Where Did Typica Coffee Beans Come From and How Did They Spread?

Typica is one of the oldest Arabica varieties, and its journey started in Ethiopia before moving through Yemen, India, Europe and Southeast Asia, finally taking root across Central and South America. Today the main growing areas include Central America, Jamaica, the Kona region of Hawaii, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

The plant is easy to identify: a conical shape with a vertical trunk up to about 5 meters, lateral branches meeting the trunk at 50 to 80 degrees, slender leaves and green beans, and bronze-colored young leaf tips. Arabica accounts for roughly 70 percent of world production, and Typica's spread helped build the coffee industries of many producing countries.

Typica is one of the oldest varieties of Arabica coffee. Starting from Ethiopia, it traveled through Yemen, India, Europe, and Southeast Asia, eventually taking root in Central and South America, shaping the global landscape of coffee-producing countries. This article outlines the variety characteristics and global spread of Typica coffee beans, detailing the complete growth process from seed selection, germination, seedling cultivation to flowering, fruiting, and harvesting. Using Jamaica Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee as an example, it shares roasting parameters, cupping reports, and brewing suggestions, providing a comprehensive understanding of this classic variety.

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Currently, Arabica coffee beans account for about 70% of global production, and Typica, as one of the oldest Arabica varieties, has spread from its birthplace in Ethiopia to various parts of the world, driving the development of many coffee-producing countries. How exactly did it travel the world? How should Typica be cultivated? In this article, Front Street will outline the spread of Typica coffee and how it grows from a single seed into a coffee tree.

Typica Coffee Bean Variety

Typica belongs to a sub-variety under Arabica coffee and was first grown on Martinique. Currently, the main cultivation areas for Typica include Central America, Jamaica, the Kona region of Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor. To obtain higher yields from high-quality Typica, growers often hybridize Typica with other species for propagation.

The Typica tree has a highly recognizable appearance and can be considered one of the easiest varieties to identify. The plant is conical in shape with a vertical main trunk, reaching up to 5 meters in height. Such height means relatively longer spacing between branches and nodes on the same branch. The angle between lateral branches and the vertical main trunk is between 50 and 80 degrees, forming an acute angle. The trunk and branches are not particularly thick, and the leaves, fruits, and green beans are mostly slender. The tips of young leaf buds are bronze-colored. Compared to other Arabica varieties, Typica has smoother leaf surfaces and fewer wavy edges. Typical Typica fruits are bright red when ripe.

The bronze-colored top leaves of Typica are one of its signature characteristics. The beans are relatively large, pointed-oval or slender-pointed in shape, which is why some call it "Red Top Coffee." However, its shortcomings are also obvious: low yield, specific altitude requirements, and susceptibility to leaf rust, with weak resistance to pests and diseases. Through cupping, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) has found that Typica coffee has a clean, serene flavor and balanced characteristics, with high cup cleanliness.

The Global Spread of Typica Coffee

Ethiopia, the Hometown of Typica: The name Arabica can easily lead people to mistakenly believe its hometown is the Arabian Peninsula, but it actually originated in Ethiopia. It is called Arabica because the Arabian Peninsula, located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa, was a gathering place for world cultural exchange before the Age of Discovery. It was not until 1753 that botanist Linnaeus mistakenly believed the coffee originated from the Middle East and gave it the scientific name Coffea arabica L. In 2002, a European-funded coffee genetic research project discovered that the genetic diversity of coffee in Yemen and other places was far lower than in Ethiopia, which "helped" Arabica find its true hometown.

The First Stop of Typica's Spread—Yemen: When coffee was first introduced to the Arabian Peninsula, it was used only for medicinal purposes. After taking root over several centuries, around 1500, the ports of Mocha and Aden in Yemen saw the rise of a method of drinking dried coffee fruit pulp crushed and soaked in water, called "Qishr." Later, it developed into a method of grinding and boiling roasted coffee beans with pulp and cinnamon, called "Qahwa."

