Why does typica coffee matter to Arabica today?

Typica coffee is one of the oldest Arabica varieties, and it began in Ethiopia before spreading through Yemen, India, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America. That journey shaped today's coffee-producing map. Arabica beans now account for roughly 70 percent of global production, and Typica is one of the parents behind many of the varieties grown in that share.

The tree is easy to recognize: a conical shape with a vertical trunk reaching about 5 meters, lateral branches at 50 to 80 degrees, slender leaves and beans, and bronze-colored leaf buds. Mature cherries are bright red. Yields are low, altitude matters, and the plant is prone to leaf rust and pests, so growers often hybridize Typica with other Arabica variety lines to raise output while holding quality.

Typica, one of the oldest varieties of Arabica coffee, started from Ethiopia and spread through Yemen, India, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America, ultimately shaping the global coffee-producing landscape. This article traces Typica's global spread in detail and analyzes its botanical characteristics and cultivation key points. It also uses Jamaica Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee as an example to showcase Typica's flavor performance in cupping and brewing, giving you a comprehensive understanding of this classic variety's past and present.

In today's world, Arabica coffee beans account for about 70% of global production. As one of the oldest varieties of this species, Typica gradually spread from its birthplace in Ethiopia to various continents, driving the rise of many coffee-producing countries. How did it complete this global journey? What are the considerations in cultivation? Front Street Coffee will trace Typica's spread in this article and show how a single seed grows into a coffee tree.

Typica Coffee Bean Variety

Typica belongs to a sub-variety under Arabica coffee. This variety initially grew on Martinique Island, and its current main cultivation areas include Central America, Jamaica, Hawaii Kona, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor. To maintain high quality while increasing Typica's yield, growers usually hybridize it with other varieties.

The Typica tree has highly recognizable appearance. The plant is conical, with a vertical main trunk that can grow up to 5 meters tall. This height makes the distance between branches and between nodes on the same branch relatively longer. Lateral branches form acute angles of 50 to 80 degrees with the main trunk. The trunk and branches are not particularly thick, and the leaves, fruit, and green beans are mostly slender. The tender leaf buds are bronze-colored. Compared with other Arabica varieties, Typica's leaf surface is smoother and has fewer wavy edges. Mature Typica cherries are bright red.

The bronze-colored top leaves of Typica are one of its signature characteristics. The beans are relatively large, shaped as pointed ovals or slender points, so some people also call it "red-top coffee." However, its shortcomings include low yield, certain altitude requirements, susceptibility to leaf rust, and weak resistance to pests and diseases. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found through cupping that Typica has a clear, clean flavor and balanced mouthfeel, with outstanding cleanliness.

Typica Coffee's Global Spread Path

Typica's homeland—Ethiopia: The name Arabica can easily make people mistakenly believe its place of origin is the Arabian Peninsula, but it actually originated in Ethiopia. The reason it is called Arabica is that the Arabian Peninsula lies at the intersection of Asia, Europe, and Africa and was the center of world cultural exchange before the Age of Discovery. In 1753, botanist Linnaeus mistakenly believed the coffee came from the Middle East, so he gave it the scientific name Coffea arabica L. It was not until 2002 that a coffee genetic material research project funded by Europe discovered that the coffee genetic diversity in Yemen and other places was far lower than in Ethiopia, which helped Arabica find its true homeland. Typica's first stop—Yemen: When coffee first spread to the Arabian Peninsula, it was used only as medicine. After hundreds of years of rooting and reproducing, around 1500, the ports of Mocha and Aden in Yemen began the practice of crushing dried coffee fruit pulp and soaking it in water to drink, called "qishr." Later it further developed into grinding and boiling coffee beans roasted with fruit pulp and cinnamon, called "qahwa."

Typica's second stop—India: Around 1600, a devout Indian Muslim named Baba Budan traveled to Mecca on pilgrimage. On the way, he became enamored with coffee and tried to illegally smuggle green beans back to India. He stole 7 Yemeni Typica coffee seeds, returned to Karnataka in southwestern India, planted them in the Chikmagalur hills, and successfully propagated them. This was the first successful case in history of smuggling Yemeni coffee green beans elsewhere for cultivation.

