What is the planting history and flavor of the legendary low-caffeinated bourbon species in Reunion / Bourbon?

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What is the planting history and flavor of the legendary low-caffeinated bourbon species in Reunion / Bourbon?

These mundane words fall into the eyes of coffee players, saying that more than a decade ago, two legendary varieties of coffee appeared and shook up the coffee world, one is Geisha, the other is Bourbon Pointu. But before talking about the short story of sharp bourbon, the concept of paving the red carpet road in advance for the sensation caused by sharp bourbon

In the early days, coffee was an exclusive Arab commodity, and in order to maintain its monopoly, the Arabs never allowed germinating seeds to leave their place of origin, but in the 17th century seeds were smuggled out of Isopia and Yemen, where they spread their branches and leaves in the new world and produced countless offspring, the stolen seeds were Bourbon and Tibika.

🏼 sharp bourbon is a natural mutant of bourbon coffee on Bourbon Island (present-day Reunion Island). It gets its name because of its narrow bean shape and pointed ends, while the native species bourbon has a shorter bean body and a slightly oval outline. But the biggest difference between the two is not only the appearance, but the flavor and caffeine content. If you use concise words to describe sharp bourbon, it is "natural very low caffeine, sparse production, delicate and charming fragrance, is one of the oldest tree species in the world."

Sharp bourbon was loved by many celebrities as early as the 18th century, such as French King Ludwig 15, French writer Balzac and so on. However, the variant bourbon was abandoned because of its weak physique, easy to infect and little blossom and fruit, so it was not welcomed by farmers and became almost extinct. It was not successfully bred until 1999-2007 thanks to the efforts of France and Japan, and it became the most expensive coffee today. Bourbon pointed coffee beans with unique flavor and rare output are loved by European royalty and aristocrats. Bourbon pointed coffee beans have bright fruit and floral aromas, combining citrus and cream aromas and velvet taste, but the caffeine is only half that of the average Arabica coffee beans. Louis XV of the Bourbon dynasty called it "the best coffee in the world", pushing Bourbon's fame to its peak.

Bourbon is so named because it was first widely cultivated in the New World, then known as Bourbon, which is today's Reunion, while the legendary protagonist, sharp bourbon, is a natural mutation of bourbon coffee on the island (7).

Bourbon Pointu has two other names, Laurina and Leroy, but neither is as loud as the first name. The reason why it is called sharp bourbon is that the bean shape is long and narrow and both ends are pointed, while the native species bourbon (some call it round bourbon) has a shorter bean body and a slightly oval outline. If you look at (figure 1) and (figure 2), you should be able to tell the difference in appearance between the sharp bourbon and the original bourbon. However, the biggest difference between the two is not the shape, but the flavor and caffeine content. If you use the simple word to describe the sharp bourbon, it is "good flavor, low caffeine content."

With regard to the flavor of sharp bourbon, I will finally talk about the caffeine content of sharp bourbon. According to statistics, the caffeine content of ordinary coffee beans, Arabica, Robasta, and sharp bourbon is 0.9%, 1.2%, 1.6%, 2.4% and 0.6%, respectively, which is much lower than that of Arabica coffee and much lower than Robasta. Although it does not meet the American standard of decaffeinated coffee (Decaffeinated coffee), it is already a boon for many people who can't stand too much caffeine but love it.

Flavor: bourbon pointed coffee beans have bright fruit and floral aromas, with aromas of citrus and cream and velvet taste

Because of its good flavor and low caffeine content (which does not affect sleep), sharp bourbon has been popular as early as the 18th century, with many celebrities, such as French King Louise 15, and the novelist Balzac is a "fan". During the two hundred years of the 19th century, the sharp bourbon was widely planted on the island of bourbon, and its annual production reached a peak of 4,000 metric tons in 1800, but then a series of disasters such as hurricanes, fire ants and leaf rust followed, so that the planting decreased. Finally, in 1942, the last batch of sharp bourbon was shipped back to France, leaving only a pitiful 200 kilograms, and since then, sharp bourbon disappeared without a trace. Even the official documents are no longer mentioned. After the 1950s, coffee was no longer grown on the island of Reunion, and agriculture on the island turned completely to other crops such as sugar cane. Coffee was no longer associated with the island of Reunion, while sharp bourbon was recognized by the coffee industry as "extinct."

[V60 hand flush]

Filter cup: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90 degrees

Degree of grinding: small Fuji 3.5

Cooking methods: the ratio of water to powder is 1:15, 15g powder, the first injection of 25g water, 25 s steaming, the second injection to 120g water cut off, waiting for the powder bed water to half and then water injection, slow water injection until 225g water, extraction time about 2:00