How Does Bourbon Fit Among Arabica Coffee Species?
Brazilian Bourbon is a classic Arabica variety with low body, balance and pronounced sweetness, often used as a base for espresso blends. A pour-over of 15 grams, 88-89°C water and a 1:15 ratio yields black chocolate and roasted sunflower seed notes. Bourbon originated on Bourbon Island and grows well at 800 meters and above.
Bourbon has weak pest and disease resistance and low yield per plant, and lower yields often concentrate nutrients and lift cup quality. Red fruit dominates plantings, though Yellow Bourbon may out-yield it. Bourbon is closely related to SL28, Typica and Caturra, while Catuai was crossed from Caturra and Mundo Novo for better wind and rain resistance.
Brazilian Bourbon is one of the most iconic varieties in the coffee world; its low body, balance and pronounced sweetness make it a high-quality base bean for espresso blends. Starting from the botanical characteristics of Bourbon, this article compares the differences with the Catuai variety, analyzes in depth the terroir conditions of Brazil's three major specialty coffee regions, and, using "Front Street Coffee" Brazilian semi-washed Bourbon as an example, provides a complete pour-over recipe with 15 g of grounds, 88-89°C water temperature and a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio to help coffee lovers recreate at home a cup of rich, full-bodied Brazilian specialty coffee with black chocolate and roasted sunflower seed flavors.
For professional barista exchange, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
Variety: Bourbon
Related: original variety
Place of origin: Bourbon Island
Grows best at: 800 meters and above
Type: original variety
Commonly found in: coffee-growing regions around the world
Main colors: red, yellow and orange, but mainly red fruit
Size: ordinary leaves
Characteristics: wide, short
Special note:
The original home of Bourbon is Bourbon Island, though some say it originated in Ethiopia. This variety has weak resistance to pests and diseases, and its yield per plant is not high. Some research data show that Yellow Bourbon may outperform Red Bourbon and Orange Bourbon in yield, though in terms of planting popularity, red fruit still dominates. Bourbon is closely related to SL28, Typica and Caturra. Because Bourbon's output is relatively low in suitable environments, nutrients can be absorbed more concentrically by the plant, which actually adds to its performance in the cup—much evidence points to a rule: the lower the yield, the better the quality often is.
Typical Bourbon shows low body, balance and prominent sweetness in cupping, so it is often used as a base bean for espresso blends.
Catuai, on the other hand, is a variety developed through artificial crossbreeding of Caturra and Mondu Novo, and it has relatively good resistance to natural disasters such as wind and rain.
The Catuai tree is relatively short, and compared with other coffee tree species, its fruit is more firmly attached, making harvesting relatively more labor-intensive. The fruit color also includes both red and yellow. At present, there is no evidence that yellow fruit has better flavor than red fruit; on the contrary, some cupping results show that although coffee processed from yellow fruit may have acceptable acidity, it is inferior to red fruit in cup cleanliness.
Catuai was bred in Brazil and is now also widely planted in Central America.
Factory name: Dazhen Coffee Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Factory address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City Manufacturer contact: 020-38364473 Shelf life: 30 Net content: 227g Packaging method: bulk Taste: sweet Coffee bean roast level: roasted coffee beans Contains sugar: no sugar Origin: Brazil Coffee type: Bourbon Coffee roast level: medium roast
Product name: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) · Brazil Semi-Washed Bourbon
Country: Brazil
Grade: SC14/SC16
Region: South Minas
Roast level: medium roast
Processing method: pulped natural
Variety: Bourbon, Catuai
Altitude: 1000—1200 meters
Flavor: roasted sunflower seeds, rich and full-bodied, black chocolate, sweet lingering finish.
However, the Cerrado plateau in western Minas and South Minas are mostly above 1100 meters in altitude, with complex and diverse terrain, clearly defined dry and rainy seasons, significant day-night temperature differences and very rich microclimatic conditions, providing an ideal growing environment for elegant Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon and naturally making this area the core territory of Brazilian specialty coffee. In addition, Mogiana in the northeast of São Paulo Province is also dominated by shade-grown Bourbon, and together with Cerrado and South Minas it forms Brazil's three major specialty coffee regions.
Brazil's terrain is mainly flat, and the altitude of coffee farms is mostly concentrated between 600 and 1000 meters, with little topographic variation and a lack of microclimate changes. Combined with the local customary planting model without shade trees, this has formed Brazil's distinctive soft-bean flavor—relatively low acidity, prominent nutty notes, chocolate-like sweet aroma and full body, but it may carry slight woody and earthy notes, while floral and citrus aromas are less obvious.
Minas Gerais is located in the central part of the Brazilian Highlands in the southeastern corner of South America, and more than half of Brazil's high-quality Arabica coffee is produced here.
The Santo Antônio do Amparo area, winner of Brazil's 2016 Cup of Excellence award, is located right in the core South Minas production region near the headquarters of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association BSCA.
Pour-over Front Street Brazil Semi-Washed Bourbon. 15g grounds, medium grind (Fuji ghost burr grinder setting 4), V60 dripper, 88-89°C water temperature, first pour 30g of water, bloom for 27 seconds, pour to 105g of water and stop, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again, pour slowly until 225g of water, discard the final segment, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
