What makes Bourbon Pointu a naturally low-caffeine coffee?

Bourbon Pointu, academically Coffea Laurina, is a rare coffee variety with a natural caffeine content of only 0.5 percent, named for its slender beans with pointed ends. Unlike artificially decaffeinated coffee, its low caffeine comes from genetic degeneration, and it was once thought extinct before being rediscovered and revived in 2001.

The variety yields poorly and is highly susceptible to leaf rust and black spot disease, which keeps plantings small and mostly confined to laboratories. It was widely grown on Bourbon Island in the 18th and 19th centuries, peaking at 4,000 metric tons in 1800, and in 2018 Swiss competitor Emi Fukahori won the World Coffee Brewing Championship using it.

Bourbon Pointu is a rare coffee variety with a natural caffeine content of only 0.5%, named for its elongated bean shape with pointed ends. It is naturally low in caffeine due to genetic degeneration, with outstanding flavor, but extremely low yield and highly susceptible to leaf rust and black spot disease, and was once extinct. In the 18th century, it was highly praised by Louis XV and Balzac, but disappeared due to disasters, and was only rediscovered and revived in 2001. At the 2018 World Coffee Brewing Championship, Swiss competitor Emi Fukahori won the championship with it, proving its exceptional quality. This article will provide a detailed introduction to the characteristics, history, flavor of Bourbon Pointu, and the brewing parameters of Front Street Coffee.

When it comes to decaffeinated coffee, most people think of products where caffeine is removed through special processes. However, in nature, there actually exists a coffee variety with naturally very low caffeine content, only 0.5%, which is Bourbon Pointu that Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will introduce to you today.

Bourbon Pointu is academically called "Coffea Laurina", i.e., Laurina coffee, but is commonly known as Bourbon Pointu. The name comes from its coffee beans being relatively slender with slightly pointed ends.

Why is the caffeine content of Bourbon Pointu so low?

Unlike artificially processed decaffeinated coffee, Bourbon Pointu has lower caffeine content than ordinary Bourbon coffee trees due to genetic degeneration, and better flavor. But its yield is extremely low, which is also why Bourbon Pointu is rare and expensive. This variety is particularly susceptible to leaf rust and black spot disease, which are the main factors causing low yield. Because of this, Bourbon Pointu is very precious and mostly cultivated in laboratories.

As early as the 18th century, Bourbon Pointu was favored by the world; King Louis XV of France and the famous novelist Balzac were both its "fans". During the two hundred years from the 18th to the 19th century, Bourbon Pointu was widely planted on Bourbon Island, and in 1800, annual production reached a peak of 4,000 metric tons.

But subsequently, a series of disasters such as hurricanes, fire ants, and leaf rust followed one after another, and the planted amount gradually decreased. Finally, in 1942, the last batch of Bourbon Pointu shipped back to France was only a pitiful 200 kilograms. After that, Bourbon Pointu disappeared without a trace, and even official documents no longer mentioned it; it was once extinct.

Decades after Bourbon Pointu vanished, Yoshinori Kawashima, a coffee expert from UCC Ueshima Coffee in Japan, repeatedly heard coffee farmers in El Salvador mention that "low-caffeine coffee trees may still survive on Bourbon Island in French territory," which sparked his idea to search for Bourbon Pointu.

So, when he went to Africa for an inspection in 1999, he took the opportunity to visit Bourbon Island to look for the legendary low-caffeine coffee trees. However, things did not go smoothly. Young people on the island had never heard that Bourbon Island once had coffee crops, so he had no choice but to leave contact addresses with local farmers and officials before leaving.

Finally, two years later, in 2001, Kawashima received a phone call from a farmer on Bourbon Island, saying that more than thirty unknown coffee trees had been found in the wild.

Later, expert identification confirmed that they were the Bourbon Pointu coffee trees from back then. Therefore, French scientists cooperated with UCC Ueshima Coffee in Japan and launched a revival plan for natural low-caffeine coffee trees. Finally, in 2006, the first small batch of Bourbon Pointu coffee beans was obtained. After screening, they were sold in 2007, but mainly supplied to the Japanese market at a high price, said to be four times more expensive than top Blue Mountain coffee.

At the 2018 World Coffee Brewing Championship, Emi Fukahori from Switzerland, with a semi-carbonic maceration processed Bourbon Pointu from Brazil, defeated many Panama Geishas and stood out, becoming another memorable chapter in the history of coffee competitions.

The beans she chose at the time came from a Laurina Bourbon Pointu (i.e., Bourbon Pointu) from the Cerrado Region of Daterra Estate in Brazil. She mentioned in her explanation that this variety has 50% less caffeine and 20% less chlorogenic acid than other Arabica varieties, so its bitterness is greatly reduced. The flavors and aromas described by Emi Fukahori included: red grape, orange blossom, pineapple, rum, green apple. Being able to prevail over many Geishas and finally win the WBrC crown shows that the Bourbon Pointu variety should not be underestimated.

The Bourbon Pointu coffee tree resembles a small Christmas tree, with shorter branches and narrow leaves, and its caffeine content is only 0.5%. It is particularly susceptible to leaf rust and black spot disease, which are the main reasons for its low yield, and its red cherries mature earlier than other varieties.

Although today's Bourbon Pointu no longer commands the exaggerated prices of back then, it is still a very precious bean. So, what exactly does such an expensive Bourbon Pointu taste like?

By observing the roasted beans, it can be seen that Bourbon Pointu coffee beans are generally small and uniform, slender in shape with relatively pointed ends, resembling wheat.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) brewed a pot of naturally processed Bourbon Pointu coffee. The parameters and flavor description are as follows:

Parameters: 15 grams of coffee powder, Hario V60 dripper, water temperature 90℃, medium-fine grind, powder-to-water ratio 1:15.

Brewing method: staged extraction. Use 30 grams of water for blooming; when the surface of the coffee bed changes from wet to dry, the blooming can be ended. The blooming time is 30 seconds; pour water in a small stream at the center to 125 grams for the staged pour; when the liquid level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 grams and stop; when the liquid level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Start timing from the beginning of blooming.) The extraction time is 2 minutes.

Flavor: The dry aroma smells of fermentation, spices, nuts, and tropical fruit; the wet aroma has obvious floral notes; the entry is smooth, with flavors of red fruit, plum, and pine nut, and a lasting sucrose sweetness.

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