How Did Typica Coffee Spread Around the World?
Typica is one of the oldest Arabica varieties, and it left Ethiopia to spread through Yemen, India, and Europe before reaching Southeast Asia and Central and South America. It first appeared on Martinique. Its main growing areas today include Central America, Jamaica, Hawaii Kona, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor, and Arabica beans account for about 70 percent of global coffee production.
The tree is easy to identify: a conical shape with a vertical trunk reaching about 5 meters, side branches at 50 to 80 degrees from the trunk, and slender leaves, fruit, and green beans, with bronze young leaf tips and smoother, less wavy leaves than other Arabica varieties. Growers often cross Typica with other varieties to raise yield. Ripe fruit is bright red.
As one of the oldest Arabica varieties, Typica traveled from Ethiopia to the world, and its spread has been full of legend and twists. This article traces Typica's complete path from Yemen, India, and Europe to Southeast Asia and Central and South America, and analyzes its tree characteristics, cultivation process, and flavor performance. At the same time, Front Street Coffee will share Yunnan Typica cultivation practices, as well as the differences between washed and natural processing of Jamaican Blue Mountain Typica, presenting the diverse charm of this classic variety through roasting, cupping, and brewing.
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Currently, Arabica coffee beans account for 70% of global coffee production. As one of the oldest varieties in the Arabica family, Typica set out from its place of origin, Ethiopia, and was passed along to countries around the world, driving the prosperity of the global coffee planting industry. How exactly did it travel the world? What links need attention when planting Typica? Front Street will sort out the spread of Typica coffee in this article and show how a single Typica seed grows step by step into a coffee tree.
Typica Coffee Bean Variety
Typica belongs to a sub-variety under Arabica coffee. This variety first appeared on Martinique, and its current main planting areas include Central America, Jamaica, Hawaii Kona, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor. To improve Typica's coffee yield, growers usually crossbreed Typica with other varieties.
The Typica tree has highly recognizable morphology and can be said to be one of the easiest varieties to identify. The tree is conical in shape, with a vertical main trunk that can grow up to about 5 meters tall. This height makes the spacing between branches and between nodes on the same branch relatively longer. The side branches form an acute angle of 50 to 80 degrees with the main trunk. The trunk and branches are not especially thick, and the leaves, fruit, and green beans are mostly slender in shape, with young leaf tips showing a bronze color. Compared with other Arabica varieties, Typica's leaf surface is smoother and has fewer wavy edges. Typical Typica fruit is bright red when ripe.
Typica's top leaves are bronze-colored, which is one of its signature characteristics. The beans are relatively large, pointed oval or thin and pointed in shape, so some people also call it "red top coffee." However, its shortcomings are also obvious: low yield, altitude requirements, susceptibility to leaf rust, and weak resistance to pests and diseases. Through cupping, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found that Typica coffee has a uniquely clear, clean flavor and balanced character, with very high cup cleanliness.
Typica Coffee's Global Spread Path
Typica's Hometown — Ethiopia: The name Arabica easily makes people think its place of origin is the Arabian Peninsula, but in fact it truly originated in Ethiopia. The reason it is called Arabica is that the Arabian Peninsula is located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa, and before the Age of Exploration it was a hub of world cultural exchange. In 1753, botanist Linnaeus mistakenly thought the coffee came from the Middle East and 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 coffee genetic diversity in Yemen and other places was far lower than in Ethiopia, which "helped" Arabica find its true hometown.
Typica's First Stop — Yemen: When coffee was first introduced to the Arabian Peninsula, it was used only as medicine. After taking root and multiplying for several centuries, around 1500 a practice emerged in Yemen's Mocha and Aden ports: sun-dried coffee fruit pulp was crushed and soaked in water to drink, called "Qishr." Later it gradually evolved into grinding and boiling the pulp together with cinnamon-roasted coffee beans, called "Qahwa."
