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

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to the 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, which leaves it relatively weak in disease resistance, its yield is higher than Bourbon. Despite being discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not well suited to growing there and was therefore never cultivated on a large scale in the country. Instead, it became widely popular in Central and South America, with Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua cultivating it extensively.

Caturra is one of the varieties that appears most often among American coffee beans. Its shorter plant height makes harvesting more convenient for coffee farmers, and it offers better productivity than Bourbon.

During the 1970s, when coffee prices surged dramatically, farmers switched to 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, and 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 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. 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 description that fits well.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Caturra's clean acidity and lighter body make it a good introduction to Brazil, and FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a fine companion to it. A pulped natural single origin from the well-known Cerrado region, medium roasted, it brings cream peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut aromas with a round, low-acid body and a light bitterness, and it works in a pour-over, a moka pot, an SOE, a siphon or a French press. To see how the Bourbon family differs when it mutates toward yellow fruit, FrontStreet Brazil Queen's Estate Yellow Bourbon, grown in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil, adds a sugarcane sweetness plus fruit and chocolate notes.