What is bourbon Coffee? the oldest existing variety of bourbon coffee includes

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Everyone is familiar with yellow bourbon and red bourbon, but they may be a little strange to pink bourbon. Last year, at the Hotelex exhibition in Shanghai, we had the privilege of drinking a kind of pink bourbon which killed many Colombian roses in summer at the Colombian coffee feast, only to know that there was such an amazing variety of coffee.

Bourbon coffee

Bourbon species

Before introducing pink bourbon, let's briefly talk about what bourbon is. Bourbon coffee was originally grown on the island of Reunion, which was also known as le Bourbon before 1789. Bourbon, the second species caused by the Typica mutation, is the oldest coffee variety in existence, and the green fruit appears bright red when it is ripe.

Bourbon coffee

Red bourbon

After the red bourbon general coffee tree blossoms and bears fruit, the color change of the coffee fruit is: green > turn yellowish > turn slightly orange > turn mature red > turn more ripe dark red, so some people also call it [red bourbon], in fact, red bourbon, that is, what we call bourbon species. Bourbon planted at high altitude usually has a better aroma, while the acid is brighter and even tastes like red wine.

Generally speaking, bourbon is a coffee tree that belongs to a branch of Arabica species, generally bearing red fruit, called red bourbon, in addition to yellow bourbon, orange bourbon, yellow bourbon relatively low yield, but better quality.

[gene mutant-bourbon variety]

Bourbon coffee

Yellow bourbon

On the other hand, the yellow bourbon species is a hybrid between the bourbon species and other varieties. Because of its low yield and relatively intolerant to wind and rain, it has not been widely planted. However, when planted in high altitude areas, it will have excellent flavor performance, which is more common in recent years. Yellow Bourbon, Huang bourbon, the mature consequence is actually yellow, was first found in Brazil, and now mainly grows in Brazil. It is generally thought that it may have been mutated by a cross between a bourbon with red fruit and a variety of iron pickup with yellow fruit called "Amerelo de Botocatu".

Taste characteristics: sweet and smooth fruit sweetness, obvious nutty flavor, balanced and supple acidity, weak and clean bitterness, rich chocolate aroma and nutty flavor, bright and fresh taste.

Bourbon coffee

Powder bourbon

Pink bourbon, as its name implies, its coffee cherries are romantic pink when ripe. It is a very rare new variety, which is bred by the cross between red bourbon and yellow bourbon. The reason why pink bourbon is rare is that it is difficult to maintain this beautiful pink, sometimes some orange bourbon will be harvested, that is because the color of coffee fruit is ultimately determined by the recessive genes in the pollen grains. Among the pollen grains we selected for hybridization, there are both yellow genes inclined to yellow bourbon and red genes inclined to red bourbon, and these are recessive genes, which are very easy to interfere with each other.

At present, pink bourbon can be seen in Colombia and Guatemala. Take this batch of pink bourbon coffee as an example, there are about 1800 coffee trees. Each tree produces about 1.8kg fresh fruit in the first production season. After peeling and pulp treatment, about 0.36kg coffee beans are obtained. In a normal production season, the output of this batch of coffee is less than 650kg.

Taste characteristics: sweet orange, sweet sugarcane, pleasant juice, small tomato

Bourbon coffee

Sharp body bourbon

Pointed Bourbon (Bourbon Pointu): found in Bourbon Island in 1810, beans changed from round to pointed, with only half the caffeine content, but in small amounts, weak and extremely precious (mostly cultivated in the laboratory).

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.

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 Reunion, and agriculture on the island turned completely to other crops such as sugar cane. Coffee was no longer associated with Reunion, while pointed bourbon was recognized by the coffee industry as "extinct."

In view of this bean, it disappeared for half a century and did not reappear until eight years ago, resulting in the Bourbon pointed body of the country of origin La Reunion Island in the international market. After the price reached more than 500yuan per 100g, Colombia also began to grow this bean, and only Camilo Merizalde, which is the source of many WBC champion beans, dared to take over the transplant of this bean, so this coffee bean, which produces only a few tons of coffee every year, is expensive.

Flavor description in the file: bright sour taste, blueberry, vanilla smell, velvety smoothness