Guatemalan Arabica Coffee Varieties and Grade Introduction

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Guatemala Coffee Grades and Varieties

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Guatemala is a major coffee producer in Central America, ranking eighth in world production. Its name comes from the Mayan language and means "land of many trees." Located in Central America, it is known as the "pearl on the crown of Central America." Though its land area is limited, Guatemala enjoys rich and varied climates. A country known for its lakes and volcanoes, it offers the volcanic soil, rainfall, temperature, humidity, and altitude that coffee needs to thrive.

It is a renowned producer of high-quality Arabica in Central America. Coffee from its five volcanic regions and three non-volcanic regions is highly distinctive and enjoys a strong reputation in the international market.

Caturra

Caturra is a single-gene variant of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its productivity and disease resistance are both superior to Bourbon, and the plant is shorter, making harvesting easier. Unfortunately, like Bourbon, it suffers from biennial production cycles. Its flavor is comparable to, or slightly below, Bourbon. More importantly, it is extremely adaptable: it needs no shade trees and thrives under direct, intense sunlight, earning it the nickname "sun coffee." It tolerates high-density planting but demands more fertilizer, raising costs, so it was not initially well received by farmers.

Caturra is suited to cultivation from as low as 700 meters up to 1,700 meters, showing strong altitude adaptability. The higher the altitude, the better the flavor, though productivity falls accordingly — the fate of any specialty bean. Academics sometimes call Caturra the intensive, sun-exposed version of Bourbon, which fits well. There is also a yellow variant, Caturra Amarello, in Central and South America, though its reputation does not match that of Yellow Bourbon.

Catuai

Catuai is a hybrid Arabica variety, a cross between Mundo Novo (New World) and Caturra. It has better resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain. It inherits Caturra's short stature, addressing one of Mundo Novo's shortcomings. Another advantage is its firm fruit, which does not easily fall in strong winds — compensating for the fragile nature of Arabica cherries. However, its overall flavor is more monotonous than Caturra's, and it is also more monotonous and lighter-bodied than Mundo Novo, which is its greatest regret. Its productive and harvestable lifespan lasts only about ten years, so its short life is another weakness.

After its official release in the 1970s, it was promoted to Central American countries and widely planted in Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and its country of origin, Brazil. Judged on flavor alone, in the right terroir and with the right processing, Catuai can produce quite wonderful results.

Catuai was introduced to Honduras in 1979 and officially released commercially in 1989. It was widely welcomed by farmers and today accounts for more than half of all production in Honduras. Because Catuai plants are short, they can be densely planted, and their flavor above 1,300 meters is quite good. Its only disadvantage is that it is very susceptible to pests and diseases. Honduras's IHCAFE is working hard to develop hybrids of Catuai and Catimor to improve disease resistance.

Bourbon

Bourbon is a coffee tree variety belonging to a branch of the Arabica species. It is named for the color of its ripe fruit — red, yellow, orange, and pink Bourbon. Of these, orange Bourbon has lower production, while pink Bourbon is extremely rare.

The name Bourbon comes from "Réunion Island." The French attempted three times to introduce coffee from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now Réunion Island), in 1708, 1715, and 1718; only the second and third transplants survived and propagated.

In 1841, a French missionary established a church on Réunion Island. After leaving, he traveled to several African countries, including Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, St. Augustine, and Bula, establishing new churches and planting coffee from Réunion Island at each. From then on, "Bourbon coffee" existed on the African continent as well.

Guatemala Coffee Grades

The highest grade is called SHB (Strictly Hard Bean), grown above 1,350m. Next is HB (Hard Bean), grown between 1,200m and 1,400m. Further grades are SH (Semi Hard Bean), EPW (Extra Prime Washed), PW (Prime Washed), EGW (Extra Good Washed), and GW (Good Washed), with respective growing altitudes of 1,200m, around 1,000m, around 800m, 600m-800m, and below 600m.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The Bourbon family and its Caturra and Catuai relatives all trace back to the same lineage, and Brazil — where Caturra was first discovered — remains the best place to taste them. If you want a gentle, everyday introduction to Brazilian Bourbon, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado semi-natural is a fine classic: a red Bourbon, medium-roasted, with creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut notes, a rounded body, and only a light bitterness. It works for pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press.

For something more distinctive, the FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate is an uncommon yellow Bourbon grown in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil, offering a clean sugarcane sweetness plus fruit and chocolate notes that other regions rarely produce. And because Brazil provides the soft, chocolate-and-cream backbone in so many of FrontStreet's espresso blends, it is also a natural bridge if you enjoy these varieties in milk drinks.