Is Caturra an Arabica Variety? What Are the Characteristics of Caturra Coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Caturra Coffee Variety

Caturra is a natural variant of the Bourbon Arabica variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is shorter and more compact than Bourbon. Although it inherits Bourbon lineage, making it relatively weak in disease resistance, its yield is higher than Bourbon. Despite being discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not well-suited for growing there and therefore wasn't cultivated on a large scale in Brazil. Instead, it became widely popular in Central and South America, with countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua extensively cultivating Caturra.

The Caturra variety can be said to be one of the most frequently appearing among American coffee beans. This Bourbon variant was discovered in Brazil in 1937, offering better productivity and disease resistance than Bourbon varieties, plus its shorter plant height makes it more convenient for coffee farmers to harvest.

However, during the 1970s when coffee prices surged dramatically, farmers switched to cultivating Caturra to increase yields. With strong promotion from Brazilian and Colombian authorities, the results were fruitful. Farmers' acceptance of Caturra meant a major transformation in cultivation techniques. Brazil and Colombia adopted high-yield, high-density, sun-exposed cultivation methods. By 1990, one million hectares could harvest 14 million bags of coffee beans, increasing productivity by 60%. No wonder the high-yield, high-quality Caturra has become a variety that various producing countries rely on today.

Caturra is suitable for cultivation from low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1700 meters, showing strong altitude adaptability. However, the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, though productivity decreases accordingly. Some academics refer to Caturra as the intensive, sun-exposed version of Bourbon - a truly apt description.

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