirs and climates, the flavors of Geisha produced vary. Geisha beans have a slender shape, pointed at both ends, and full and plump in the middle. Premium Geisha coffee is rich in complex and delicate floral aromas, diverse fruit tones, and has a smooth, creamy mouthfeel with high sweetness. FrontStreet Coffee's bean list offers six Geisha coffees to choose from, among which Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label Geisha and Green Label Geisha have the most classic flavors.

Heirloom

Due to the numerous coffee varieties in Ethiopia's original forests, with countless genetic types, making identification difficult, and the local government's desire to protect these varieties by not making them public, the term Heirloom is used to collectively refer to these coffee categories.

Therefore, when we see Heirloom varieties in many Ethiopian coffees, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Koke合作社 coffee beans, they belong to local Heirloom varieties. Generally, we can see small, round-shaped beans, usually between 14-15 mesh size.

In addition to those mentioned above, coffee-growing regions worldwide have many high-quality Arabica sub-varieties, such as Pacas, Villa Sarchi, Pacamara, SL28, SL34... all of which we can commonly see on the market.

Why Are Arabica Coffee Beans More Popular?

FrontStreet Coffee has summarized so many Arabica varieties, each with its own unique flavor, possessing pleasant acidity and aroma. Compared to the strong-tasting Robusta beans, Arabica has lower caffeine content, only 0.9-1.2%, 60% higher fat content than Robusta, and twice the sugar content of Robusta beans. Therefore, Arabica coffee has a soft taste, high sweetness, and rich layered acidic aromas. With the continuous promotion of specialty coffee culture, everyone has more or less requirements for the taste, mouthfeel, and quality of coffee, so only high-quality Arabica beans better meet the current specialty coffee market.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

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