What Are the Defining Traits of Typica Coffee?

Typica is one of the oldest varieties within the Arabica species, traced to Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan, and the genetic source of many later Arabica coffees. Its top leaves are copper-red, which earned it the name red-top coffee, and the beans are oval or slender-pointed with an elegant flavor.

The plant is relatively weak, resists disease poorly, and yields few fruits, which is why Catimor now covers about 99 percent of Yunnan's planted area. Yunnan's old Typica, such as the sun-dried lots from Lincang, shows nut, caramel, and toast aromas with plum, cream, and soft fruit acidity after a medium slow roast.

Typica is one of the oldest varieties of Arabica coffee and the genetic source of many high-quality coffees. This article will take you deep into the botanical characteristics, historical origins, and flavor profile of Typica coffee beans, and focus on the Yunnan production area to interpret the "Front Street 2013" sun-dried Typica cultivated by Front Street Coffee on its Lincang plantation. From seedling cultivation to stable production, it took seven years, and this bean presents aromas of nuts, caramel, and toast, as well as layers of plum, cream, and soft fruit acidity. At the same time, we will also share the Front Street roaster's medium slow-roast curve and pour-over parameters to help you better reproduce the roundness and sweetness of this Yunnan Typica.

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The origin of Typica coffee beans can be traced back to Ethiopia and the southeastern region of Sudan, and it is one of the oldest coffee varieties within the Arabica species. The top leaves of this variety are a copper-red color, so it is also called red-top coffee, and it also has the name old-variety small-bean coffee. At present, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) offers two kinds of coffee beans from Yunnan, among which the one labeled Front Street Yunnan small bean is actually the Catimor variety, because 99% of Yunnan's current planting area is Catimor; while Front Street 2013 Typica belongs to Yunnan's old variety Typica coffee beans. On Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s plantation in Yunnan, both Typica coffee varieties and a small amount of Bourbon are planted.

Typica: Originating from Ethiopia's oldest native variety, all Arabica coffee can be traced back to Typica coffee beans. Typica's top leaves are bronze-colored, and the beans are oval or slender-pointed; the flavor is elegant, but the plant is relatively weak, has poor disease resistance, and produces relatively few fruits. As is well known, Ethiopia is the birthplace of Arabica coffee beans, and Typica naturally also came from this land. Around the 7th century AD, the Yemen region had already begun cultivating coffee, and those coffee trees all had copper-colored tops, producing oval coffee beans that were flat on one side. This was the Typica variety. Of course, the name Typica was given to this variety by later people based on these characteristics.

Typica Tree Characteristics Typica has very distinctive characteristics, and it may be the easiest variety to identify. The plant is conical, with a vertical trunk, and can grow up to 5 meters tall. This height means that, compared with other varieties, the spacing between Typica's branches and the nodes on the same branch is longer.

The side branches form an angle of 50 to 70 degrees with the vertical trunk. Neither the trunk nor the branches are very thick, and the leaves, fruit, and green beans are usually slender, with young leaf tips being bronze-colored. Compared with other Arabica varieties, Typica's leaf surface is smoother and has fewer wavy edges. Typical Typica fruit is 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, and some people also call it "red-top coffee." Typica coffee has a uniquely clear, clean flavor and balanced performance, with high cleanliness in the cup. However, the shortcoming is insufficient yield, certain altitude requirements, susceptibility to leaf rust, and not strong resistance to pests and diseases. Typica once achieved many glorious results: as early as the 1958 International Coffee Tasting held in London, England, it was rated as a first-class product; at the 1980 National Coffee Conference, it was praised by Chinese and foreign coffee experts as the "Crown of Chinese Coffee"; in 1993, at the World Coffee Evaluation Conference held in Brussels, Belgium, it won the "Eureka" Gold Award. Typica is native to Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan and is one of the oldest coffee varieties among many Arabica species. Its top leaves are copper-red, so it is called red-top coffee, also known as old-variety small-bean coffee. Because of low yield and difficult cultivation, its price is much higher than ordinary small-bean coffee. However, its flavor performance is excellent, and it is recognized as a specialty coffee variety.

Common Typica varieties are mainly Indonesian Sumatra Typica, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Yunnan old tree variety, and India's Kent. These are all Typica varieties that, after adapting to local environments, were called by other names by local people, but essentially the variety is still Typica.

[Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) · Yunnan Front Street 2013 Sun-Dried Typica] Region: China, Lincang

Estate: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Plantation Variety: Typica

Altitude: 1300m Processing method: Sun-dried

2013 was the year Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s Guangzhou Dongshankou store opened, and it was also the first year Front Street began coffee cultivation. Front Street started as an agricultural novice, constantly learning through trial and error. It chose the semi-primitive forest area along the China-Myanmar border in Lincang, Yunnan, to begin coffee cultivation. The altitude here is suitable for Arabica coffee growth, and the climate environment is also good. In choosing the planting variety, Front Street chose Typica, because Yunnan had already planted Typica more than 100 years ago, and predecessors had already proven that Yunnan could grow good Typica coffee beans. Of course, in 2013, what was commonly planted in Yunnan was the high-yield Catimor variety, but in terms of flavor, Typica performs better than Catimor.

From seedling cultivation to transplanting, growing into trees, and bearing fruit, Front Street took five years before the trees began to bear fruit. By 2020, the seventh year, there was relatively stable production. Front Street named this bean "Front Street 2013"!

Roasting Suggestions Front Street Yunnan Typica uses sun-dried processing. Front Street only picks fully ripe bright-red coffee cherries, then uses raised drying beds for refined sun drying, preserving the coffee's relatively sweet flavor.

The Front Street roaster believes that using a medium slow-roast method best expresses the smooth, round characteristics of Front Street sun-dried Typica coffee beans without losing their rich floral and fruity aroma. Roaster: Yangjia 500g semi-direct fire Charge when the drum temperature reaches 200°C, set airflow to 3, after 30 seconds adjust the heat to 160°C, keep airflow unchanged, turning point at 1'33", adjust heat once at 168°C; at this point the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete, adjust heat to 130°C, adjust airflow to 4.

At 8'45", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark patches, and the toast aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, you need to listen carefully for the sound of the first crack. At 9'07", first crack begins. Reduce the heat to 80°C, open airflow fully to 5 (adjusting heat must be very careful, not so low that there is no cracking sound). 3'00" after first crack, drop the beans at 198°C. Cupping Report

Within 8-12 hours after roasting, Front Street conducted cupping. The cupping flavors of Front Street 2013 Yunnan Typica are as follows:

Aroma: Nuts, caramel, toast

Flavor: Plum, cream, sucrose, soft fruit acidity

Aftertaste: Caramel, black tea

Front Street Pour-Over Suggestions

Dripper: V60 dripper Water temperature: 90°C Grind size: 75% passing through No. 20 sieve, EK43s setting 10.5

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Brewing method: Three-stage pouring

First stage: pour 30ml water to bloom for 30 seconds;

Second stage: pour 120ml water in a small circular motion; when the liquid surface is about to expose the coffee bed,

Third stage: pour 75ml water in a small circular motion.

[Front Street Yunnan Front Street 2013 Sun-Dried Typica] Flavor: The sweetness of toast, nutty sweetness, and the sweet-and-sour sensation brought out by slight fruit acidity form a good sense of layering, with a fruit-like aroma. The spicy sweetness in the aftertaste is quite special, and the mouthfeel is rich and balanced.

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