Introduction to Common Coffee Bean Varieties - Flavor Profiles of Bourbon and Typica

FrontStreet Coffee - A Brief Comparison Between Bourbon and Typica

The main coffee varieties consumed worldwide are Arabica and Robusta. As the common bean used in the specialty coffee market, Arabica represents the highest value in coffee. From the perspective of coffee culture and genetics, both Bourbon and Typica are the two most important branches of Arabica coffee, making them the preferred beans for specialty coffee!

Typica Coffee

Typica is a sub-variety of Arabica coffee, naturally mutated through genetic variation. It originally grew in Martinique. Currently, the main coffee growing areas for Typica include Central America, Jamaica, the Kona region of Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor. To obtain higher coffee yields from high-quality Typica, the Typica coffee variety is typically crossbred with other species. Typica coffee is renowned for its sweetness, and some of the world's finest coffees come from the Typica coffee variety family, including Blue Mountain, Sumatra, and Kona.

Typica green beans have slightly upturned ends and an oval shape. When viewed from the side, the beans appear flat and thin. Regardless of the altitude differences in growing regions, the thickness variation on the side of the green beans remains minimal.

Unlike other coffee varieties, Typica coffee fruits are cone-shaped. Typica coffee has extremely high quality and is therefore very popular among plantations worldwide. When properly cultivated, Typica coffee offers high sweetness, pure flavor, and pleasant acidity. Yunnan Typica exhibits Asian herbaceous plant aromas, lively and bright acidity, mouth-watering effects on both cheeks, soft acidity, good balance of richness, rich layers, with distinct black chocolate, honey, and sucrose flavors in the aftertaste. After complete cooling, it reveals brown sugar flavors.

Bourbon Variety

Bourbon originated from Ethiopia as a natural mutation of Arabica. It originally appeared on Réunion Island and was first recorded in 1947. The main coffee growing areas for Bourbon include Burundi, Rwanda, and South America. Although genetically similar to the Typica variety, Bourbon is stronger than Typica, has higher yields, lower caffeine content but shorter plants. However, it has very low disease resistance and is more susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Bourbon is a sub-species produced by mutation from Typica Arabica. Like Typica, it belongs to the oldest existing coffee varieties. When the green fruits mature, they present a bright red color.

For Red Bourbon generally, after coffee trees flower and bear fruit, the color changes of coffee fruits follow this pattern: green > light yellow > light orange > mature red > darker red when fully ripe. Therefore, some people call it "Red Bourbon." In fact, Red Bourbon is what we generally refer to as Bourbon. Bourbon grown at high altitudes typically has better aroma and brighter acidity, sometimes even exhibiting flavors similar to red wine.

In simpler terms, Bourbon is a coffee tree variety belonging to a branch of the Arabica species. It generally bears red fruits, called Red Bourbon. In addition, there are Yellow Bourbon and Orange Bourbon. Yellow Bourbon has relatively lower yields but better quality.

Knowledge Expansion

Java produces refined aromatic coffee with relatively low acidity, delicate mouthfeel, and good balance. The aroma and acidity of Java coffee surpass those from Sumatra and Sulawesi islands.

Conclusion

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research establishment that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three coffee promotion events with significant discounts every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible prices. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years!

Important Notice :

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