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Introduction to the Ancient Variety Sudan Rume: History, Origin, and Flavor Characteristics of Sudan Rume Coffee Beans

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, At the 2015 World Barista Championship (WBC), Australian competitor Sasa Sestic won the championship with a Sudan Rume coffee featuring elegant floral notes, juice-like sweetness, and lemongrass aroma, bringing this extremely low-production and little-known variety into the public spotlight.

At the 2015 World Barista Championship (WBC), Australian competitor Sasa Sestic won the championship with a Sudan Rume coffee that featured delicate floral aromas, sweet fruit juice, and lemongrass notes. This victory brought this extremely low-production and low-recognition variety into the public eye.

Like FrontStreet Coffee, many enthusiasts can glean some clues from the name of this variety. As its name suggests, Sudan Rume is an indigenous coffee variety that originally grew on the African continent, specifically in the Boma Plateau in southeastern Sudan, near the Rume Valley on the western border of Ethiopia, which is now within Boma National Park in South Sudan. Hence, it was named Sudan Rume, commonly translated as "Rume Sudan" or "Sudan Rume" in Chinese.

Before the 1940s, Sudan Rume was an unnamed natural wild variety growing in the tropical forests of Africa, bordering western Ethiopia and eastern South Sudan, characterized mainly by its bronze-colored leaves. In 1942, this wild variety was discovered and recorded under the code "RS-510," which can be understood as a wild coffee variety number for hybridization experiments. For the subsequent 50-plus years, Sudan Rume served as a parent in coffee hybridization experiments and was hailed as the most useful Arabica genetic source.

FrontStreet Coffee's research reveals that Sudan Rume coffee plants grow tall and require frequent pruning to maintain a convenient harvesting height, as well as large amounts of phosphorus fertilizer, resulting in higher management costs. Its branch spacing and bud spacing are moderate, with coffee cherries distributed throughout the branches. The fruit produced is medium to long in size, with bean sizes varying, though generally not as small as Ethiopian beans. Like Geisha, Sudan Rume has very low yields, making large-scale commercial cultivation difficult. What's available on the market mainly comes from extremely small batches from individual coffee farms in Central and South America.

FrontStreet Coffee once acquired a Sudan Rume coffee from Costa Rica's Coffea diversa Garden, processed using the traditional washed method. When brewed, it displayed bright acidity reminiscent of lemon, plum, and green apple. The juice-like sensation was very apparent upon entry, while the aftertaste contained hints of oolong tea and sucrose sweetness, creating a rich yet clean mouthfeel.

Due to its excellent flavor profile and possession of certain disease-resistant genes, especially against Coffee Berry Disease (CBD), Sudan Rume is more commonly used as a breeding variety rather than for standalone production. Researchers cross Sudan Rume with other varieties that carry excellent genetic traits, typically resulting in new varieties with good flavor, strong disease resistance, and better yields. Many well-known modern varieties, such as Colombia's National Coffee Research Center's prized creation Castillo and Kenya's quality variety representative SL28, were obtained through this method.

In recent years, with the increasing refinement of coffee cultivation, not only have more farmers begun growing Sudan Rume, but they have also made new discoveries about this rare variety during the cultivation process. A Sudan Rume coffee tree, during its maturity stage, surprisingly produced rare yellow fruits similar to Bourbon. Perhaps in the near future, yellow-fruited Sudan Rume will appear on the market.