What is Yellow Bourbon in the Arabica species? What is its relationship with Red Bourbon and Typica?

The Colorful World of Coffee: Yellow Bourbon

As everyone knows, coffee beans are the kernels of coffee fruits. After the fruits ripen, coffee farmers harvest them and extract the beans for post-processing. The most striking characteristic of most ripe coffee fruits is their bright red appearance, which earned them a delicious alias: coffee cherries.

That is right, "red" is the mark of most mature coffee fruits. A remaining few, however, have completely different colors, and the protagonist of this article is one of those differently colored fruits: Yellow Bourbon.

The History of Yellow Bourbon

Starting in the 18th century, Brazil had already begun its coffee cultivation industry, with Typica as the main variety planted at the time. By the mid-19th century, leaf rust swept across the globe, and Brazil's coffee industry was naturally affected. Because Brazilian Typica at the time was genetically uniform, almost all of it was wiped out after the rust attack. Brazil therefore decided to introduce the round-bodied Bourbon from Bourbon Island, which had stronger disease resistance, to reduce the damage. Since Brazil already had over a hundred years of coffee-growing experience, cultivating Bourbon went smoothly, and it quickly spread throughout the country.

Then one day in 1930, people discovered a Bourbon plant bearing special fruits in a Bourbon plantation in Pedralva. Unlike other Bourbons that turn from green to red when ripe, it was adorned in bright yellow, and its maturation was faster than conventional Bourbon varieties. With those two striking traits it became the standout of the plantation at the time: while the others were still green, it had already turned yellow. Unsurprisingly, its eye-catching appearance was spotted immediately, and it was named Yellow Bourbon, with the scientific name "Bourbon Amarello." All yellow variants of the Arabica species are given the scientific name Amarello.

The Excellence of Yellow Bourbon

By 1942, Brazilian agricultural research officially began studying Yellow Bourbon. The results showed that it was a natural hybrid of Bourbon and Yellow Botucatu. Yellow Botucatu is a mutant variety of Typica, also with a yellow appearance; because there were no records of it when it was discovered in 1871, it was named Yellow Botucatu. Yellow Bourbon is not only special in color but outstanding in flavor. In Brazil's Cup of Excellence competition, it took the top three positions for two consecutive years. In the words of Professor Han Huaizong, it "instantly became the rising star in the specialty coffee industry." Indeed, in the following years Yellow Bourbon achieved excellent results in various competitions, once becoming synonymous with Brazilian specialty coffee.

Challenges and Distinction

It should be known, however, that the yield of Yellow Bourbon is much lower than conventional Bourbon varieties. It is also physically fragile, unable to withstand wind and rain, and unable to handle the heavy impact of leaf rust, so its cultivation difficulty is often much higher than conventional Bourbon. That is why, today, its production in Brazil does not even reach 1 percent. By the way, because coffee developed vigorously in later periods, more and more differently colored Bourbon varieties appeared around the world. To distinguish the regular Bourbon dressed in red from them, conventional Bourbon gained an additional alias: Red Bourbon.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

As the largest coffee-producing country, Brazil grows a huge range of coffee, with moderate acidity and an excellent balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body, which makes it very well suited to medium roasting. If you want a first taste of the Brazilian profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic single origin: Cerrado is a well-known local region prized for high-quality beans, and this one uses the common South American Red Bourbon variety. Medium-roasted, it shows rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a rounded body, low acidity, and a light bitterness, and it works for pour-over as well as Moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press.

For the rare cultivar this article is about, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate uses the Yellow Bourbon variety, grown in Mogiana near Minas Gerais, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the fruit absorb nutrients and develop a full aroma. A single-gene mutation of Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon gives a cleaner fruit note, and whether brewed by pour-over, Moka pot, or home espresso machine, the Queen Estate shows a sugarcane sweetness that other regions do not have, along with fruit and chocolate flavors.

Brazil's low-acid, balanced profile and friendly price also make it the first choice for many Italian-style recipes. The crema-rich Classic Blend, the nutty Premium Blend, the balanced Dark Cocoa Blend recommended by many baristas, and FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend made for coffee shops all contain Brazilian beans, which contribute chocolate and cream aromas, a soft sweet-sour-bitter taste, and a balanced character that helps keep extraction stable.