Coffee Bean Varieties and Flavors: Typica Coffee Bean Characteristics with Unique Copper Leaves, High Sweetness, and Pleasant Acidity

FrontStreet Coffee - An Introduction to the Typica Variety

Typica Coffee

The Arabica species originated on the Abyssinian Plateau in Ethiopia, now known as the Ethiopian Plateau. It was first used mainly as medicine, and the habit of roasting it for drinking took hold in the 13th century. In the 16th century it reached Europe by way of the Arab world, and from there it became a beverage loved around the globe.

Among all coffee, Arabica varieties account for 75%-80%. Their excellent flavor and aroma make them the only species among the native coffees that can be consumed on its own. Their resistance to drought, frost, pests and disease, however, is extremely low, and they are especially vulnerable to coffee's natural enemy - leaf rust disease.

Arabica coffee is produced mainly in South America (excluding parts of Argentina and Brazil), Central America, Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia and other East African countries) and Asia (including parts of Yemen, India and Papua New Guinea).

Considered the original Arabica variety, Typica is the most ancient coffee variety. Almost all Arabica coffee circulating in the market descends from Typica. Because of its low resistance to pests and disease, its limited growing range and the variety improvements that followed, it is now very hard to find. Typica has a rich aroma and a slightly acidic taste.

Typica is the most widely known coffee variety in the world. The Dutch once planted it in Indonesia and the French brought it to the Caribbean, from where it spread across Central and South America. Typica yields are relatively small and it is extremely susceptible to leaf rust, so most plantations do not grow it exclusively. Its quality, however, is extremely high, which makes it popular with growers worldwide. When properly cultivated, Typica has high sweetness, a pure flavor and pleasant acidity, and it is very well liked in the market.

Knowledge point: Bourbon coffee is a variety that arose from a sudden mutation after Arabica coffee was introduced from Yemen to the island of Bourbon.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Typica is one of the oldest heirloom Arabica lines, and its close relatives in the Bourbon family are a fine way to taste what those old genetics can do. If you simply want a first impression of Brazilian terroir, choose FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon, a very classic Brazilian single origin. Cerrado is a well-known local region celebrated for high-quality beans, and this lot is the common red Bourbon of South America. Medium roasted, it shows rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut, with a rounded body, low acidity and a light bitter note - and it is flexible enough for pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon or French press.

For something rarer, FrontStreet Brazil Queen's Estate is a Yellow Bourbon from Mogiana. This mutation of Red Bourbon is known for a cleaner fruit character and a sugarcane sweetness found in no other region, along with fruit and chocolate notes. Grown in the fertile red volcanic soil near South Minas, medium roasted and brewed as pour-over, moka pot or home espresso machine, it makes a gentle, sweet counterpoint to the classic red Bourbon cup.