How are Bourbon coffee beans prepared and served?

Bourbon coffee beans are a familiar variety with sweetness and acidity woven together, relatively low acidity, and a smooth mouthfeel. The variety exists in two forms, the round Bourbon and the pointed Bourbon Pointu, and both were once close to disappearing before revival efforts brought them back to specialty roasters.

Preparation can be as simple as adding a few drops of sherry to dark-roasted coffee, which blends well. On Bourbon Island in 1810 a farmer named Leroy found the pointed variant, later named laurina by Dr. Cramer, while insufficient rainfall on the island led to a genetic mutation in round Bourbon.

Bourbon coffee beans are an important variety familiar to coffee lovers, known for their flavor that interweaves sweetness and acidity, low acidity, and smooth mouthfeel. This article starts with the preparation methods of Bourbon coffee and the coffee story behind it, and provides a detailed review of the historical origins of Bourbon round beans and pointed beans, including the legendary story of Ueshima Coffee in Japan reviving the semi-decaffeinated Bourbon Pointu, its noble status in 2011 when its price surpassed Geisha and Kopi Luwak, and the discovery of the pointed variant on Bourbon Island in 1810. The article also covers the origin of Dr. Cramer naming it with the Latin word laurina, as well as key information such as the insufficient rainfall on Bourbon Island leading to a genetic mutation in round Bourbon. The recommendation content from Front Street Coffee is also retained, providing readers with comprehensive knowledge about Bourbon coffee.

Preparation Method

Add a few drops of sherry to dark-roasted coffee; the flavor after the two blend is quite excellent.

Coffee Story

The longing for home reaches its peak at this moment:

There is a remote village in France called Bourbon, where the locally produced coffee has a sweet-and-sour flavor. Sipping it one mouthful at a time inevitably brings back memories of those nights long ago.

Mouthfeel

Rich in flavor layers, relatively low in acidity, and smooth on the palate.

The two varieties, Bourbon Round Bean and Bourbon Pointu, were once on the verge of disappearing, until after the turn of the millennium, when Yoshiaki Kawashima, an expert from Ueshima Coffee in Japan, traveled to the island for an investigation, then strongly advocated for it and cooperated with botanists from the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development to jointly revive the semi-decaffeinated Bourbon Pointu. Of the 700 kilograms of Pointu beans harvested in 2006, 240 kilograms were selected and shipped to Japan. After Ueshima Coffee completed roasting, they were packaged into pocket-sized packs of 100 grams each and sold for 7,350 yen, selling out within a day. In 2011, the price further climbed to 8,400 yen per 100 grams, more expensive than Geisha and Kopi Luwak, making it truly one of the most noble coffees today.

Regular Bourbon varieties have short, round beans, but in 1810, coffee farmer Leroy on Bourbon Island discovered a dwarf coffee tree in his garden. Its leaves were smaller and resembled laurel leaves, and its coffee beans were more slender and pointed, with lower yield than ordinary Bourbon. It was later confirmed by botanists at the time to be a new variety. Because the beans are pointed at both ends, it is commonly called Bourbon Pointu to distinguish it from the general round Bourbon. However, in the early twentieth century, Dr. Cramer discovered that the leaves of this variety closely resembled laurel leaves, so he used the Latin word laurina, the English laurel, as the variety name. Nevertheless, the industry still habitually calls it Bourbon Pointu. Bourbon Island does not have abundant rainfall, which prompted a genetic mutation in round Bourbon.

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