Types of Brazilian Coffee: Which Varieties Are Renowned and What Is Yellow Bourbon - Is It a Color Mutation of the Bourbon Variety?

Introduction to FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Yellow Bourbon

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In 1720, a variety of Arabica coffee beans - the Typica species - was introduced to Brazil for cultivation. By the 1850s, Brazil had already become the world's major coffee-producing country. Given the limited yield of Typica beans and declining export potential, Brazilians traveled to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean to collect a Red Bourbon bean variety. By the 1870s, Red Bourbon had become Brazil's main coffee variety. This situation changed strangely in 1871.

In Botucatu city, São Paulo state, a coffee tree surprisingly bore yellow berries. Researchers believed this was a natural mutation of the Red Bourbon variety, but the yield of these yellow fruits was not high. It wasn't until the 1930s that the true Yellow Bourbon was successfully cultivated and produced yields much higher than the Red Bourbon variety. For a time, these yellow berries attracted the attention of staff at the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC) in Brazil, who formally began researching them. IAC cultivated 30 lineages of this variety and promoted these newly cultivated Yellow Bourbon varieties throughout Brazil.

Yellow Bourbon, with yellow fruits when ripe, was initially discovered in Brazil and currently grows mainly in Brazil. It is generally believed to have mutated from the hybridization of the red-fruited Bourbon variety and a Typica variant called "Amerelo de Botocatu" that bears yellow fruits.

In the eyes of many coffee enthusiasts, although Brazil produces large quantities of coffee beans, the quality is considered average. However, in recent years, Brazil, as the world's leading coffee producer, has increasingly focused on cultivating specialty beans. Therefore, high-quality specialty Yellow Bourbon has emerged as a result!

Yellow Bourbon is characterized by trees reaching 2.8 meters in height and early maturity. Currently, among the 30 varieties, 17 have achieved commercial cultivation. Due to its sensitivity to coffee leaf rust, Yellow Bourbon cultivation requires more care than other varieties. When grown at altitudes of 1000 meters or higher, if the harvesting and processing are done well, Yellow Bourbon typically exhibits excellent quality.

The sensory characteristics of Yellow Bourbon are very distinct in the cup, primarily its prominent sweetness, remarkable aroma, and very noticeable citric acidity. Ripe fruits and raisins are the main flavor notes of Yellow Bourbon.

Knowledge Point

Coffee grading in most coffee-producing countries is not based on a single standard, but rather on multiple criteria that examine defect rates, must ensure bean size uniformity, and must meet certain altitude requirements to measure bean quality.

From FrontStreet Coffee

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research center, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, we hold three coffee events with deep discounts because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years!

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