In the world of specialty coffee, Bourbon is an ancient variety as renowned as Typica, and today it has further branched into multiple variants such as Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon, each with its own unique flavor profile and origin story. From the perspective of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), this article systematically reviews the origin background of the Bourbon variety, analyzes one by one the genetic sources, fruit characteristics, and flavor tendencies of Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon, and includes the roasting data and pour-over recommendations for three representative coffee beans currently on sale at Front Street—Brazil Red Bourbon, Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon, and Colombia Isabella Pink Bourbon—to help coffee enthusiasts gain a comprehensive understanding of this classic variety family.

The continued rise of the specialty coffee industry has brought more and more coffee varieties into the public eye. Most people familiar with single-origin coffee know that almost all single-origin coffees on the market today are 100% pure Arabica, and under Arabica there are further subdivisions such as Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, and many others. Among them, the Bourbon line has further spawned different branches including Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon. In this article, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will introduce the characteristics of each member of the Bourbon family.

Origin of Bourbon Variety Coffee Beans

Bourbon and Typica both belong to the ancient varieties under the Arabica species. Bourbon coffee was first cultivated on Réunion Island in Brazil, which was called Île Bourbon before 1789, and the coffee variety was thus named "Bourbon."

Although both are old varieties, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) has found that Bourbon and Typica differ noticeably: Bourbon's leaves are broader than Typica's, its growth is denser, and its yield is about 30% higher than Typica. The beans are relatively round and short, with a berry-like acidity and aroma, prominent creamy and fragrant notes, strong acidity and aroma, and a clear fruity acidity, but its disease resistance is likewise relatively weak. Simply put, Bourbon is a branch under the Arabica species, usually bearing red fruit, called Red Bourbon, and there are also Yellow Bourbon and Pink Bourbon.

What Is Red Bourbon?

Red Bourbon refers to the general Bourbon coffee tree whose fruit color after flowering and fruiting goes through the following sequence: green > slightly yellow > slightly orange > ripe red > overripe dark red, hence the name Red Bourbon. Its flavor and aroma are relatively good, with bright acidity, even carrying a wine-like quality. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) also learned that Red Bourbon is currently the most widely planted variety in the Brazil producing region.

Currently, the Brazil-origin daily coffee beans at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) shops use the Red Bourbon variety to represent the classic flavor of the Brazil producing region, because Red Bourbon is not only the variety with the highest proportion of Brazil's coffee production but also the most original variety.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Brazil Red Bourbon Coffee Beans

Country: Brazil Region: South Minas Altitude: 1000m Variety: Red Bourbon Processing Method: Semi-washed Flavor: Nut, Chocolate, Cream, Peanut, Caramel

What Is Yellow Bourbon?

Yellow Bourbon is a genetic mutation of Bourbon. Bourbon has always been regarded as outstanding among coffees for its high yield and good quality, and Yellow Bourbon is a Bourbon variant unique to São Paulo State, Brazil. Its fruit does not turn red like Red Bourbon when ripe, but instead turns orange-yellow, hence the name Yellow Bourbon. Because Yellow Bourbon is mostly grown at high altitudes, its flavor expression is quite excellent.

Through cupping, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found that Yellow Bourbon grown at high altitudes has an excellent flavor. Yellow Bourbon once swept the top three places in the Brazil Cup of Excellence competition for two consecutive years, thereby gaining great fame in the specialty coffee world. Its flavor usually presents nutty and chocolate notes, with balanced and smooth acidity, a faint and clean bitterness, and an overall bright and refreshing character.

The Brazil Queen Estate coffee beans introduced by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) shops are precisely of the Yellow Bourbon variety, which also explains why it has excellent sweetness, an overall balanced and full-bodied character, and a smooth mouthfeel.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Brazil Queen Coffee Beans

Country: Brazil Region: São Paulo State (Queen Estate) Altitude: 1400-1950m Variety: Yellow Bourbon Processing Method: Semi-washed / Natural Flavor: Nut, Cream, Peanut, Fermented Fruit, Cane Sugar

What Is Pink Bourbon?

Pink Bourbon, as the name suggests, presents a romantic pink color when the fruit is ripe and is a rare coffee variety. However, according to Front Street's understanding, Pink Bourbon first appeared not in its place of origin, Brazil, but was discovered in the town of Palestine in Huila Department, Colombia, and therefore it is currently mainly grown in Colombia's Huila region.

According to Front Street's understanding, Pink Bourbon is a natural hybrid of Yellow Bourbon and Red Bourbon. Yellow Bourbon and Red Bourbon belong to dominant traits expressed by dominant genes, with relatively strong reproductive stability; while Pink Bourbon produced by their hybridization belongs to a recessive trait expressed by recessive genes, and its offspring are highly prone to trait segregation.

There is another claim regarding Pink Bourbon's genetics: some studies have found that Pink Bourbon is a natural hybrid of Bourbon and Caturra. Caturra is a variant of Bourbon, and the Colombia variety, as a coffee tree species heavily promoted locally, carries some Robusta genes; its advantage is high yield and resistance to leaf rust, while its drawback is mediocre flavor and a lack of delicate sweetness and acidity.