Typica's third stop—Europe: Around the 17th century, Yemen's Mocha Port was already a world-famous coffee export port. At that time, to prevent coffee seeds from leaving the country, all exported coffee was roasted beans, and coffee was therefore called "black gold." When coffee spread to Europe in the 17th century, the Dutch, known as the "sea coachmen," sensed enormous business opportunities. It could be said that whoever controlled coffee possessed gold.

In the early 17th century, Europeans led by the Dutch obtained Yemeni coffee saplings through illegal theft or seizure by force, but Europe's cold climate made it difficult for these saplings to survive, and they withered one after another. It was not until 1616 that Captain De Boeijck of the Dutch East India Company stole coffee trees from Mocha, Yemen, transported them back to Amsterdam, and carefully planted them in a large greenhouse, where they finally flowered and fruited. This Typica coffee tree was also called the "European mother plant." In 1699, the Dutch transplanted Indian Typica to Java and successfully trial-cultivated it, and in 1706 they transported Java Typica back to the Netherlands for cultivation.

Typica's fourth stop—Southeast Asia: As early as 1658, the Dutch transplanted descendants of the "European mother plant" to Sri Lanka, but unfortunately the cultivation failed. In 1699, the Dutch transplanted coffee trees from Malabar in eastern India to Java. This trial cultivation succeeded, and Typica grew steadily in Java. In 1718, the Dutch transplanted successfully trial-grown Java Typica to Sumatra and Sulawesi. After more than a century of reproduction, just as Indonesian Typica was developing strongly, a leaf rust epidemic at the end of the 19th century swept through most Typica in Indonesia, and later the more disease-resistant Robusta variety had to be introduced. Typica's fifth stop—Central and South America: In 1708, coffee trees stolen by France from Mocha failed trial cultivation in Dijon. In 1714, the mayor of Amsterdam presented Java coffee saplings to King Louis XIV of France, and France also built a greenhouse to carefully care for this sole plant. Between 1715 and 1719, descendants of this mother plant were transplanted to French possessions in Central and South America, but all failed.

In 1720, naval officer Gabriel de Clieu stole a Typica sapling from the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris, carefully protected it all the way while sailing west to the Americas, and finally arrived at the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean in 1723, where he carefully planted this sole coffee plant. Three years later, this "European mother plant" was laden with fruit. By 1777, Martinique had planted 19 million Typica trees. In the mid-to-late 18th century, countries in Central and South America such as Jamaica, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Venezuela successively introduced Typica coffee trees, and Typica thus took firm root in Central and South America.

Typica's sixth stop—a small journey in the 19th century: In 1825, Hawaii introduced improved Guatemalan Typica coffee and planted it in the Kona region, becoming today's famous island coffee—Kona Coffee. In 1904, French missionary Father Tian Deneng went to Dali to preach and planted a Typica coffee tree in Zhukula Village. This tree also became the ancestor of Yunnan coffee.

Now that we understand the spread history of Typica coffee, next let's follow Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) to learn about Typica coffee's growth process. In recent years, Front Street has been growing Typica coffee beans on plots at the border of Yunnan and Myanmar, with the aim of improving Yunnan coffee's quality by changing the existing varieties grown in Yunnan. Next, follow Front Street to understand the process from a coffee bean to a coffee tree.

Seed selection: This starts with a coffee seed. Coffee seeds are also "coffee beans." First comes seed selection, choosing high-quality varieties and high-quality beans. Variety refers to Typica, Bourbon, etc. Front Street believes that only high-quality varieties can produce high-quality coffee; high-quality beans refer to quality. Front Street believes that breeding fruit must be fully mature, normal in shape, plump, and basically uniform in size. If short-term storage is needed, seed moisture content should be reduced to 13%. Within 1 to 3 months, the germination rate after sowing can reach 100%, while from 4 to 7 months the germination rate is only 29%.

