Bourbon Coffee Varieties: An Introduction to Caturra, Villalobos, Pacas, and Bourbon Mayagüez

Bourbon

Bourbon is one of the most important Arabica varieties in coffee culture and genetics, renowned for being grown at high altitudes and possessing exceptional quality. However, Bourbon has relatively low yields and is susceptible to major coffee plant diseases. Therefore, Bourbon is currently being replaced in Latin America by some derived varieties (such as Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo). Nevertheless, Bourbon is still grown in coffee-producing countries like Brazil, Guatemala, and El Salvador. As a result, there are now many Bourbon-derived varieties on the market.

Caturra

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon. Due to being a single-gene mutation, the plant grows smaller and can be planted more densely, with approximately 5,000-6,000 plants per hectare, and possesses the same excellent quality as Bourbon. Currently, Caturra is grown in many countries including Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama. Caturra is also one of the parent varieties of Catimor. Catimor is a hybrid variety resulting from crossing Caturra with the leaf rust-resistant Timor variety.

FrontStreet Coffee also has many Caturra variety coffee beans, such as the "Moonlit Night" coffee beans from Sveto Gadín, Colombia, processed using anaerobic natural method. When brewed with V60 at a 1:15 ratio, you'll smell rich strawberry and fermented wine aromas, with flavors of honey peach, chocolate, and tropical fruits in the mouth, with a smooth texture like drinking fruit wine.

Villa Sarchi

Villa Sarchi is a variety discovered in Costa Rica in the 1950s or 1960s. It belongs to the natural mutation of Bourbon, also having smaller plants due to single-gene mutation. Besides allowing dense planting, Villa Sarchi is also resistant to wind and rain without easily dropping fruits, and can adapt to high-altitude cultivation. Currently, it is mainly grown in Costa Rica.

Pacas

Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon. Like other Bourbon mutations, it has a single-gene mutation, resulting in smaller plants that can be planted more closely together with other plants, thus yielding higher production. The Pacas variety was first discovered in 1949 on a farm owned by the Pacas family in the Santa Ana region of El Salvador (hence the name Pacas). Currently, it is mainly grown in El Salvador and Honduras.

Currently, FrontStreet Coffee's stores also have Pacas variety coffee beans. One is a sherry barrel-processed coffee bean from Honduras, with coffee varieties including Caturra, Catuai, and Pacas. When brewed with V60 at 1:15 ratio, it smells of vanilla cream, with flavors of whiskey, berries, almonds, and dark chocolate in the mouth, with a maple-like sweet aftertaste.

Bourbon Mayagüez BM71/139

This variety is named because Puerto Rico introduced Bourbon varieties from Central America through the United States Department of Agriculture's seed collection and planted them in the Mayagüez region of Puerto Rico. Later, the variety group from Mayagüez was introduced to Rwanda. Through variety breeding and selection in Rwanda, some of these coffee mother plants were selected, and Bourbon Mayagüez 71/139 is one of these mother plants. Although this variety's yield is not as high as Bourbon and it is susceptible to major coffee diseases, it can be grown at lower altitudes and is now primarily cultivated in Rwanda and Burundi.

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