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Bourbon Varieties: Catuai, Catuai, Mundo Novo and Bourbon as Brazil's Four Major Varietals

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, For more professional coffee knowledge and coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). Catuai green beans are relatively soft, with a sweet taste, low acidity and astringency, as if everything scores only 65 points. This is a variety that Brazil has been vigorously promoting, but it hasn't achieved much success yet. Catuai is also

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

FrontStreet Coffee · Introduction to Coffee Variety Catuai

Catuai green beans are relatively soft, with a sweet taste and minimal acidity or astringency, as if everything scores only 65 points. This is a variety that Brazil has been strongly promoting, though it hasn't achieved significant success so far.

Catuai is also an Arabica hybrid variety, a cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra. It possesses good resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain. It inherits the advantage of Caturra's short plant height, addressing the shortcomings of Mundo Novo. Another advantage is its firm fruit that doesn't easily fall off in strong winds, compensating for the fragile nature of Arabica cherries. However, its overall flavor profile is more monotonous than Caturra and also less complex and lacks body compared to Mundo Novo, which is its greatest regret. Additionally, its fruit-bearing lifespan is only about ten years, making its relatively short lifespan another weakness.

Catuai also has red and yellow fruit varieties. Statistically, red Catuai more frequently wins awards. Catuai, Caturra, Mundo Novo, and Bourbon are considered the four main varieties in Brazil.

Catuai comes in both red fruit (Catuai Vermelho) and yellow fruit (Catuai Amarelo) varieties. The fruits come in both red and yellow colors, but to date, no yellow fruit has been found to taste better than red fruit. In fact, some people have discovered in cupping that although coffee processed from yellow fruit may have good acidity, the cleanness of the coffee's taste is inferior to that of red fruit. Statistically, red Catuai more frequently wins awards.

Because Caturra has high yield and is less susceptible to pests and diseases but lacks good flavor, Catuai was developed based on Caturra to improve its poor taste and flavor shortcomings. However, it seems to be too balanced.