The Second Stop of Typica's Spread—India: Around 1600, a devout Islamic follower in India named Baba Budan traveled to Mecca on a pilgrimage, became fascinated with coffee, and attempted to illegally smuggle green beans back to India, stealing 7 Yemeni Typica coffee seeds. He returned to the Karnataka province in southwestern India and successfully planted them on the Chikmagalur hills, where they thrived. This was the first successful case in history of smuggling coffee green beans from Yemen to be planted elsewhere.

The Third Stop of Typica's Spread—Europe: Around the 17th century, the port of Mocha in Yemen had already become a world-renowned coffee export port. At that time, to prevent coffee seeds from flowing to other places for planting, exported coffee was sold only in the form of roasted beans, so coffee was also called black gold. When coffee was introduced to Europe in the 17th century, the Netherlands, known as the "sea coachman," sensed enormous business opportunities. It could be said that whoever possessed coffee possessed gold.

In the early 17th century, Europeans led by the Dutch seized Yemeni coffee saplings through illegal theft or force, but the cold climate of Europe caused the stolen coffee saplings to wither and die. It was not until 1616 that Captain De Boeyek of the Dutch East India Company stole coffee trees from Mocha, Yemen, transported them back to Amsterdam, and carefully cultivated them in a large greenhouse, finally achieving flowering and fruiting. This Typica coffee tree was also called the "European Mother Plant." In 1699, the Netherlands transplanted Indian Typica to Java with successful trial cultivation, and in 1706 transported Javan Typica back to the Netherlands for cultivation.

The Fourth Stop of Typica's Spread—Southeast Asia: As early as 1658, the Netherlands transplanted descendants of the "European Mother Plant" to Sri Lanka, but unfortunately the cultivation failed. Later in 1699, the Netherlands transplanted coffee trees from Malabar in eastern India to Java. This trial cultivation succeeded, and Typica grew steadily in Java. In 1718, the Netherlands transplanted successfully trial-grown Javan Typica to Sumatra and Sulawesi. After more than a century of propagation, just as Indonesian Typica was at its peak, a leaf rust epidemic at the end of the 19th century swept through most of Indonesia's Typica, and later the disease-resistant variety Robusta had to be introduced.

The Fifth Stop of Typica's Spread—Central and South America: In 1708, the coffee trees stolen by France from Mocha failed trial cultivation in Dijon. In 1714, the mayor of Amsterdam gifted Javan coffee saplings to King Louis XIV of France, and France also established a greenhouse to carefully care for this single plant. Between 1715 and 1719, descendants of this mother plant were transplanted to French territories in Central and South America, but none succeeded.

In 1720, a naval officer named Gabriel de Clieu stole a Typica sapling from the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris, escorted it all the way westward across the Americas, and finally arrived at the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean in 1723, carefully planting this sole coffee plant. Three years later, this "European Mother Plant" was laden with fruit. By 1777, 19 million Typica trees were planted on Martinique. In the mid-to-late 18th century, countries in Central and South America such as Jamaica, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Venezuela also successively introduced Typica coffee trees, and Typica thus firmly took root in Central and South America.

The Sixth Stop of Typica's Spread—A Small Journey in the 19th Century: In 1825, Hawaii introduced improved Guatemalan Typica coffee and planted it in the Kona region, which became 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 coffee tree also became the ancestor of Yunnan coffee.

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

Seed Selection: This still starts with a single coffee seed. The coffee seed is the "coffee bean." The first step is seed selection, choosing superior varieties and superior beans. Variety refers to Typica, Bourbon, etc. Front Street believes that only superior varieties can produce superior coffee. Superior beans refer to quality. Front Street believes that the selected breeding fruit must be fully mature, normal in shape, plump and full, and basically uniform in size. If short-term storage is needed, the seed moisture content should be reduced to 13%, and the germination rate can reach 100% when sown within 1-3 months, while the germination rate is only 29% at 4-7 months.

