Introduction to Coffee Varieties at Costa Rica's Small Candle Estate - Characteristics of Caturra and Catuai Hybrid Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee offers a Costa Rican Geisha coffee from the La Candela estate. For those interested in the story of La Candela estate, you can find our previously published articles about it.

Although FrontStreet Coffee only carries the Geisha variety from La Candela estate, the estate actually produces other coffee varieties as well. Today, FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce you to the other coffee bean varieties from La Candela estate.

Caturra

The Caturra coffee variety was developed by Alcides Carvalho at the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC) in São Paulo state, Brazil.

In 1937, the IAC received seed samples of genetic material from the border region between Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states. These included both red Caturra and yellow Caturra varieties. Both varieties originated from natural mutations of Bourbon, which was originally a tall coffee shrub discovered in Serra do Caparaó, now a mountainous national park northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

These are the main agronomic characteristics of the red and yellow Caturra varieties:

1. It has a compact appearance with reduced internode, leaf, and lateral branch lengths, giving the coffee bush a smaller stature.
2. This was the first naturally occurring coffee mutation discovered that combined small size with high productivity.
3. Their cup quality is excellent, as their genetic composition is nearly 100% Bourbon.
4. When grown under Brazilian conditions, Caturra shows low cold resistance and lacks vigor after several harvests, leading to premature decline in yield.

Catuai

A hybrid between the high-yielding Mundo Novo and compact Caturra, created by the Instituto Agronomico (IAC) in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. Compared to Bourbon, this variety is more productive, partly due to its small size, which allows plants to be spaced closely together; it can be planted at nearly double the density. The plant's shape makes it relatively easy to apply pest and disease treatments. Its main characteristics are vigorous growth but low height; it is not as compact as Caturra. It is highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Catuai derives from the Guarani term "multo mom," meaning "very good." Today, it is considered to have good but not exceptional cup quality. It exists in both yellow and red fruit varieties, with many selections having been made in different countries since. The variety was created in 1949 through a cross between yellow Caturra and Mundo Novo, initially called H-2077. After undergoing pedigree selection (selecting individual plants through successive generations), the variety was released in Brazil in 1972 and has been widely planted there. It was first introduced in Honduras in 1979 and tested by the Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFÉ). After IHCAFÉ selected two planting lines, it was commercially released in 1983. Today in Honduras, Catuai accounts for nearly half of all Arabica coffee planted. IHCAFÉ researchers are actively seeking breeding opportunities with Catuai, including creating hybrid crosses between Catuai and Timor hybrid lines.

It also has significant economic importance in Costa Rica, where yellow fruit Catuai was introduced in 1985, and its descendants have spread widely throughout the country. It was introduced to Guatemala in 1970; currently, about 20% of the country's production is Catuai. Its presence in other Central American countries is negligible.

Catuai's short stature allows for dense planting and more efficient harvesting, which contributed to the intensification of full-sun coffee cultivation throughout Central America in the 1970s and 1980s.

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