Typica's Second Stop — India: Around 1600, a devout Indian Muslim named Baba Budan went to Mecca on pilgrimage and became fascinated by coffee on the way. He tried to illegally smuggle green beans back to India, stole 7 Yemeni Typica coffee seeds, brought them back to Karnataka in southwestern India, planted them on the Chandragiri Hills, and successfully propagated them. This was the first case in history of successfully smuggling Yemeni coffee green beans elsewhere for planting.
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 ending up elsewhere for planting, all exported coffee was roasted beans, which is why coffee was also called "black gold." When coffee spread to Europe in the 17th century, the Dutch, known as the "sea coachmen," sensed a huge business opportunity. It could be said that whoever possessed 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 these stolen saplings unable to survive, and they withered one after another. It was not until 1616 that Dutch East India Company captain De Boeye stole coffee trees from Yemen's Mocha, transported them back to Amsterdam, and carefully planted them in a large greenhouse, finally succeeding in flowering and fruiting. This Typica coffee tree was also called the "European mother plant." In 1699, the Dutch transplanted Indian Typica to Java for trial planting successfully, and in 1706 transported Java's 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 planting failed. Later, in 1699, the Dutch transplanted coffee trees from Malabar in eastern India to Java. This trial planting succeeded, and Typica grew steadily in Java. In 1718, the Dutch transplanted successfully trial-planted Typica from Java to Sumatra and Sulawesi. After more than a century of propagation, just as Indonesia's Typica was developing prosperously, a leaf rust epidemic at the end of the 19th century swept through most of Indonesia's Typica, 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 from Mocha by France failed in trial planting in Dijon. In 1714, the mayor of Amsterdam gifted Java coffee saplings to King Louis XIV of France, and France also built a greenhouse to carefully care for this sole seedling. Between 1715 and 1719, descendants of this mother plant were transplanted to French possessions in Central and South America, but all failed.
In 1720, a naval officer named Gabriel de Clieu stole a Typica sapling from the Royal Garden in Paris, escorted it westward across the Atlantic to the Americas, and finally arrived in 1723 at the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean, where he carefully planted this sole coffee seedling. Three years later, this "European mother plant" was laden with fruit, and by 1777 Martinique had planted 19 million Typica trees. Jamaica, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and other countries in Central and South America also successively introduced Typica coffee trees in the mid-to-late 18th century, and Typica thus took solid root in Central and South America.
Typica's Sixth Stop — A Small Journey in the 19th Century: In 1825, Hawaii introduced improved Typica coffee from Guatemala 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 coffee 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 the growth process of Typica coffee. In recent years, Front Street has been planting Typica coffee beans on plots at the border of Yunnan and Myanmar, with the aim of improving the quality of Yunnan coffee by changing the varieties currently grown in Yunnan. Next, follow Front Street to understand the process from a coffee bean to a coffee tree.
Seed Selection: This still has to start with a single coffee seed. The coffee seed is the "coffee bean." At the very beginning, seeds must be selected, 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 refers to quality. Front Street believes that the breeding fruit selected 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%. Sowing within 1 to 3 months can achieve a germination rate of 100%, while after 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 cm of coarse sand, and then spread a layer of 3 to 5 cm of rice straw, moistening the sand layer. 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 to transfer into nutrient bags for cultivation.
Mature Tree: After seedling cultivation is completed, they must be transplanted into the field for planting. Altitude is greatly related to coffee quality. Front Street believes that Arabica coffee planted above 1,200 meters will have better quality. In the first and second years after the coffee tree is established, vegetative growth is dominant, and only in the third year and afterward will it begin to flower and fruit.
Flowering: Coffee trees bloom on rainy days after passing through the dry season. The first flowering period of a coffee tree is around the third year 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, one can smell the strong jasmine fragrance of the pure white flowers.
Fruiting: A few months after the coffee flowers fade, the coffee tree begins to bear fruit. The newly formed coffee fruit is green, and as it gradually matures, its color changes from green to yellow, and after fully ripening it turns red.
