Characteristics and Taste Differences Between Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans - Brief Introduction to the Origin Story of Bourbon Coffee

As the specialty coffee market has grown, more and more varieties have appeared in front of enthusiasts. Coffee lovers know that nearly every single-origin coffee on the shelf today is 100% pure Arabica. Arabica has given rise to subspecies such as Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai, and Bourbon itself divides further into Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon. This article looks at the character of the Bourbon family.

Origin of Bourbon Variety Coffee Beans

Bourbon is an old variety, like Typica, and both belong to the Arabica species. Bourbon coffee was first cultivated on Reunion Island. Before 1789 the island was known as Bourbon Island, or le Bourbon, which is where the variety's name comes from.

Old as both varieties are, Bourbon differs from Typica in that its leaves are wider and denser, and its yield runs 30% higher than Typica. The beans are comparatively round and short, with rich berry acidity, distinct cream and fragrance, and a strong fruity aroma, though it shares the same weakness against disease. Put simply, Bourbon is a coffee tree variety on one branch of the Arabica species, generally bearing red fruit, which is called Red Bourbon, alongside Yellow Bourbon and Pink Bourbon.

What Is Red Bourbon?

Red Bourbon describes the color change of the fruit on a Bourbon tree after flowering and fruiting: from green to slightly yellow to slightly orange to ripe red, and darker red when overripe. It has an excellent aroma and bright acidity, and when well made it even shows wine-like flavors. Red Bourbon is also the most widely planted variety in Brazil's coffee regions.

The Brazilian staple beans used in FrontStreet Coffee stores are Red Bourbon, and they represent the flavor character of Brazil's producing regions. Red Bourbon is not only the most productive Brazilian variety but also the most original one.

FrontStreet Coffee: Brazilian Red Bourbon Coffee Beans

Country: Brazil
Region: South Minas
Altitude: 1000m
Variety: Red Bourbon
Processing: Semi-washed
Flavor: Nuts, Chocolate, Cream, Peanuts, Caramel

What Is Yellow Bourbon?

Yellow Bourbon is a mutant of Bourbon. Bourbon has always been considered a leader among coffees for its combination of yield and quality, and Yellow Bourbon is a distinctive Bourbon variant from the state of Sao Paulo. Unlike Red Bourbon, its fruit turns orange-yellow when ripe, which gives it the name. Because Yellow Bourbon is planted at very high altitudes, its flavor is excellent.

Cupping results show that Yellow Bourbon planted at high altitude performs exceptionally well. It swept the top three places at Brazil's Cup of Excellence for two consecutive years, which is what made it popular in the specialty industry. Yellow Bourbon typically shows nutty and chocolate flavors, balanced and smooth acidity, and a weak, clean bitterness, with a bright and refreshing overall impression.

Among the beans FrontStreet Coffee stores carry, the Brazilian Queen's Estate is precisely a Yellow Bourbon, which explains its excellent sweetness, overall balance and richness, and smooth taste.

FrontStreet Coffee: Brazilian Queen's Estate Coffee Beans

Country: Brazil
Region: Sao Paulo State (Queen's Estate)
Altitude: 1400-1950m
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Processing Method: Semi-washed / Natural
Flavor: Nuts, Cream, Peanuts, Fermented Fruits, Sugarcane

What Is Pink Bourbon?

As the name suggests, Pink Bourbon is a Bourbon whose fruit ripens to a romantic pink, and it is a rare variety. Pink Bourbon did not first appear in its place of origin, Brazil, but was first discovered in the town of Palestine in Huila Province, Colombia, which is why it is now mainly planted in the Huila region.

Pink Bourbon is a natural hybrid of Yellow Bourbon and Red Bourbon. Yellow and Red Bourbon express dominant traits from dominant genes and breed relatively stably, whereas the new Pink Bourbon belongs to recessive traits expressed by recessive genes, so offspring from hybrid reproduction tend to segregate in character.

There is another theory about Pink Bourbon's genetics. Some studies have found it to be a natural hybrid of Bourbon and Caturra. Caturra is a Bourbon variant, and the Colombia variety, heavily promoted for cultivation in Colombia, has clear advantages from carrying some Robusta genes: high yield and resistance to leaf rust. Its drawback is a mediocre flavor without delicate acidity or sweetness.

Pink Bourbon is called rare mainly because holding that beautiful pink color is so difficult. Through artificial hybridization, orange Bourbon fruit sometimes results, because the color of coffee fruit is ultimately determined by recessive genes in the pollen grains. Those grains carry both yellow genes leaning toward Yellow Bourbon and red genes leaning toward Red Bourbon, and because all of these are recessive and interfere with one another easily, Pink Bourbon yields very little and sells at a relatively high price.

FrontStreet Coffee stores also carry a Pink Bourbon from Huila, Colombia. It has a distinctive cherry tomato flavor that recalls berry acidity, along with vanilla and dark chocolate, an overall sugarcane sweetness, and clearly separated layers.

