What is an arabica bean and how do varieties differ?

About 70% of global coffee production comes from Arabica, and that single species has branched into many distinct varieties. Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Pacamara and Geisha can be told apart by plant traits rather than flavor alone: tree height, leaf tip color, branch angle, plant shape, and the shape, size and color of the cherry.

What is an arabica bean in practice? It is the species behind most commercial and specialty cultivation, more delicate than Robusta but preferred for aroma and taste. Not every trait is needed for identification, since some varieties are recognizable at a glance. The article reviews arabica coffee types through these visible, physical characteristics as a practical reference.

Understanding what a coffee tree looks like is an interesting way to grasp the differences between varieties. About 70% of global coffee production comes from Arabica, and this species has diversified into numerous distinctive varieties. This article, from the perspective of Front Street Coffee, explains how to distinguish varieties using visual characteristics such as plant height, leaf tip color, branch angle, and fruit shape and color, and reviews the identification points of common varieties including Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Pacamara, and Geisha.

You may have seen a coffee tree, and perhaps even a Typica coffee tree, but what about the Bourbon dynasty? Coffee varieties are quite diverse, and clarifying the differences between them is not easy. Setting aside differences in flavor and profile, the plants themselves differ in ways visible to the naked eye.

Not to mention that coffee tree forms vary inherently; just looking at coffee flowers, the flowers differ by variety. Let's now look at what characteristics each of these varieties has.

How to identify the characteristics of different coffee varieties?

There are hundreds of coffee species, but about 70% of global production belongs to Arabica. Although Arabica is more delicate than Robusta, its taste and aroma are preferred by most consumers. Under Arabica there are many varieties, of which only a few are used for commercial and specialty cultivation. Below, Front Street Coffee uses some physical characteristics (i.e., phenotypes) to identify plants, but this is for reference only and not a complete standard.

First, they can be understood and identified from several dimensions: tree body (tall or compact), leaf tip color (green or bronze), plant shape (conical or round), leaf shape (slender or broad), shape and size of cherry and green bean (slender, round, or other, and small, medium, large, or very large), cherry color (red, yellow, orange, or even pink), branching angle, branching spacing (short or long), and internode spacing on the same branch (short or long).

Not all characteristics are necessarily needed to identify a variety, because some varieties have distinctive features recognizable at a glance.

Characteristics of the Typica coffee tree

Typica's characteristics are quite unique and perhaps make it the easiest variety to identify. The plant is conical, with a single vertical trunk, and can grow to 5 meters tall. This height means its branching spacing and internode spacing on the same branch are longer than those of other varieties.

The lateral branches form an angle of 50 to 80 degrees with the vertical main stem. Neither the trunk nor the branches are very thick. The leaves, cherries, and green beans are usually somewhat slender, and the leaf tips of young leaves are bronze. Compared with other Arabica varieties, Typica's leaf surface is smoother and has fewer wavy edges. Typica cherries turn bright red when ripe.

Characteristics of the Bourbon coffee tree

Bourbon's tree body is consistent with the conical shape of Typica, but it is denser, with more secondary branches. The main trunk is thicker, and the branches look sturdier, so the plant is more robust than Typica. The distance between branches and nodes is also slightly shorter. This increased density means Bourbon's fruit yield is about 30% higher than Typica's.

The leaves are broader than Typica's, with wavy edges and an uneven texture. Young leaves are usually green, but sometimes have bronze tips. The cherries are round and, when ripe, show a range of colors including red, orange, or yellow.

Characteristics of the Caturra coffee tree

Many varieties are descendants of Bourbon and Typica. Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon and is much shorter and much denser than its parent. The distance between it and the branches on the trunk, as well as among its many secondary branches, is smaller, making Caturra more dense than Typica or Bourbon.

Other than that, it has characteristics similar to Bourbon. The large leaves have wavy edges and green tips. The cherries are also round, medium-sized, and turn red or yellow when ripe.

Characteristics of the Catuai coffee tree

Catuai is the hybrid offspring of two varieties, Mundo Novo and Caturra. Just as Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, Mundo Novo is a natural mutation of Typica. In Catuai, traits from both Typica and Bourbon can be found. The plant is relatively short, and the angle formed by lateral branches and the main branch is smaller. Secondary branches are rarely seen at the top of the plant, which makes it more umbrella-shaped than Typica and Bourbon, which are conical.

Catuai's leaves are wavy and usually have green tips. The fruit does not easily fall from the branch, making it a good choice in areas with strong wind and rain.

Characteristics of the Pacamara coffee tree

Pacamara is a hybrid of the Pacas and Maragogipe varieties, developed in 1958 by the Salvadoran Coffee Research Institute (ISIC). It is not considered a stable variety, meaning the plant's traits are not consistent across generations. Nevertheless, it is still widely grown.

Pacas is another mutation of Bourbon, while Maragogipe is a mutation of Typica. The latter produces very large cherries, a trait passed on to Pacamara. The fruit size and distinctive pointed leaves make Pacamara easy to identify. These leaves may have green or bronze tips. The tree body is compact, and the plant shape is conical. The distance between branches and nodes on the branches is very short, making the plant very dense. The trunk and branches are similar to Bourbon's, thicker and less flexible than most other varieties.

Characteristics of the Geisha coffee tree

This variety, popular all over the world, is easy to identify from the angle of its upper branches and the shape of the plant. The branches of the Geisha coffee tree that point toward the top extend skyward at an angle of 45 to 50 degrees. The Geisha tree is tall, with long distances between branches and nodes, and its trunk and branches are thin, somewhat similar to Typica. The leaves are smooth and slender, and the cherries are also elongated in a way similar to Typica cherries. In my experience, the most obvious main difference between Geisha and Typica is that the former is umbrella-shaped or flat-topped, while Typica is conical.

The flavor of ripe Geisha cherries is completely different from that of other varieties, with citrus notes, sweetness, and jasmine-like floral elements. Different coffee varieties differ not only in flavor and profile; as plants, they are also visually different.

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