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Demystifying Bourbon Coffee Varieties: What's the True Color of Bourbon? It's Actually Rainbow-Colored

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange, for more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account cafe_style). FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Bourbon Coffee Varieties. I joked with my roommate, "What variety would you get if you bred your silver chinchilla cat with my orange cat?" He retorted, "Then what variety would you get if I crossbred your Geisha with Yirgacheffe?" Upon reflection, actually "crossbreeding and

FrontStreet Coffee Bourbon Variety Introduction

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Bourbon Coffee Varieties

I joked with my roommate, "What kind of breed would you get if you cross your silver tabby with my orange cat?" He retorted, "Then what variety would you get if you cross your Geisha with Yirgacheffe?"

Upon reflection, I realized that "hybridization and genetic mutation" are actually very common in coffee cultivation. For example, "Pacamara" is a hybrid of Pacas and Maragogype, and "Pink Bourbon" featured in today's article is also a natural hybrid.

For a long time, Bourbon coffee has been considered one of the finest coffees due to its low yield and excellent quality. In our previous issue, we discussed Nicaragua's Pointed Bourbon (Coffee Origin · The Land of Poets), but currently, there are few well-known Bourbon varieties: Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, Orange Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon.

Bourbon is a variety of coffee tree, belonging to a branch of the Arabica species. It is named according to the color of the coffee fruit when ripe, such as red, yellow, orange, and pink Bourbon. Among these, Orange Bourbon has relatively low yield, while Pink Bourbon has extremely low yield.

The name Bourbon originates from "Réunion Island." The French made three attempts to introduce coffee from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now Réunion Island) in 1708, 1715, and 1718. However, it was the second and third transplants that survived and propagated.

In 1841, a French missionary established a church on the French island of Réunion. Later, after leaving Réunion for Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, St. Augustine, Bulha, and several other African countries to establish new churches, he planted coffee from Réunion Island in each church. Since then, "Bourbon coffee" has also been present on the African continent.

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