Germination promotion: First soak the prepared coffee seeds in 45% warm water for 24 hours, then sow the seeds in medium-coarse sand (river sand), cover with 1 to 2 centimeters of coarse sand, and then spread a layer of 3 to 5 centimeters of rice straw, keeping the sand layer moist. About 20 days after sowing, the coffee seeds begin to sprout, and after 40 to 60 days they begin to break through the soil. At this time, a shade shed must be built, requiring a shading rate of 80%.

Seedling cultivation: When the sprouts begin to grow their first pair of leaves, Front Street's coffee farmers screen the coffee seedlings, selecting high-quality coffee seedlings and moving them into nutrient bags for cultivation.

Tree maturity: After seedling cultivation is completed, they must be transplanted into the field for planting. Altitude is closely related to coffee quality. Front Street believes that Arabica coffee grown above 1,200 meters will have better quality. In the first and second years after planting, coffee trees mainly undergo vegetative growth, and only in the third year and later will they begin to flower and fruit.

Flowering: Coffee trees bloom on rainy days after the dry season, and the first flowering period is around 3 years of tree age. The flowers are white and grow in clusters on the second branch of the coffee tree, with 5 to 6 petals. At this time, you can smell the pure white flowers carrying a rich jasmine fragrance.

Fruiting: A few months after the coffee flowers wither, the coffee tree begins to bear fruit. The newly formed coffee cherries are green. As they slowly mature, the color changes from green to yellow, and after fully ripening they turn red.

Picking: Coffee farmers begin picking when the coffee cherries are ripe. The best method is manual selective picking, choosing only fully ripe red cherries. Training a skilled coffee picker requires great cost. As the saying goes, "Who knows that every grain on the plate is hard work?" Whether it is rice, coffee beans, or other crops, behind all cultivation is a group of farmers carefully tending them, so Front Street would like to remind everyone here not to waste all hard-earned food.

Alright, back to the topic. Now the most famous place in the world for growing Typica is none other than Jamaica Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee. Next, through roasting, cupping, and brewing, Front Street will look at how Jamaican Blue Mountain Typica coffee performs in flavor. The Blue Mountains are located in eastern Jamaica, at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,700 meters. The Blue Mountains lie in the coffee-growing belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh and pollution-free air, a humid climate, and fog and rain all year round, with average precipitation of 1,980 millimeters and temperatures around 27 degrees. This climate has created the world-renowned Jamaica Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee. Only Blue Mountain grown in this region is authentic Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee. Blue Mountain Typica was transplanted from Martinique to Jamaica's Blue Mountains in the 1720s. After more than 200 years, Blue Mountain Typica has evolved better disease resistance, especially stronger resistance to coffee berry disease than ordinary Typica. However, once Blue Mountain Typica leaves Jamaica, its sweet, delicate aroma cannot be replicated.

The two Front Street Blue Mountain coffees currently listed by Front Street come from Clifton Farm, and Clifton Estate is also the only estate in the Blue Mountain growing region with Rainforest Alliance certification. Before 2019, Clifton Farm's Blue Mountain coffee always used the washed method to process green beans. During processing, the skin and pulp are first removed, and the beans are fermented for 12 to 18 hours. Then the fermented beans are placed in a tank and pushed back and forth, using the friction of the beans and the action of running water to wash the coffee beans until smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still wrapped in the parchment layer, with a moisture content of 50%, and must be dried in the sun to reduce the moisture content to 12% to 14%, otherwise they will continue to ferment and become moldy and spoiled. After that, the coffee beans are screened and then stored in special warehouses.

