How Did King Bourbon Coffee Seeds Travel From Yemen to Costa Rica?

King Bourbon, called Bourbon Rey, is a rare Bourbon mutation found only at a Hacienda in Costa Rica. Its tree form differs from common Bourbon and its beans are noticeably larger. Bourbon itself descends from Typica and belongs to the Arabica species, named after Bourbon Island, now Réunion Island, where French planters transplanted coffee from Yemen.

A French missionary carried coffee seeds from Bourbon Island to churches across Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, St. Augustine, and Brava, and the trees took root on the African continent. Bourbon is usually named by ripe fruit color, such as Red, Yellow, Orange, and Pink Bourbon, with Orange and Pink being rarer, and this coffee was brewed as anaerobic honey.

In the Bourbon coffee family, besides the common Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and the recently popular Pink Bourbon, there are some extremely rare members worth noting. Bourbon Rey is one of them, currently found only at the Hacienda in Costa Rica. The morphology of this coffee tree differs from common Bourbon, and the coffee beans are noticeably larger. Front Street Coffee brewed a pot of Bourbon Rey using anaerobic honey processing this time, employing segmented extraction to showcase its flavor layers. This article will introduce the variety origin, plant characteristics, and actual brewing performance of Bourbon Rey, helping you get to know this little-heard Bourbon variant.

When it comes to Bourbon coffee, most people think of Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, or the highly popular Pink Bourbon in recent years. Front Street Coffee just introduced the naturally low-caffeine Pointed Bourbon yesterday, and today we'll continue with another rarely mentioned Bourbon-lineage coffee—Bourbon Rey!

Bourbon Coffee

Coffee beans are mainly divided into three major variety categories: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. Bourbon coffee belongs to the Arabica category.

The name Bourbon comes from Bourbon Island, now known as Réunion Island. Historically, the French attempted three times to introduce coffee from Yemen to Bourbon Island, and ultimately the coffee trees that survived and propagated were from the latter two transplants.

In 1841, a French missionary established a church on the French-owned Bourbon Island. Afterwards, he left Bourbon Island and went to Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, St. Augustine, Brava, and other African regions to establish new churches, planting coffee seeds brought from Bourbon Island at each church. Bourbon coffee thus took root on the African continent.

Bourbon coffee is essentially a variety mutated from Typica, belonging to a branch of the Arabica species, and together with Typica is regarded as an ancient variety among existing Arabica coffees.

Bourbon coffee is usually distinguished and named based on the color of the ripe fruit, such as Red, Yellow, Orange, and Pink Bourbon. Among them, Orange Bourbon has relatively low production, while Pink Bourbon is even rarer.

Bourbon Rey

The Bourbon Rey variety is quite rare, and few people have likely heard of it.

Bourbon Rey, also known as Bourbon Rey, is a Bourbon mutant discovered at the Hacienda in Costa Rica, and so far it has only been found at that estate.

The Bourbon Rey coffee tree is relatively tall, with wider internode spacing on the branches, larger leaves, and the tips of young leaves showing a bronze color.

Unlike common Bourbon coffee beans, which are relatively small, Bourbon Rey beans are noticeably larger and even somewhat resemble Pacamara in appearance.

Front Street Coffee brewed a pot of anaerobic honey-processed Bourbon Rey, with specific parameters and flavor description as follows:

Parameters: 15 grams of coffee powder, Hario V60 dripper, water temperature 89°C, medium-fine grind, coffee-to-water ratio about 1:15.

Brewing method:

Front Street Coffee uses segmented extraction to complete the brewing.

First, use 29 grams of water for blooming. When the surface of the coffee bed changes from wet to dry, the blooming can end, with a blooming time of 30 seconds; then pour water in a small stream at the center up to 120 grams as the first stage. When the liquid level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring water up to 230 grams and then stop. When the liquid level drops again and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. The total extraction time (starting from the blooming) is 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Flavor: The dry aroma presents a rich fermented note and berry fragrance. On the palate, there is acidity of passion fruit, lime, and citrus. The fermented aroma is relatively gentle. In the middle, nutty notes and preserved-fruit-like sweetness emerge, with a lasting sugarcane aftertaste. The overall mouthfeel is relatively full-bodied.

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