Appearance Characteristics of Bourbon Coffee Beans - One of the Oldest Arabica Coffee Varieties

FrontStreet Coffee - Bourbon Variety Introduction

There are hundreds of coffee varieties, and Arabica accounts for roughly 70% of the world's coffee production. Although Arabica is more vulnerable to pests and disease than Robusta, its flavor and aroma win over most consumers.

Producers plant a given crop for many reasons: yield, flavor expression, local growing conditions, and more. Being able to identify coffee varieties matters, because it prevents confusion between lots at harvest and during processing. If two or more lots of beans are mixed together, the flavors blur and cupping scores come in lower than expected.

What Is Bourbon Coffee?

Put simply, Bourbon coffee was first cultivated on Reunion Island, which was known as Bourbon Island before 1789. The Bourbon variety is a sub-species that mutated from Typica, and together with Typica it belongs to the oldest coffee varieties still in existence.

Bourbon's raw beans are relatively round and small. The best-known members of the family today are Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon, and the group has many more rich variants, including Caturra, Pacas, and Laurina.

Characteristics of Bourbon

Bourbon shares Typica's tall stature and conical shape, but it carries more secondary branches, so the tree looks denser. Its trunk and branches are thicker, making it more robust than Typica yet relatively less flexible. Because the branches are so densely packed, Bourbon can produce roughly 30% more coffee cherries than Typica.

Bourbon leaves are wider than Typica's, with a rougher texture and wavy edges. Young leaves are usually green, though they sometimes show bronze tips. The cherries are round and ripen to a range of colors, such as red, orange, or yellow, with the color staying consistent on any single plant.

Knowledge Point

Bourbon has many variants, and among them Laurina is nearly extinct, having been reintroduced only in recent years. It is a low-caffeine bean of exceptional quality.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mission

In short, FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research workshop dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation to help more people fall in love with coffee. Every month we hold three low-discount coffee events, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more friends to enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price. That has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To taste the Bourbon family at its most approachable, start with FrontStreet's Brazil Queen Estate. It is one of the earliest discovered Yellow Bourbon coffees, and a Yellow Bourbon is simply a Bourbon whose cherries ripen to an orange-yellow color after the red-fruited original threw off a genetic mutation. Expect creamy, peanut, toasted bread, and sugarcane aromas, dense and clean sweetness, and easy handling as pour-over, moka pot, or espresso.

If you are drawn to Bourbon's sibling Typica, FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 is the classic expression. Typica is one of the archetypal Arabica varieties, balanced and gentle, with a soft acidity that never bites and a full, clean aroma. This lot is grown in Jamaica's certified Blue Mountain range and roasted medium-dark, unfolding layers of nuts, dark chocolate, cream, and caramel. It is a calm, dependable coffee that suits almost any palate.