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 species. It is said that Typica originated from southern Sudan, gradually flourished in Ethiopia, and was eventually cultivated in Yemen around the 7th century for commercial production. Typica was brought by the Dutch to the East Indies and was also the first coffee variety to arrive in the West Indies—planted by Gabriel de Clieu in 1720 on the French island of Martinique.

The ripe fruit of Typica is red. This variety has relatively low yield and extremely poor disease resistance, but its excellent cupping quality has made it popular worldwide.

Bourbon

Bourbon is the product of a genetic mutation of the original Typica variety on Réunion Island, and is the parent or even grandparent variety of many popular Latin American coffee varieties—including Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, Mundo Novo, among others.

Bourbon remains widely popular in Latin America today and has also traveled across oceans to Africa, taking root in Rwanda and Burundi. Most ripe Bourbon fruits are red, though there are also yellow or orange varieties. Bourbon's yield is about 20-30% higher than Typica; although its flavor is slightly sweeter and sometimes better balanced, these two coffee varieties are overall very similar.

Catimor

Catimor is a hybrid of Caturra and Timor—don't confuse it with Caturra and Catuai. This highly disease-resistant plant has the ability to resist coffee leaf rust, so it was widely planted in Latin American countries in the 1980s. Unfortunately, because Timor (also known as Arabusta) is a natural hybrid of Typica Arabica and Robusta, although the latter can give it disease resistance, the delicate flavor of Arabica varieties is lost.

Catuai

Brazil developed Catuai in the 1950s, which is a hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo, with strong disease resistance and high yield. Similar to Caturra, Catuai's ripe fruits are also naturally divided into red and yellow varieties (I personally prefer the former). Catuai is known for its rich acidity and is a common variety in most Central American countries.

Caturra

In the 1930s, people discovered a genetic mutation of Bourbon near the city of Caturra in Brazil, thus naming it Caturra. Caturra has high yield, and its compact plant is convenient for picking, but if planted in low-altitude environments, this characteristic becomes its own worst enemy—the coffee beans become quite light here, so the weight of the fruit itself can kill the plant. If grown in high-altitude environments (above 1200 meters), both the quality and yield of Caturra coffee are more guaranteed. Caturra is a common variety in the Central American coffee belt.

Geisha

Geisha, with 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 transported to Tanzania, and in the 1950s, they traveled to Costa Rica. These two countries are the only important growing countries for Geisha outside Panama—although Panama is the best ambassador for Geisha.

In Panama's high-altitude growing areas, Geisha has proven to the world that it is an undisputed coffee variety with its tropical flavors, citrus and tea characteristics (translator's note: Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is known as the king of coffee). Everyone loves good coffee, and we sincerely hope Geisha can spread to other countries.

Maragogipe

Maragogipe is considered a natural genetic mutation of Typica, first discovered near Maragogipe in the Bahia region of Brazil (just one character different). Maragogipe is famously large coffee beans and also the parent variety of Pacamara.

Mundo Novo

Mundo Novo (also known as Mundo Novo) is a hybrid of Bourbon and Typica, first appeared in the 1940s, and is still widely welcomed by Latin American coffee-producing countries today. Its disease resistance and yield are both superior to Bourbon and Typica, but at the cost of insufficient flavor complexity.

Pacamara

Pacamara was cultivated by El Salvador in the late 1950s, it is a hybrid of Pacas and Maragogipe, and is now highly sought after. Similar to Maragogipe, although it is large—usually twice the size of standard Bourbon coffee beans—its yield is average. The quality of Pacamara is widely acclaimed, with clean acidity and refreshing floral notes, becoming more advantageous when grown at higher altitudes.

Pacas

El Salvador discovered Pacas, a natural genetic mutation of Bourbon, in 1949. Its compact plant can withstand relatively low-altitude conditions, so people use it to hybridize with Maragogipe, which has opposite characteristics.

Tekisik

The Salvadoran Coffee Research Institute (ISIC) began artificial selection of Bourbon plants in 1949, and after 28 years of unremitting efforts, finally cultivated the dwarf Tekisik variety in 1977, also known as "Improved Bourbon." Although the yield of Tekisik variety is relatively low, the long breeding process makes its complex flavor very charming, with quite a full mouthfeel. Farmers in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala highly recommend this variety, striving to use it to improve their coffee quality.

SL-28

The "SL" in SL-28 stands for Scott Laboratories, a technology company hired by the Kenyan government from the 1930s to identify the most suitable local coffee varieties for large-scale cultivation. SL-28, partly due to its intense blackcurrant flavor, has become a benchmark variety in several growing regions of Kenya. SL-28 is suitable for planting in high-altitude areas.

SL-34

SL-34 is slightly inferior in quality to its "older sister" SL-28 (but this does not mean its quality is poor), but it also has prominent acidity and berry flavors. Compared to SL-28, SL-34 performs better in low-altitude areas (although its number is larger), and if planted in high-altitude areas, its resistance to heavy rain is also superior, so people mostly choose high-altitude planting methods. However, both SL-28 and SL-34 are highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Villa Sarchi

This dwarf variety is a genetic mutation of Bourbon, first discovered in the city of Sarchi, Costa Rica. Its branches form steep angles with the trunk, and among the vast ordinary green leaves, its leaves are interesting bronze. Villa Sarchi has excellent fruit flavors. Additionally, its yield is high, and its disease resistance is acceptable.

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