Coffee Bean Origins and Detailed Introduction - Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans with Basic Characteristics Tart Like Small Lemon

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Yellow Bourbon Coffee Variety

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The Origin of Brazilian Yellow Bourbon

As a coffee variety, Yellow Bourbon has been cultivated on this land for nearly 90 years.

By the 1850s, Brazil had already become a major global coffee producer. However, coffee farmers at that time were heavily dependent on the Typica variety introduced in the 1720s. Due to Typica's limited yield, this led to reduced exports. A Brazilian envoy traveled to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, to obtain seeds of the Red Bourbon variety. By the 1870s, Red Bourbon had become a common and famous coffee variety in many Brazilian coffee houses.

However, something unusual occurred in 1871. According to many records, a mutant variety of Typica appeared in the city of Botucatu, São Paulo state. This variety produced yellow fruit, which had never been seen before in Brazil. Although this yellow mutant (then called Yellow Botucatu) did not have particularly high yields, it was adopted by many farmers for its peculiar fruit color. Notably, some researchers believe that Yellow Bourbon originated from a natural mutation of Red Bourbon.

It is said that the first Yellow Bourbon appeared in 1930 on a Red Bourbon farm near the city of Pederneiras (SP) - many believe this was the result of natural breeding between Red Bourbon and Yellow Botucatu. Apart from the yellow berries, this plant was very similar to Red Bourbon and proved to have the same or even higher yields.

This phenomenon caught the attention of researchers at the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC), including Carlos Arnaldo Krug, who conducted the first formal study of Yellow Bourbon in 1942. Over the next three years, at a research area in Jau (SP), the IAC planted and studied 30 lineages of this variety.

Throughout the 1950s, the most promising Yellow Bourbon varieties were given the code "IAC J" and sold to farmers. In 1951, Professor J.E.T. Mendes from the same institute studied the yields of varieties cultivated at that time: Typica, Yellow Botucatu, Sumatra, Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Maragogipe, proving that Yellow Bourbon had the highest yield.

Despite this, Yellow Bourbon never dominated the Brazilian coffee market in the subsequent decades. Although commercially cultivated, its application was not widespread. Moreover, due to its distinctive yellow color, it was often regarded as a novelty plant.

Yellow Bourbon can grow up to 2.8 meters tall and has a relatively rapid maturation period. Among the 30 varieties studied in 1945, 7 are now commercially cultivated in Brazil.

Due to its low to medium yield and relative susceptibility to coffee leaf rust, Yellow Bourbon cultivation may require more attention than other varieties. Yellow Bourbon typically shows high-quality potential when harvested and processed at elevations above 1000 meters where post-harvest handling is well-executed.

The flavor characteristics of Yellow Bourbon are quite distinct in cupping, including its sweetness, rich aroma, and very pronounced citrus acidity. Ripe fruits and raisins are other common flavors. Researchers have recently discovered an inseparable relationship between sucrose content, the presence of certain fatty acids and organic acids, and the quality of Yellow Bourbon. However, so far, no significant connection has been found between luteolin (the source of the fruit's yellow color) and coffee quality.

In Brief

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