Detailed Guide to Common Coffee Varieties from Global Growing Regions (Part 1)

There are numerous varieties of coffee beans, with the most commonly known being Arabica. In fact, coffee beans are the seeds of the coffee tree fruit, which are mainly divided into three major categories: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica.

Currently, the world's specialty coffees are predominantly Arabica varieties. With the development of the coffee industry, continuous transplantation, mutation, and hybridization have given rise to many varieties. Today, Typica and Bourbon are the most genetically important Arabica varieties in the world, as many coffee varieties have evolved from these two.

Typica

The name Typica comes from the Latin word "Typica," which means "typical." The Typica coffee tree variety has distinct characteristics: it is a relatively tall plant that can reach up to 5 meters in height, with long internodal spacing between fruit nodes. The terminal leaves are bronze-colored, the leaf surface is relatively smooth, and the edges have subtle waves. The fruits are mainly red, and the beans are larger, with a pointed oval or slender shape. However, this variety has modest yield requirements regarding altitude and is relatively fragile, susceptible to coffee leaf rust disease, with weaker resistance to diseases and pests.

In the 1940s, most coffee-producing countries in South and Central America cultivated the Typica variety, but due to its low yield and susceptibility to disease, it was gradually replaced by newer varieties. Currently, it is primarily grown in Peru, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, China's Yunnan province, and the Kona region of Hawaii.

FrontStreet Coffee currently offers several Typica variety coffee beans, such as Jamaican Blue Mountain, which uses washed processing. After brewing, it presents a balanced, rich mouthfeel with pleasant aroma and persistent aftertaste and sweetness.

Bourbon

In the early 17th century, French missionaries introduced Bourbon to Réunion Island from Yemen. Réunion Island was also known as "Le Bourbon" before 1789, hence the coffee variety was named "Bourbon." Like Typica, Bourbon is also a tall plant variety, but Bourbon has more branches, with thicker trunks and branches, and more densely spaced fruit nodes, resulting in higher yields compared to Typica.

Bourbon leaves are wider with wavy edges, and terminal leaves are mainly green. The fruits tend to be round, and matured fruits come in red, orange, and yellow colors. The beans are smaller and overall more rounded. Like Typica, Bourbon is suitable for cultivation in high-altitude areas and is also susceptible to leaf rust and pest attacks, but its yield is higher than Typica.

From the mid-19th century, Bourbon arrived in the Americas with missionaries, was introduced to Brazil, and spread to other regions of South and Central America. It is still cultivated today in countries like El Salvador, Honduras, and Brazil. FrontStreet Coffee offers a semi-natural processed Cerrado coffee as an entry-level selection, featuring chocolate flavors and nutty aromas with a balanced mouthfeel.

Geisha

Geisha was first discovered in 1931 in the Kaffa forest of southern Ethiopia. Its name comes from a nearby mountain called Gesha. However, due to the lack of fixed translation from Ethiopian dialects to English at that time, the variety was recorded as "Geisha" during its first documentation, so most people have used the name "Geisha" since then.

The Geisha plant is a tall variety with long branch spacing, and both the trunk and branches are relatively slender. The leaves appear smooth and elongated, and the coffee cherries and fruits are also more slender.

The Geisha collected in Ethiopia was sent to the Lyamungu research station in Tanzania and the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica, where it was named "T2722." T2722 was distributed throughout Panama for cultivation due to its resistance to coffee leaf rust, until it was discovered by the owner of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda and used to participate in the Best of Panama (BOP) competition and auction. The Geisha variety achieved the highest score and was auctioned at the highest price at that time. This caused a global sensation, and many countries began introducing Geisha for cultivation. Therefore, Geisha is currently grown in countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.

However, there are now many types of Geisha, such as Gori Gesha and Gesha 1931. Due to Geisha's great fame, Adam Overton and his wife were inspired to establish their own coffee estate, so they returned to Ethiopia to find Geisha's birthplace. They found an area in the Bench Maji region that might be the original Geisha location and established Gesha Village.

Gesha 1931 is the original Geisha variety that estate owner Adam Overton found in the Gesha forest. Through genetic comparison, it is very similar to the Panamanian Geisha variety, so it was named Gesha 1931. Later in 2011, the owner discovered a coffee bean variety similar to Geisha in the Gori forest, 12 kilometers away from the estate, so he brought it back to cultivate and named it Gori Gesha.

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