Picking: Coffee farmers begin picking when the coffee fruit is ripe. The best picking method is manual selective picking, choosing only fully ripe red fruit. Training a skilled coffee picker requires a great deal of cost. There is a saying, "Who knows that every grain on the plate is the fruit of 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 here wants to remind everyone not to waste all food that is not easily obtained~
All right, back to the topic. Now the most famous place in the world for growing Typica is none other than Jamaica's Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee. Next, through roasting, cupping, and brewing, Front Street will look at how the flavor of Jamaican Blue Mountain Typica coffee performs. 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 air, no pollution, and a humid climate with fog and rain all year round (average precipitation of 1,980 mm, temperature around 27 degrees). Such a climate has created the world-renowned Jamaican 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 evolved better disease resistance, especially resistance to coffee berry disease superior to ordinary Typica. However, once Blue Mountain Typica leaves Jamaica, it cannot replicate its unique sweet and delicately fragrant character.
The two Front Street Blue Mountain coffees currently listed by Front Street come from Clifton Farm, and Clifton Estate is also the only one in the Blue Mountain growing area with rainforest certification. Before 2019, Clifton Farm's Blue Mountain coffee always used the washed method to process green coffee beans. During processing, the skin and pulp are first removed, allowing fermentation for 12 to 18 hours, and then the fermented beans are placed in a tank and moved back and forth, using the friction of the beans and the force of flowing 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 a dedicated warehouse.
In the new 2020 harvest season, Clifton Farm launched Blue Mountain coffee beans with natural processing for the first time, which was truly novel. Jamaica has a tropical rainforest climate, with rainy seasons from May to June and September to November each year, among which January and May have the most showers. Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee's harvest and processing season is from February to June each year, with half of that time in the rainy season, so using natural processing is obviously impractical. In addition, the quality of traditionally naturally processed coffee is unstable, with coffee quality depending entirely on the weather. Also, to obtain better-quality natural processing, labor costs are higher than for methods such as washing. When coffee fruit is dried in the sun on the drying yard, it needs to be manually turned every few hours to maintain ventilation, reducing mold while ensuring even drying. Such a thankless processing method was even harder to carry out in Jamaica at the time. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Blue Mountain Coffee Roasting Notes
Front Street Washed Blue Mountain: Charge when the drum temperature reaches 170°C, set the damper to 3, after 1 minute adjust the heat to 140°C, keep the damper unchanged, roast until 5'10'', at 153°C, when the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete, adjust the heat to 115°C, change the damper to 4; at 8'00", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark streaks, the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully to the sound of the first crack point. At 8'12" first crack begins, reduce the heat to 90°C, open the damper fully (adjusting the heat must be very careful, not so low that there is no crack sound), and discharge at 201.3°C.
Front Street Natural Blue Mountain: Charge at 165°C drum temperature, heat 130, damper set to 3; turning point at 1'32", when drum temperature is 95.8°C, keep the heat unchanged; at 3 minutes adjust the damper to 4, at 4 minutes increase the heat to 140. At 6'30'' the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 8'36", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark streaks, the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully to the sound of the first crack point. At 10'06" first crack begins, develop for 3 minutes after first crack, 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. The cupping bowls generally used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) roasters have a capacity of 200 ml ceramic bowls, marked with 150 ml and 200 ml graduation lines. According to SCAA standards, the water TDS is about 150 ppm. Too low TDS can easily cause over-extraction, while too high TDS affects the taste and easily causes under-extraction. The water temperature used for cupping is 94°C. The cupping grind size follows SCAA cupping standards, with the grind size controlled so that the passing rate through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85 mm) is 70% to 75%. Ratio: 11 grams of coffee powder plus 200 ml of hot water, that is, 1:18.18, so that the extracted concentration is exactly within the golden cup range of 1.15% to 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, sour, and bitter
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 powder amount: 15g Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Water temperature: 88-89°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), finish pouring 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), finishing in about 1 minute 40 to 1'45". Dripping is completed at 2 minutes 05 seconds to 2 minutes 1 second. 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 finish, a creamy mouthfeel, rich and obvious layering, and the aftertaste brings out walnut aroma.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
