Where do arabica varieties like Caturra and Catimor come from?

Many arabica varieties grown in the Americas descend from Typica and Bourbon. Caturra arose as a natural dwarf mutation of Bourbon, first found around the early 20th century in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Catuai was created by crossing Mundo Novo and Yellow Caturra, while Catimor carries Robusta ancestry and resists rust disease.

Caturra's short stature allows dense planting and good yields, and it performs well at high altitude but is more vulnerable to pests and disease. Brazil's conditions did not suit it well, so Guatemala introduced it in the 1940s and it spread to Costa Rica, Colombia, and Honduras. Front Street Coffee lists Colombia Huila, Elida Estate Catuai, and PWM Golden Mandheling for reference.

Coffee varieties have continually evolved through transplantation, mutation, and hybridization, and many cultivated varieties on the market today can be traced back to the two major lineages of Typica and Bourbon. This article focuses on three important varieties commonly found in the Americas—Caturra, Catuai, and Catimor—and sorts out their origins, plant morphology, cultivation adaptability, and cup flavor performance. Caturra originated from a natural dwarf mutation on a Cuban farm, Catuai was created by artificial hybridization of Mundo Novo and Yellow Caturra, and Catimor carries Robusta ancestry and therefore has a certain resistance to rust disease. The article also includes product information on Front Street Coffee's Colombia Huila, Elida Estate Catuai, and PWM Golden Mandheling for enthusiasts' reference.

The coffee industry continues to evolve, and varieties have also given rise to many new cultivated types through introduction, genetic mutation, and artificial hybridization. Many coffee varieties today can ultimately be traced back to descendants of Typica and Bourbon.

Caturra

The name Caturra comes from Guarani and originally means "small," because it arose from a natural mutation of Bourbon. Since it is a single-gene mutation, the whole plant is shorter than Bourbon. However, the spacing of branches on the trunk is shorter, so the branches and leaves grow quite dense, and the fruit also sets compactly.

Caturra also has many similarities to Bourbon, for example the leaves likewise have wavy edges, and the top leaves are green. The coffee cherries are round, mainly red, with occasional yellow fruit, and the coffee beans are uniform in size and oval in shape. The benefit brought by the short plant is that it can be planted at high density, and its yield performance is good. It is suitable for growing at high altitudes, but is more susceptible to coffee pests and diseases.

Around the beginning of the twentieth century, Caturra was first discovered in a botanical garden in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and was subsequently sent to the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC) in Sao Paulo State for research. Brazil's natural conditions are not very suitable for Caturra, but thanks to the advantages of dense planting and high yield, it was introduced by Guatemala in the 1940s and later spread successively to American countries such as Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras, and Panama. Today it has become one of the most important coffee varieties in Central America and is often used as a "benchmark" for testing new varieties.

Front Street Coffee has a washed Colombia Huila coffee. As an entry-level selected representative, it has slight, gentle fruit acidity, with nutty, dark chocolate, and caramel flavors, an overall balanced profile, and obvious sweetness.

Catuai

Catuai also comes from Guarani and means "very good." It was originally called "H-2077." It was developed by the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC) in Campinas, Brazil, through artificial hybridization of Mundo Novo and Yellow Caturra, and Mundo Novo itself is the product of a natural hybridization between Bourbon and Typica.

Therefore Catuai inherited the characteristics of these parents: short tree shape, dense branching, high yield, green leaf tips, slightly curved leaf margins, tightly arranged fruit, mainly red, and medium-sized oval coffee beans, but slightly smaller than Caturra. It is suitable for high-altitude planting and has relatively strong resistance to disasters, but is prone to coffee leaf rust.

After completing pedigree selection in Brazil, Catuai was officially released and widely planted in Brazil, and was later introduced by Central American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Front Street Coffee has a Catuai coffee bean from Elida Estate, using natural processing. After brewing, a slight wine aroma brought by the natural process can be smelled, and on the palate there are flavors of peach, raisin, and orange, with caramel-like sweetness, a green tea-like mouthfeel, and high cleanliness.

Catimor

Caturra is a natural variety of Bourbon, while Timor is a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta. Catimor is precisely the first-generation F1 hybrid variety group born from the hybridization of Timor and Caturra, so Catimor is not a single variety, but a group of varieties with similar ancestry, and its characteristics must be determined through selective breeding.

Catimor combines the characteristics of the two parents: the overall tree shape is relatively small, with many branches, densely set fruit, long coffee beans that are thick and full with slightly raised ends, and green leaf tips. It can be planted in lower-altitude areas because, with Robusta ancestry, it has a certain resistance to coffee leaf rust and broad adaptability, but it is susceptible to the fungal disease Ojo de Gallo.

The emergence of Catimor is closely related to coffee leaf rust. In the nineteenth century, leaf rust once caused severe damage to many coffee-producing countries. In order to cope with this disease, Portugal's Coffee Leaf Rust Research Center (CIFC) carried out continuous research, bred Catimor in the 1950s, and distributed it to various countries for selection and planting. At present, it is planted in Yunnan, China, Honduras, El Salvador, and Indonesia (where Catimor is called "Ateng").

Front Street Coffee's PWM Golden Mandheling comes from the GAYO Mountains in Aceh, North Sumatra, and uses the wet-hulled method. It has flavors of toasted bread, pine, cocoa, and slight herbal notes. The mouthfeel is clean and balanced, with a caramel sweetness in the finish.

To learn more information about coffee origins, please directly scan the QR code to follow: Coffee Review

Long-press the QR code to follow:

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