The reason Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) calls Pink Bourbon a rare variety is mainly because maintaining this beautiful pink color is very difficult. Artificial hybridization sometimes yields Orange Bourbon, because the fruit color is ultimately determined by recessive genes in the pollen grains—these pollen grains carry both yellow genes tending toward Yellow Bourbon and red genes tending toward Red Bourbon, all of which are recessive genes and highly prone to interfering with each other. Therefore, Pink Bourbon has a scarce yield and a relatively expensive price.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) shops currently also have Pink Bourbon variety coffee beans from Huila, Colombia. This bean carries a distinctive cherry tomato flavor that easily evokes berry acidity, along with vanilla and dark chocolate flavors, with an overall cane sugar sweetness in the aftertaste and pronounced flavor layers.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Colombia Isabella Coffee Beans

Country: Colombia Region: Huila Altitude: 1760m Variety: Pink Bourbon Processing Method: Semi-washed Flavor: Cherry Tomato, Citrus, Floral, Honey, Fruit

The above is the knowledge about Bourbon variety coffee beans compiled by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), and we hope it can help coffee fans who want to learn about the Bourbon variety. Before listing each new bean, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) conducts extensive roasting and brewing tests to determine the optimal pour-over parameters and ensure stable quality. Next, we will share the brewing data for these three coffee beans.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Roasting Parameter Sharing

Brazil coffee beans are known for their full-bodied character. To highlight this characteristic, the roast level is recommended to be controlled at medium or above, so the roasters at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) used medium roast for both Brazil Bourbon beans.

Roasting Data for Red Bourbon Coffee Beans and Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans:

Yangjia 800N, bean charge 550g: preheat until the machine reaches 200 degrees and charge, adjust heat to 150, open airflow to 3, turning point at 1'30", maintain heat, at 5'10" turn yellow, grassy smell disappears, entering the dehydration stage, lower heat to 125, open airflow to 3.5. At 8'20" dehydration is complete, the bean surface shows wrinkles and dark spots, the toasted bread smell turns to coffee aroma, which is the prelude to first crack; at 178 degrees lower heat to 80, at this point pay attention to listen for the sound of first crack, at 9'14" first crack begins, open airflow fully to 5. Development time after first crack is 3'00, drop at 201 degrees.

Roasting Data for Pink Bourbon Coffee Beans:

Because Pink Bourbon has a unique flavor expression, in order to draw out the better flavor of this bean, the Front Street roaster used a medium-light roast. Charge when the drum temperature reaches 180°C, open airflow to 3, heat at 120; turning point at 1'42", when the drum temperature is 140°C keep the heat unchanged, open airflow to 4; at this point the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage; at 176°C lower heat to 100, at 180°C lower heat to 70, keep the airflow unchanged. At 8'17", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark spots, the toasted bread smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack; at this point listen clearly for the sound of first crack, at 9'30" first crack begins, adjust airflow to 5 (adjusting heat must be done very carefully, not so low that there is no crackling sound), develop for 1'30'' after first crack, drop at 191.5°C.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Brewing Recommendations

Brewing Recommendations for Brazil Red Bourbon & Yellow Bourbon

Dripper: KONO Dose: 15g Water Temperature: 90°C Grind: Medium grind, 70% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

For darker-roasted beans like Brazil coffee beans, to highlight the full-bodied character, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chooses the Kono dripper for brewing. The Kono dripper's feature lies in its immersion function, which can use immersion to extract more coffee substances and enhance the full-bodied mouthfeel. Its ribs are few and located at the lower end, allowing the filter paper to fit closely against the dripper to restrict airflow, thereby slowing the water flow rate and increasing the contact time between water and coffee.

The water temperature is chosen at 88°C, which is a relatively low brewing temperature and can avoid extracting too many off-flavors from the coffee beans during brewing, because the darker the coffee beans are roasted, the more off-flavors increase accordingly.

Brewing Recommendations for Colombia Pink Bourbon

Dripper: Hario V60 Water Temperature: 90°C Dose: 15g Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:16 Grind: Medium-fine grind (BG 6k: 82% passing through a China standard No. 20 sieve)

Pink Bourbon is a medium-light roast, so Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chooses to brew with the V60 dripper, because the V60 dripper's long ribs help quickly extract flavor substances, and the large hole poses no risk of obstruction, giving the brewed coffee layers of flavor.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Brewing Method

All three coffee beans use staged extraction: 30g of water for blooming for 30 seconds, then pour in a small stream in circles until 125g for the stage break, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225g and stop, (timing starts at the beginning of blooming) with an extraction time of 2 minutes. The brewing method for the two beans should be kept as consistent as possible.

(Red Bourbon) Brazil Red Bourbon Coffee Bean Brewing Flavor: High sweetness, clean, smooth, low acidity, with flavors of peanut, almond, nut, and chocolate.

(Yellow Bourbon) Brazil Queen Estate Coffee Bean Flavor: Balanced mouthfeel; amid the main notes of almond and cocoa, the sweetness of cane sugar stands out. It is a coffee with good body and abundant sweetness.

(Pink Bourbon) Colombia Isabella Coffee Bean Brewing Flavor: On the palate there are citrus, berry, and cherry tomato; as the temperature changes, there is caramel sweetness and a faint fermented aroma; the finish has floral and nutty creamy aromas, with a smooth and clean mouthfeel.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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