What makes yellow bourbon coffee different from red bourbon?

Yellow Bourbon is a mutation of the Bourbon variety, one of the two ancient parent lines of Arabica coffee. Its cherries do not turn red when ripe; they stay a bright orange-yellow, a trait that first appeared in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. In the cup it reads sweet and juicy, with prominent sweetness, aroma and acidity.

Bourbon itself descends from Typica and was introduced to Brazil in 1927, then spread across Central and South America. It yields less than some arabica coffee varieties but resists leaf rust better than Typica. High-altitude growing, as on Brazil's Queen's Farm, builds the fructose that supports the variety's refined sweetness.

Bourbon is one of the two ancient parent varieties of Arabica coffee, derived from Typica, and Yellow Bourbon is a rather special member of this family—its fruit does not turn red when ripe, but instead displays a bright orange-yellow color. This mutation originated in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, and thanks to the abundant fructose accumulated from high-altitude cultivation, it exhibits a sweet, juicy, and refined flavor, having won multiple awards in Brazil's Cup of Excellence (COE) competition. This article will begin with the origin and spread of the Bourbon variety, review the genetic characteristics and flavor advantages of Yellow Bourbon, and use Front Street Coffee's Brazil Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon coffee beans as an example to introduce its producing region information, natural processing method, roasting approach, and pour-over parameters, helping coffee enthusiasts gain a comprehensive understanding of this rare variety.

Bourbon Variety

Bourbon is derived from the ancient Typica variety, with round-shaped beans. It was introduced to Brazil in 1927 and gradually spread to countries across Central and South America. Although Bourbon's yield is not particularly high, compared to the weaker Typica, it has stronger resistance to leaf rust. Bourbon coffee grown at high altitudes has a rich and delicate flavor, abundant aroma, and soft, smooth acidity. The Bourbon fruit we typically see changes color during ripening from green to slightly yellow, orange-yellow, red, and finally fully ripe dark red—this is what we commonly call Red Bourbon. However, did you know that Brazil also has another Bourbon whose fruit turns orange-yellow when ripe—Yellow Bourbon, a Bourbon mutation unique to the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Yellow Bourbon (Bourbon Amarello), also written as Yellow Bourbon in English, is a yellow-skinned Bourbon mutation unique to the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Normally, coffee fruit turns red when ripe, but Yellow Bourbon does not turn red upon ripening; instead, it displays an orange-yellow color, hence its name. The flavor characteristics of Front Street Brazil Yellow Bourbon are elegantly expressed in cupping, with sweetness, aroma, and acidity all being quite prominent. The Front Street Brazil Queen's Farm coffee beans on the Front Street bean list are precisely selected from the rare Yellow Bourbon.

Front Street Coffee: Brazil Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans

Region: Mogiana Region

Farm: Queen's Farm Fazenda Rainha

Altitude: 1400–1950m

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing Method: Natural Process

Flavor: Nuts, Chocolate, Cream, Peanut, Sugarcane

Through reviewing materials, Front Street has learned that the world's Arabica coffee varieties are composed of Typica and Bourbon, along with their derived descendants. Among them, Bourbon is mainly popular in Central and South American countries and is one of Brazil's main varieties. The name Bourbon originates from Bourbon Island, now known as Réunion Island off the east coast of Africa. In the seventeenth century, as a French territory, it was named Bourbon Island, and it was not renamed until the late eighteenth century. In the eighteenth century, the French introduced round-shaped coffee beans from Yemen to Bourbon Island, where they began to take root and grow. It was not until 1860 that Brazil brought round Bourbon back to its own country for cultivation, and it subsequently spread to various countries in Central and South America, becoming the oldest Latin American coffee parent variety.

The fruit of the Bourbon variety is short and round, the coffee beans are high in density, and Bourbon grown at high altitudes has high sweetness and bright acidity. Like Typica, it is an ancient and excellent variety; Bourbon's resistance to leaf rust is superior to Typica, and its flavor is no less impressive. Common Bourbon fruit, from flowering to ripening, gradually changes color from green to slightly yellow, red, and finally fully ripe deep red, hence it is called Red Bourbon. In addition, there are Bourbon varieties that do not turn red after ripening but instead turn a relatively rare yellow or pink—namely Yellow Bourbon and Pink Bourbon.

The "yellow" of Yellow Bourbon is determined by genetic selection for color. Yellow Bourbon grown at high altitudes contains large amounts of fructose, which can present a sweet, juicy, and refined flavor, and for this reason it has consecutively won top honors in Brazil's Cup of Excellence (COE) competition for multiple years.

After harvesting the ripe Yellow Bourbon coffee cherries, Queen's Farm uses natural processing, allowing the coffee fruit to absorb more of the sweetness from the pulp during the drying process. Brazil is located near the equator, and because the harvest season happens to fall in the dry season, the coffee fruit is very suitable for direct dehydration and drying through sun exposure. However, the traditional "sun-drying method" is a very rough process: after picking, the cherries are spread directly on dirt ground to dry, and the resulting coffee easily carries an earthy taste, while uneven heating can produce negative notes of over-fermentation. Queen's Farm first pours the coffee cherries into a water tank and uses flotation to remove underripe fruit, then dries the coffee in small batches on African raised beds with better airflow, turning them periodically, thereby avoiding earthy flavors and over-fermented notes, and taking its sweetness to an even higher level than the traditional natural method.

Because Yellow Bourbon coffee beans grown at high altitudes have greater density and higher glucose content, Front Street's roasting approach is to highlight the classic rich aroma of Front Street Brazil coffee while also showcasing Bourbon's own sweetness. After multiple experiments and cupping comparisons, Front Street Brazil Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon coffee beans are roasted to a medium-dark level. After medium roasting, the internal structure of the beans is changed to a considerable extent, becoming porous, and when ground into coffee powder it absorbs water more readily. If the brewing parameters are not properly adjusted, the coffee will easily be over-extracted and bitter. To give the coffee sufficient aroma without over-extraction, it is necessary to lower the extraction rate. Front Street uses a relatively low water temperature and a relatively coarse grind to reduce the release of bitter macromolecules in the coffee. Combined with using a KONO dripper for extraction, this gives the coffee better body and roundness.

Pour-over Parameters: 87–88°C water temperature, KONO dripper, medium grind (70% passing rate on China standard No. 20 sieve), coffee powder: 15g, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, three-stage pouring

Use twice the amount of water relative to the coffee powder to moisten the coffee bed, forming a dome and letting it bloom for 30s. Then, with a small stream of water, pour in circles from the inside out until reaching 125g, then pause. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, then continue pouring the third stage with the same fine stream until reaching 225g, until all the coffee liquid has filtered through. Remove the dripper; the time is about 2 minutes. Finally, swirl the carafe to mix the coffee liquid evenly and it is ready to enjoy～

The pour-over Front Street Brazil Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon coffee presents aromas of dark chocolate, cream, peanut, and nuts. On the palate it is as refreshingly sweet as sugarcane, with a balanced mouthfeel, bright flavor, and a long-lasting finish in the mouth.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.