FrontStreet Coffee: Colombian Isabella Coffee Beans

Country: Colombia
Region: Huila
Altitude: 1760m
Variety: Pink Bourbon
Processing: Semi-washed
Flavor: Cherry Tomato, Citrus, Floral, Honey, Fruits

That covers the background on Bourbon variety coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee runs extensive brewing and testing on every bean before it is listed in order to determine the best hand-brew parameters and keep quality stable. The brewing data for these three beans follows.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Parameters

The character of Brazilian coffee is built on richness. To bring that forward, the roast level is best kept at medium or above, so FrontStreet's roaster uses a medium roast for both Brazilian Bourbon beans.

Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon Roasting Data

Yangjia 800N, 550g charge: preheat to 200 degrees Celsius, adjust heat to 150, damper open to 3, temperature return at 1'30". Hold heat; the beans turn yellow at 5'10", the grass smell disappears, dehydration stage begins, heat reduced to 125, damper open to 3.5. Dehydration completes at 8'20", wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, the toast smell turns to coffee aroma as the prelude to first crack. At 178 degrees Celsius, reduce heat to 80 and listen carefully for the crack. First crack begins at 9'14"; open the damper fully to 5. Development after first crack is 3'00", discharging at 201 degrees Celsius.

Pink Bourbon Roasting Data

Because Pink Bourbon's flavor is so distinctive, the roaster uses a medium-light roast to reach its full potential. Heat to 180 degrees Celsius, damper open to 3, heat at 120; temperature return at 1'42". When the drum reaches 140 degrees Celsius, heat stays the same and the damper opens to 4. At this point the bean surface turns yellow, the grass smell disappears completely, and the dehydration stage begins. At 176 degrees Celsius, heat drops to 100; at 180 degrees Celsius, heat drops to 70 with the damper unchanged. At 8'17", uneven wrinkles and black spots appear and the toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. Listen carefully for the crack. First crack begins at 9'30"; adjust the damper to 5, taking care with the heat so it does not fall so low that no crack is heard. After 1'30" of development, discharge at 191.5 degrees Celsius.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Brazilian Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon

Filter: KONO
Coffee Dose: 15g
Water Temperature: 88 degrees Celsius
Grind Size: Medium grind, 70% pass-through rate on the #20 standard sieve
Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

For beans as dark-roasted as these Brazilian coffees, FrontStreet Coffee chooses the KONO filter to emphasize richness. The KONO's defining trait is its immersion effect, which pulls more material out of the grounds and builds a fuller taste. Its few ribs sit at the bottom, letting the paper cling close to the wall and restrict airflow, which slows the flow and lengthens contact time between water and coffee.

The 88 degrees Celsius water used here is a relatively low brewing temperature, which keeps the brew from pulling too much unpleasant flavor out of the beans, since the darker the roast, the more those flavors increase.

Colombian Pink Bourbon

Filter: Hario V60
Water Temperature: 90 degrees Celsius
Coffee Dose: 15g
Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:16
Grind Size: Medium-fine (BG 6k: 82% pass-through rate on the China standard #20 sieve)

Pink Bourbon is medium-light roasted, so FrontStreet Coffee brews it in a V60. The V60's long ribs help extract flavor quickly, and its large hole carries no risk of clogging, which produces a coffee with clear layers.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique

All three beans use segmented extraction: 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then a small circular pour to 125g, then continue to 225g once the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, timing from the start of the bloom. Extraction time is 2 minutes, and the technique is kept as consistent as possible across the beans.

(Red Bourbon) Brazilian Red Bourbon Brewing Flavor: High sweetness, clean, smooth, low acidity, with flavors of peanuts, almonds, nuts, and chocolate.

(Yellow Bourbon) Brazilian Queen's Estate Flavor: A balanced taste that highlights sugarcane sweetness over a base of almond and cocoa, with good fullness and rich sweetness.

(Pink Bourbon) Colombian Isabella Brewing Flavor: Citrus, berries, and cherry tomato on entry, with caramel sweetness and a light fermentation fragrance as the temperature changes, and a finish of floral and nut cream aromas, smooth and clean.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is the most classic Brazilian single origin and the easiest way to sample the region. Cerrado is a well-known producing area for high-quality beans, and this lot is a Red Bourbon, the variety most commonly found across South America. Given a medium roast it shows concentrated aromas of creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut, with a rounded, non-acidic cup and a light bitter note. It is not limited to pour-over: the moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press all work well.

FrontStreet Brazil Queen's Estate Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana, close to South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries take up abundant nutrients and develop a full aroma. Part of the area still farms traditionally while part has adopted modern, standardized management, and quality has improved markedly as a result. Queen's Estate grows the rare Yellow Bourbon, a mutation of Red Bourbon whose fruit character is cleaner. Whether brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot, or on a home machine, it shows the sugarcane sweetness no other region offers, along with fruit and chocolate.

Between them, these two beans also explain why Brazil is the first choice in so many espresso recipes. Low acidity, balanced structure, and approachable pricing mean Brazilian beans give chocolate and cream aromas plus a gentle sweet-sour-bitter profile, and that balance makes extraction more stable. FrontStreet Classic Blend, FrontStreet Specialty Blend, and FrontStreet Dark Cocoa Blend all include Brazilian components for exactly this reason.