How Many Common Coffee Bean Varieties Are There? Introduction to Common Coffee Bean Types

Introduction to Common Coffee Varieties

Typica

Typica is the original variety of all Arabica coffee. It is said to have originated in southern Sudan, gradually flourished in Ethiopia, and was eventually cultivated for commercial production in Yemen around the 7th century. The Dutch brought Typica to the East Indies, and it was also the first coffee variety to reach the West Indies, planted by Gabriel de Clieu in 1720 on the French island of Martinique.

Typica's ripe fruit is red. The variety yields relatively little and resists disease extremely poorly, but its excellent cup quality has made it beloved worldwide.

Bourbon

Bourbon arose from a genetic mutation of Typica on Réunion Island, and it is the parent, even grandparent, of many popular Latin American varieties, including Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, and Mundo Novo.

Bourbon remains widely grown in Latin America today and has also crossed the ocean to take root in Rwanda and Burundi. Most ripe Bourbon fruit is red, though yellow and orange strains exist. Bourbon yields about 20-30% more than Typica; its flavor is slightly sweeter and sometimes better balanced, but overall the two varieties are very similar.

Catimor

Catimor is a hybrid of Caturra and Timor, don't confuse it with Caturra or Catuai. Highly disease resistant with the ability to withstand coffee leaf rust, it was widely planted across Latin America in the 1980s. Unfortunately, because Timor (also known as Arabusta) is itself a natural hybrid of Typica Arabica and Robusta, the Robusta side grants disease resistance at the cost of the delicate flavor the Arabica varieties are loved for.

Catuai

Brazil developed Catuai in the 1950s, a hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo with strong disease resistance and high yield. Like Caturra, its ripe fruit comes naturally in red and yellow types. Catuai is known for its rich acidity and is a common variety across most Central American countries.

Caturra

In the 1930s people discovered a genetic mutation of Bourbon near the Brazilian city of Caturra and named it accordingly. Caturra yields well and its compact plant is easy to pick, but at low altitudes that compactness becomes its own worst enemy: the beans grow quite light, and the weight of the fruit itself can kill the plant. At high altitude (above 1,200 meters), both quality and yield are more assured. Caturra is a common variety throughout the Central American coffee belt.

Geisha

Geisha, with its slightly slender fruits and leaves, is a genetic mutation of Typica said to originate from the small town of Geisha in southwestern Ethiopia. In the 1930s Geisha seeds were carried to Tanzania, and in the 1950s they reached Costa Rica. Those two countries are the only important Geisha growers outside Panama, though Panama remains the variety's best ambassador.

In Panama's high-altitude growing areas, Geisha has proven itself to the world with its tropical flavors and citrus and tea-like character. Everyone loves good coffee, and we sincerely hope Geisha keeps spreading to other countries.

Maragogipe

Maragogipe is considered a natural genetic mutation of Typica, first discovered near the town of Maragogipe in Brazil's Bahia region. It is famous for enormous beans and is also a parent variety of Pacamara.

Mundo Novo

Mundo Novo is a natural hybrid of Bourbon and Typica that first appeared in the 1940s and remains widely welcomed across Latin American producing countries. Its disease resistance and yield both surpass Bourbon and Typica, at the cost of some flavor complexity.

Pacamara

Pacamara was cultivated in El Salvador in the late 1950s, a hybrid of Pacas and Maragogipe, and is now highly sought after. Like Maragogipe it is huge, usually twice the size of standard Bourbon beans, but its yield is average. Its quality is widely acclaimed: clean acidity and refreshing floral notes that grow even better at higher altitudes.

Pacas

El Salvador discovered Pacas, a natural genetic mutation of Bourbon, in 1949. Its compact plant tolerates relatively low-altitude conditions, which is why breeders crossed it with Maragogipe, whose traits run in the opposite direction.

Tekisik

The Salvadoran Coffee Research Institute (ISIC) began artificial selection of Bourbon plants in 1949, and after 28 years of effort finally bred the dwarf Tekisik variety in 1977, also known as "Improved Bourbon." Tekisik yields relatively little, but the long breeding process gave it a very charming complexity and a full mouthfeel. Farmers in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala highly recommend the variety as a way to raise coffee quality.

SL-28

The "SL" in SL-28 stands for Scott Laboratories, a company hired by the Kenyan government from the 1930s to identify the local varieties best suited to large-scale cultivation. SL-28, partly thanks to its intense blackcurrant flavor, has become a benchmark variety in several of Kenya's growing regions and suits high-altitude planting.

SL-34

SL-34 is slightly behind its "older sister" SL-28 in quality (which is not to say it's poor), but it also shows prominent acidity and berry flavors. Compared with SL-28, SL-34 performs better at lower altitudes, and when planted high it withstands heavy rain better, so growers mostly plant it at altitude. Both SL-28 and SL-34, however, are highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Villa Sarchi

This dwarf variety is a genetic mutation of Bourbon first discovered in the town of Sarchí, Costa Rica. Its branches meet the trunk at steep angles, and among the ordinary green leaves its foliage takes on an interesting bronze tone. Villa Sarchi has excellent fruit flavors, high yield, and acceptable disease resistance.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Want to taste these variety differences in the cup? FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon shows what Bourbon does best: grown in the famous Cerrado region known for high-quality beans and semi-washed (pulped natural) processed, at a medium roast it releases rich aromas of creamed peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut, a rounded, low-acid cup with only a light bitter touch, superb as pour-over, moka pot, espresso (SOE), siphon, or French press, and equally good as a blend base. For a Yellow Bourbon, the rare mutation of Red Bourbon with cleaner fruit character, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate from the Mogiana region, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the cherries, offers a sugarcane sweetness you won't find in other origins alongside fruit and chocolate notes, brewed as pour-over, moka pot, or home espresso. And because Brazilian beans' low acidity, balance, and friendly price make them the first choice for many espresso blends, FrontStreet Coffee's espresso series, the crema-rich Classic Blend, the nut-forward Premium Blend, the balanced Black Cocoa Blend favored by baristas, and the cafe-oriented Commercial Blend, all contain Brazilian components that contribute chocolate and cream aromas with gentle sweet-sour-bitter balance and steadier extraction. Brew any of them with a gentle, segmented pour-over technique to taste how far variety alone can change the cup.