In the new 2020 crop season, Clifton Farm launched Blue Mountain coffee beans with natural processing for the first time, which was quite novel. Jamaica has a tropical rainforest climate, with rainy seasons from May to June and September to November each year, with the most showers in January and May. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee's harvest and processing season is from February to June each year, half of which falls in the rainy season, so using natural processing is obviously impractical. In addition, traditionally naturally processed coffee has unstable quality, and coffee quality depends entirely on the weather. Also, good-quality natural processing has higher labor costs than methods such as washing. When coffee cherries are dried in the sun on drying beds, they need to be turned manually every few hours to maintain ventilation, reducing mold while ensuring even drying. This thankless processing method was even harder to carry out in Jamaica at that time. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Blue Mountain Coffee Roasting Notes

Front Street Washed Blue Mountain: Charge when the roaster temperature reaches 170°C, set airflow to 3, after 1 minute adjust heat to 140°C, keep airflow unchanged, roast until 5 minutes 10 seconds, temperature 153°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete, adjust heat to 115°C, airflow to 4; at the 8th minute, wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen clearly for the sound of the first crack point. First crack begins at 8 minutes 12 seconds. Reduce heat to 90°C, fully open airflow (adjust heat very carefully, not so low that there is no cracking sound), and discharge at 201.3°C.

Front Street Natural Blue Mountain: Charge when the roaster temperature is 165°C, heat 130, airflow set to 3; turning point at 1 minute 32 seconds, when roaster temperature is 95.8°C, keep heat unchanged; at 3 minutes adjust airflow to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat to 140. At 6 minutes 30 seconds, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and the dehydration stage begins. At 8 minutes 36 seconds, wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen clearly for the sound of the first crack point. First crack begins at 10 minutes 06 seconds. After first crack, develop for 3 minutes and discharge at 198.5°C. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Blue Mountain Coffee Cupping Report

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) conducts cupping within 8 to 24 hours after sample coffee beans are roasted. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) baristas generally use ceramic cupping bowls with a capacity of 200 milliliters, marked with 150-milliliter and 200-milliliter scale lines. According to SCAA standards, the TDS of water is about 150 ppm. Too low TDS easily causes over-extraction, while too high TDS affects mouthfeel and easily causes under-extraction. The water temperature used for cupping is 94°C. According to SCAA standards, the cupping grind size is controlled so that 70% to 75% passes through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85 millimeters). The ratio is 11 grams of coffee grounds plus 200 milliliters of hot water, that is, 1 to 18.18, so that the extracted concentration falls exactly within the golden cup range of 1.15% to 1.35%, with a steep time of 4 minutes. Front Street Washed Blue Mountain Coffee Cupping

Dry aroma: roasted peanut, hazelnut, melon, chocolate Wet aroma: oolong tea, caramel, honey, chocolate, almond Flavor: roasted nuts, chocolate, almond, melon, honey, balanced acidity, sweetness, and bitterness

Front Street Natural Blue Mountain Coffee Cupping Dry aroma: nuts, woody Wet aroma: caramel Flavor: berries, smoked plum, mulberry, dark cocoa, nuts, slight fermented note

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Blue Mountain Coffee Brewing Suggestions

Dripper: Kono dripper Coffee dose: 15 grams Coffee-to-water ratio: 1 to 15 Water temperature: 88 to 89°C Grind size: medium-coarse grind (75% passing through No. 20 standard sieve)

Front Street brewing method: Pour 30 grams of water in the first stage for 30 seconds of blooming, then pour 95 grams (electronic scale shows about 125 grams), finishing the pour in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to two-thirds of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100 grams (electronic scale shows about 225 grams), finishing the pour in about 1 minute 40 to 1 minute 45 seconds. Dripping is completed at 2 minutes 05 seconds to 2 minutes 10 seconds. Remove the dripper and finish extraction.

[Front Street Washed Blue Mountain]: On the palate there are flavors of dark chocolate and nuts, high cleanliness, very bright, good body, balanced acidity, sweetness, and bitterness.

[Front Street Natural Blue Mountain]: On the palate there is brown sugar sweetness accompanied by berry acidity, with nutty cocoa flavors in the middle and back sections, a creamy mouthfeel, rich and obvious layers, and the finish brings out walnut aroma.

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