Do You Know About the Catuai Coffee Variety?

Catuai: A Hybrid Coffee Variety

Catuai is a coffee variety produced by artificially crossing Caturra with Mundo Novo. It stands up remarkably well to natural disasters, showing especially strong resistance to wind and rain.

Origin and Cultivation

Catuai was first cultivated in Brazil and is now grown widely across Central America. Several coffees on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list feature the Catuai variety, among them FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Elida Estate Catuai, FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry, and FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Musician Series Mozart.

Characteristics and Quality

Catuai trees are relatively short compared with other coffee trees. Its cherries, however, cling more firmly to the branch and are not easy to pick. The fruit comes in both red and yellow types. So far, no superior flavor has been found in yellow cherries compared with red ones. In fact, some cuppers have noted that while coffee processed from yellow fruit can show good acidity, its cleanliness is inferior to that of coffee processed from red fruit.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The red-versus-yellow question is worth exploring at the cup, and Brazil — where Catuai originated — is the perfect place to start. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Half-Sun is a classic single-origin Brazilian bean from Cerrado, a region famous for high-quality coffee, built on the Red Bourbon variety common across South America. Roasted medium, it pours out rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a rounded, low-acid body and a gentle bittersweet finish. Beyond pour-over, it also shines in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon, and in a French press.

For a chance to compare a yellow variety directly, try FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon. Grown in Mogiana near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the fruit, this rare Yellow Bourbon — a natural mutation of Red Bourbon — shows a cleaner fruit character, with the sugarcane sweetness and gentle fruit and chocolate notes that set it apart from other regions.