Germination: First, soak the prepared coffee seeds in 45% warm water for 24 hours, then sow the seeds in medium-coarse sand (river sand), add 1-2 cm of coarse sand on top, then cover with a layer of 3-5 cm of straw, and moisten the sand layer. About 20 days after sowing, the coffee seeds begin to sprout, and after 40-60 days they break through the soil. At this point, 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 will screen the coffee seedlings, selecting high-quality coffee seedlings to transfer into nutrient bags for cultivation.

Tree Formation: After seedling cultivation is complete, they must be transplanted to the field for planting. Altitude has a great connection with coffee quality. Front Street believes that Arabica coffee planted above 1,200 meters will have better quality. In the first and second years after planting, the coffee tree mainly undergoes vegetative growth, and only in the third year and beyond will it begin to flower and fruit.

Flowering: Coffee trees bloom on rainy days after the dry season. The first flowering period of a coffee tree is about 3 years of tree age. The flowers are white and grow in clusters on the second branch of the coffee tree, with 5-6 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, and as they slowly mature, the color changes from green to yellow, and when fully mature, they turn red.

Harvesting: Coffee farmers must begin harvesting when the coffee cherries are ripe. The best harvesting method is manual selective picking, selecting only fully ripe red cherries. Training a skilled coffee picker requires significant cost. There is a saying: "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 not to waste any hard-earned food~

Alright, back to the topic. Currently, the most famous place in the world for growing Typica is none other than Jamaica's Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee. Next, Front Street will examine the flavor performance of Jamaican Blue Mountain Typica coffee through roasting, cupping, and brewing. The Blue Mountain range is located in the eastern part of Jamaica, at an altitude of 1,000-1,700 m. Blue Mountain is situated in the coffee-growing belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air, no pollution, a humid climate, and fog and rain year-round (average precipitation of 1,980 mm, temperature around 27°C). This climate has created the world-renowned Jamaica Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee. Only coffee grown in this region is authentic Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee. Blue Mountain Typica was transplanted from Martinique to Jamaica's Blue Mountain in the 1720s. After more than 200 years, Blue Mountain Typica has evolved better disease resistance, especially superior resistance to coffee berry disease compared to ordinary Typica. However, once Blue Mountain Typica leaves Jamaica, it cannot replicate its sweet and delicate aroma characteristics.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Blue Mountain Coffee Roasting Experience

Front Street Blue Mountain Roasting Parameters: Charge when the drum temperature reaches 170°C, set the airflow to 3. After 1 minute, adjust the heat to 140°C, keep the airflow unchanged. Roast until 5'10'', at 153°C, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and dehydration is complete. Adjust the heat to 115°C, change the airflow to 4. At 8'00", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark spots, and the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'12", first crack begins. Reduce the heat to 90°C, open the airflow fully (adjusting the heat must be very careful, not so low that there is no cracking sound), and drop the beans at 201.3°C.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Blue Mountain Coffee Cupping Report

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting sample coffee beans. The cupping bowls generally used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) baristas have a capacity of 200 ml ceramic bowls, marked with 150 ml and 200 ml graduations. According to SCAA standards, the water TDS is around 150 ppm. Too low TDS can easily cause over-extraction, while too high TDS affects the mouthfeel and easily causes under-extraction. The water temperature used for cupping is 94°C. According to SCAA cupping standards, the grinding degree is controlled so that the passage rate through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85 mm) is 70%-75%. Ratio: 11 grams of coffee powder to 200 ml of hot water, i.e., 1:18.18, so that the extracted concentration falls exactly within the golden cup range of 1.15%-1.35%. Steeping time: 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 sweet-acidic-bitter

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

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

Front Street Brewing Method: First pour 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95 grams (electronic scale shows about 125 grams), completing the pour in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100 grams (electronic scale shows about 225 grams), completing the pour in about 1 minute 40 seconds to 1'45". Dripping is completed at 2 minutes 05 seconds to 2 minutes 1 second. Remove the dripper to complete extraction.

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

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