FrontStreet Coffee - Bourbon Variety Introduction

The Origin of Bourbon

In 1711, a native Arabica coffee tree was first discovered in Saint Paul on Bourbon Island, at an altitude of over 600 meters. Its ripe fruit was brown rather than red, and it was called brown-fruit coffee at the time. After tasting, however, it proved too bitter and had no market. So in 1715 the French brought 60 Mocha round coffee plants from Yemen to replace it. To distinguish it from the "Typica long bean" of the Dutch, who competed fiercely with them in the coffee market, it was named "Bourbon round bean" or "green-top Bourbon" because its young top leaves were green rather than the brown of Typica. From there it developed into today's Bourbon.

Characteristics of Bourbon

Bourbon is a coffee variety belonging to a branch of the Arabica species. It is named for the color of the ripe fruit, which gives us red, yellow, orange and pink Bourbon. Orange Bourbon has a relatively low yield, while pink Bourbon is extremely rare.

The Name's Origin

The name Bourbon comes from "Réunion Island." The French tried to introduce coffee from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now Réunion Island) three times, in 1708, 1715 and 1718; only the plants from the second and third attempts survived and reproduced.

Bourbon in Africa

In 1841, a French missionary established a church on Réunion Island. After leaving, he traveled to several African countries, including Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, Saint Augustine and Bura, to found new churches, planting coffee from Réunion at each one. From that point on, Bourbon coffee also existed on the African continent.

Yield and Quality

The ripe fruit of Bourbon is mostly red, with yellow and orange varieties as well. Bourbon's yield is about 20% to 30% higher than Typica, but it bears fruit only once every two years, so its yield is very low — though the quality is excellent.

Knowledge Point

The two ancient varieties, Typica and Bourbon, have reproduced in the different soils and waters of the New World for three hundred years, giving rise to thousands of varieties and hybrids.

About FrontStreet Coffee

In short, FrontStreet Coffee is a specialized coffee research center, willing to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to let more friends fall in love with coffee. There are also 3 low-discount coffee activities every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more friends to drink the best coffee at the lowest price, which has been FrontStreet Coffee's purpose for the past 6 years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Nowhere is Bourbon grown with more conviction than Brazil, and the clearest way to taste what the variety can do is FrontStreet Coffee's Queen Estate. The estate sits in Mogiana, close to South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the cherry and builds a full aroma. The variety here is the rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon with an even cleaner fruit character. Whether you brew it as a pour-over, in a moka pot or on a home espresso machine, it shows a sugarcane-like clarity that other origins rarely match, alongside fruit and chocolate notes.

For an even more straightforward expression of red Bourbon, FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado semi-washed single origin is a classic Brazilian everyday bean. From the well-known Cerrado region, it is a red Bourbon roasted medium to bring out creamy peanut, toast, caramel and hazelnut — round and full, low in acidity, with a light bitterness, and just as good in a pour-over as in a moka pot, espresso, siphon or French press. If you would like to see Bourbon through the lens of a different continent, FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia Sidra, related to the Ethiopian heirloom line, adds floral, tropical fruit, grape, candied fruit and passion fruit over a juice-like body.