What Is Brazilian Coffee Like in the Cup?
Catuai is one of Brazil's main coffee varieties, along with Caturra, Mundo Novo, and Bourbon. The plant is short and robust with green leaf tips and medium-to-small beans. In Brazil, serving a small strong black coffee called cafezinho is a daily habit and a form of courtesy to guests, much like offering tea.
Catuai came from the Agronomic Institute of Campinas in Sao Paulo state, bred by crossing Mundo Novo with Caturra. Its short size allows dense planting, at almost twice the density of Bourbon. Altitude needs vary with latitude: above 1,600 meters near the equator, about 1,300 meters further out, and around 1,000 meters beyond 15 degrees.
Brazil, as the world's largest coffee producer, is known as the "Coffee Kingdom." Locals treat guests to a small cup of strong black coffee called "cafezinho," much like Chinese people offer tea. Among the many Brazilian coffee varieties, Catuai, along with Caturra, Mundo Novo, and Bourbon, are known as the four mainstays. This article will provide a detailed introduction to the origin of Catuai, its plant characteristics, altitude requirements for cultivation, disease resistance, and flavor profile, while also guiding you on the proper way to enjoy Brazilian black coffee. Front Street Coffee is always dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge, and holds three low-discount events every month, allowing more people to enjoy good coffee at affordable prices.
Front Street - Brazilian Coffee Introduction
"Cafezinho" is the small cup of strong black coffee that Brazilians love most. In Brazil, offering you a cup of cafezinho is both a daily habit and an important courtesy when hosting guests, equivalent to Chinese people offering tea to guests. Brazil is the world's largest coffee-producing country, and is therefore called the "Coffee Kingdom." Legend has it that coffee was first discovered by an old shepherd in the Kaffa region of Ethiopia—after his flock ate the red berries from the bushes, they became unusually energized and active. Astonished, he tasted a few himself and likewise became uncontrollably excited and lively, and coffee has spread ever since.
The Catuai plant is short and robust, with green leaf tips and medium-to-small bean size. Within 5 degrees north and south of the equator, this variety is usually planted above 1,600 meters; between 5 and 15 degrees north and south latitude, it is mostly planted above 1,300 meters; if the latitude exceeds 15 degrees, around 1,000 meters above sea level is sufficient.
This variety has weak resistance to leaf rust, nematode damage, and berry disease, and its yield is not particularly high either. Aside from its relatively excellent cup flavor, it seems to have few other standout advantages.
Catuai originated from the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC) in São Paulo State, Brazil, and was developed by crossbreeding Mundo Novo with Caturra. Because the plant is short, it can be arranged very densely during large-scale planting, with a planting density almost twice that of Bourbon coffee, and its yield is therefore considerably higher than Bourbon. In addition, although its resistance to pests and diseases is not particularly strong, the advantages of its plant structure make manual pest and disease control relatively convenient.
Catuai means "very good" in Portuguese. Today, the industry generally believes that the cup quality of the Catuai variety is good, though not stunning. It is divided by fruit color into yellow cherry berries and red cherry berries. It was first obtained in 1949 by crossing Yellow Caturra with Mundo Novo, and was named H-2077 at the time.
In 1972, the variety was officially released in Brazil. Thereafter, it was improved through pedigree selection (that is, selecting individual plants over multiple consecutive generations) and promoted on a large scale locally. Today, there are multiple Catuai cultivation and production lineages available in Brazil, some of which are quite efficient. However, Catuai introduced from Brazil to Central America seems to show relatively low yield performance; for example, some studies show that Catuai grown in Honduras and Costa Rica has not demonstrated a clear yield advantage compared with Caturra.
Catuai also has red-fruit and yellow-fruit types, and the red fruit is cleaner in flavor than the yellow fruit. Catuai, Caturra, Mundo Novo, and Bourbon together make up Brazil's four main coffee varieties.
In short: Front Street is a coffee specialty shop, happy to share coffee-related knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to help more friends fall in love with coffee, and every month there are 3 low-discount coffee events, because Front Street wants more friends to drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has also been Front Street's mission for 6 years!
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
