Coffee Varieties and Their Importance
Essentially, the level of importance afforded to coffee varieties would depend on your role in the coffee industry. If you are a consumer, you might be wondering – why bother? What’s the significance of coffee variety when all you need to know is origin, roast level, and processing?
And if it’s important, why do only some coffee bags mention it?
If you take anything away from this post, know that coffee variety can affect a coffee’s flavour. Some, like Bourbon, are known for their sweet taste. Others, like Geisha, are known for tea-like qualities. But flavour isn’t just about the variety. It’s also derived from the coffee’s growing conditions, processing techniques, roasting style etc. The uniqueness of a high-quality coffee is part of what makes coffee so wonderful.
As roasters, we need to know about varieties because they affect both the flavour profile and how we would roast them. Different varieties will have different sizes, different densities and have very different organic and chemical properties. Roasting is a physical and chemical transformation through various modes the beanshow it transfers heat throughout the bean is important.
SPECIES, VARIETY, CULTIVAR?! WHAT DO THESE MEAN?
Now we know why varieties are important, let’s take a step back and look at what they actually are.
There are over 100 different species of coffee – but the three main species that take the stage are Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. Specialty coffee shops rarely sell anything but Arabica, shunning Robusta for its harsher, bitter taste. Although some shops are making the case for Fine Robustas. Liberica is typically only consumed in the Philippines and in recent years starting to gain some international attention
The category below species, when describing plants, is variety. Varieties refer to different variations within the species. For example, Bourbon is a variety of Arabica and a natural mutation of Typica, while Nganda is a variety of Robusta. As for a cultivar; that’s a coffee hybrid variety that has been created by humans in an agricultural setting.
SOME COFFEE VARIETES YOU SHOULD KNOW
There are many coffee varieties around the world and we couldn’t hope to cover all of them in just one article.
However, we’re going to take a quick look at some of the most famous or noteworthy Arabica varieties.
TYPICA
Typica coffee is one of the earliest and most important coffee varieties. It’s been around for centuries and engendered numerous others. Notable Typica varieties include Java, Maragogype, and Timor Hybrid.
Typica grows in Central America, Jamaica, and Asia. It is a tall variety characterized by very low production, susceptibility to the major diseases, and produces a clean and resonant acidity which increases in intensity at higher elevations. The cup can be characterized by lemon and floral notes and by a sweet aftertaste.
BOURBON
A natural mutation of Typica, Bourbon is a high-quality, medium-yield coffee known for its sweet taste. It has, however, low resistance to leaf rust, coffee berry borer, and other diseases and pests. It’s commonly grown in Burundi and Rwanda, as well as throughout Latin America.
Why should you care about Bourbon? For the same reasons why you should know about Typica: its early appearance in the coffee variety tree means it has also engendered numerous others. It’s also a fairly common plant celebrated for its good quality. Bourbon is a good choice thanks to its high quality potential. It offers a clean cup, with a nice balance of sweetness and body, while it can be found growing in a range of origins.
Altitude and processing methods also play a significant role in shaping the characteristics of Bourbon. A natural Bourbon, for instance, might be sweet and winey, but if washed, it could be brighter with more acidity.
The same is true across the Yellow, Red, and Pink cultivars. Pink Bourbon (named for the peachy-pink colour of the cherries) is commonly found in El Salvador and Colombia and known for its bright, floral flavour that can take on a fruity punch.
Meanwhile Yellow Bourbon is recognised for its pronounced acidity and raisin-like flavour notes.
ETHIOPIAN HEIRLOOM
While most Arabica coffee varieties descend from Typica or Bourbon, coffee originally comes from Ethiopia. When you see “Ethiopian Heirloom” written on a bag of coffee, it means that it was probably grown wild or in a lightly cultivated garden.
Did you know: Ethiopia carries 95% of coffee’s genetic diversity.
CATURRA
A natural Bourbon mutation, Caturra is a dwarf tree with an average yield, average quality, and average bean size. It was discovered on a plantation in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil sometime between 1915 and 1918.
It is susceptible to rust and pests, and commonly grown throughout Brazil and Latin America.
Just like bourbon coffee, the caturra is known to be sweet, complex, and crisp. The caturra plant, however, has been modified to have a smaller plant size with berries that mature quickly, producing a higher coffee bean yield.
Caturra is also known for being one of the parents the so-called “Catimor” family of cultivars. Various lines of the coffee-leaf-rust-resistant Timor Hybrid were crossed with Caturra to produce a dwarf plant with rust resistance.
MUNDO NOVO
the result of a natural cross between the Bourbon and Typica varieties found in Mineiros do Tiete, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Seeds of the original coffee plants were planted in the municipality of Novo Mundo, today called Urupês, where selection gave rise to the variety Mundo Novo. The variety was discovered in 1943.
The plant is characterized by its very tall stature. It is vigorous and productive for a traditional American type variety, but is late maturing. Its leaf tips can be green or bronze.
Its taste is described to be thick, sweet, and less acidic.
CATUAI
Catuai is a Mundo Novo and Caturra cross that shares many of the same characteristics as Caturra: average yield, average quality, average bean size, susceptibility to rust and pests, and dwarf status.
A cross between highly productive Mundo Novo and compact Caturra, made by the Instituto Agronomico (IAC) of Sao Paulo State in Campinas, Brazil. The plant is highly productive compared to Bourbon, in part because of its small size, which allows plants to be closely spaced; it can be planted at nearly double the density. The plant’s shape makes it relatively easy apply pest and disease treatments. It is mainly characterized by great vigor and its low height; it is less compact than Caturra. It is highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.
A Catuai is capable of creating a variety of notably unique cup profiles, depending on where and how it was cultivated.
Chocolate, caramel, caramelised sugar, honey, almonds, and spices are some of the descriptors associated with Catuai
When it comes to different colour varieties of Catuai, there are no significant differences in flavour.
Generally speaking, red Catuai tends to produce more complex coffees and can have a fuller body. Yellow Catuai can have a softer body, but it will depend on climatic conditions and altitude present when during growth, as well as the post-harvest processing employed.
F1 HYBRIDS
F1 hybrids are a new generation of coffee varieties that have the potential to be high quality, rust resistant, and high yielding. They are typically mass-produced in advanced nurseries. Notable F1 hybrids include Centroamericano, which has seen recent success in the Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence.
One of the most important points about F1 hybrids, for producers, is that they are typically more expensive and harder to obtain. They are mass propagated in sophisticated nurseries with tissue culture labs (i.e., they are cloned) instead of by seed. This is necessary because their germinated seeds (the F2, or second generation) will not necessarily possess the same great qualities as the F1 mother plant, meaning that farmers cannot rely on the performance of the plant. For this reason, WCR advises that producers only buy from reputable nurseries.
TIMOR HYBRID
Timor Hybrid is a controversial coffee, since it was a spontaneous Arabica-Robusta hybrid. Robusta is a more, well, robust coffee species: it offers hardiness and resistance to coffee leaf rust in exchange for a less appealing flavour and aroma profile.
This unique coffee has been used in many cultivars, particularly Catimors and Sarchimors. Catimors are a group of Caturra and Timor Hybrid crosses, while Sarchimors are a group of Villa Sarchi and Timor Hybrid crosses. Examples of these include Castillo, Colombia, and Marsellesa.
Specialty coffee buyers can be wary of any plant with a Timor Hybrid parentage – but some producers, especially those at lower altitudes where coffee leaf rust is more likely, believe less risk is worth a potentially lower cup quality and price.
