Natural Low-Caffeine Coffee Varieties - Is Laurina Bourbon Delicious with Mellow Aroma and Gentle Sweetness

Welcome to our coffee knowledge exchange. This article is part of an ongoing series on coffee beans, origins, and brewing.

FrontStreet Coffee - Laurina Coffee Introduction

The Laurina variety was first discovered on the island of Réunion. Because of the plant's inherent fragility, it nearly became extinct over the years. Laurina is a naturally low-caffeine variety. In botany, caffeine strengthens a plant's resistance to pests and disease. A naturally low caffeine content means the plants are more susceptible to illness, which increases the difficulty of cultivation. Laurina plants are small and conical, with small, pointed beans, which is why Laurina is also known as "Bourbon Pointu" (Pointed Bourbon).

The bean originates from Réunion Island, a small island of only 2,512 square kilometers located between Madagascar and Mauritius. It was discovered by the Portuguese in 1513, occupied by France in 1643, and named Bourbon Island after the French royal House of Bourbon. It became a French colony in 1767 and remained so until after the French Revolution of 1848, when the restored Bourbon dynasty fell and the island was renamed Réunion.

The first coffee trees on Réunion arrived in 1715 from the port of Mocha in Yemen, numbering only 40 trees. Unfortunately, only 2 survived. From 1719 to 1723 the government imposed strict measures, legislating that island residents had to plant 200 Mocha coffee trees every year, and anyone who damaged a coffee tree would be executed. At the time the island was still called Bourbon Island, so the coffee produced there naturally took that name.

Laurina is a variant that developed on Réunion Island. Normal Bourbon varieties have short, round beans, but in 1810 a Bourbon Island coffee farmer named Leroy discovered a dwarf coffee plant in his garden with smaller leaves resembling bay leaves and more pointed, slender beans. Its yield was lower than that of typical Bourbon varieties. Botanists at the time confirmed it was a new variety and named it "Leroy" after its discoverer. Because both ends of the bean are very pointed, it also acquired the common name "Pointed Bourbon."

It is a naturally semi-decaffeinated coffee, with a caffeine content only half that of regular Arabica. Common Arabica varieties contain about 1.2% caffeine, while Pointed Bourbon contains only 0.6%, yet its aroma and richness remain uncompromised, with abundant fruity notes.

Knowledge point: Another characteristic of Pointed Bourbon is its low yield, far below that of other coffee varieties. It is extremely susceptible to disturbances from the external environment and to disease. For this reason, in 1950 the farmers of Bourbon Island abandoned coffee cultivation.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Laurina's gentle sweetness and naturally low caffeine are what appeal to you, FrontStreet Coffee's high-sweetness selection is the next thing to try. The FrontStreet Costa Rica Black Honey is a high-altitude single origin famous for its black honey process: because it keeps the most complete mucilage and ferments the deepest, it brews sweet and floral, with grape, sweet orange, and liqueur-chocolate notes.

For a richer, more caramelized sweetness, the FrontStreet Queen's Estate from Brazil is a medium roast that opens with roasted peanut and dark chocolate before softening into a long, sweet finish — great as pour-over or, on a moka pot or espresso machine, thick and syrupy in an Americano or latte. And if you love complex fruit sweetness, the FrontStreet Sidra from Finca La Divisoria shows grape, apricot, passion fruit, and fruity candy notes with a light chocolate and spice sweetness.