How important is the variety of coffee? Take an inventory of the main types of coffee you need to know!

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In wine, the variety of grapes has a far-reaching influence. Everyone may know "Merlot" or "Chardonnay". But people don't know much about the variety of coffee. You may also know "Rose Summer" coffee, but do you know the difference between "bourbon" and "tin pickup"? Or why are these varieties so important?

If you don't know or are not sure about the answers to the above questions, don't worry, this article will take you to know the varieties of coffee, why they are important, what they actually represent, and the main varieties you need to know.

Why is the variety of coffee important?

The importance of the coffee variety depends on your role: coffee farmer, barista, bean baker, consumer. If you are a consumer, you may wonder why we need to know this information. This is just another label on the coffee package. Is the variety really that important compared to the country, region, baking degree and treatment method? If it's so important, why only part of the coffee packaging will tell you the variety?

To put it simply, the variety of coffee affects the flavor, and some varieties, such as bourbon, are famous for their sweetness. Others, such as the "rose summer seed", are famous for their tea quality. However, the flavor of coffee is not only affected by varieties, but also by growth conditions, treatment and so on. And the uniqueness of high-quality coffee is also the beauty of a cup of coffee.

The bean baker must know the variety of coffee, because it not only affects the flavor characteristics, but also affects how you bake the bean. Different beans have different sizes, such as "elephant beans" are very large, while "mocha" is very small. And because baked beans are physical changes, how to transfer the heat completely to the beans is the key. You need to understand the physical composition of coffee (especially when making beans).

Variety is very important to coffee growers. The variety you choose will affect not only the flavor characteristics and the raw bean cup score of the coffee, but also the cold resistance, disease resistance and productivity of the coffee tree. The altitude and temperature of the planting place are all related to these.

Another reason to understand varieties is that Arabica coffee has low genetic diversity, which means it is more vulnerable to disease and climate change, and may even theoretically become extinct in the future. The most important thing now is to combine or find more genetic varieties.

What do species, varieties and cultivated species represent?

We know why the variety is important, and now take a step back and look at what the variety is. WSR, the World Coffee Research Institute, points out that there are more than a hundred "species" of coffee in the world-but the main species are Arabica, Robusta and Liberia. Boutique coffee shops seldom sell coffee other than Arabica, avoiding Robusta's rough and bitter taste, even though some stores offer "boutique Robusta". Liberian coffee is usually only circulated in the Philippines, Malaysia and so on.

The classification under "species" is "variety", and the variety comes from the variation under "species". For example, "Kaddura" belongs to Arabica, while Nganda belongs to Robusta. On the other hand, "cultivated species" are coffee varieties created by artificial planting.

Another thing that people may be confused about is the difference between "variety" and "variety". To put it simply, variety is a noun and variety is an adjective. However, due to the complexity of explaining lexical differences and varieties, this article does not explore varieties from an academic point of view, so in this article, we only need to regard "variety" and "variety" as word differences.

The kind of coffee you should know

There are many varieties of coffee in the world, and we don't expect to explore all of them here. However, we can quickly show you some Arabica varieties that are worth writing down.

Typica iron pickup truck-[trees have a long life]

Originally grown on Martinique Island, the species is mainly grown in Central America, Jamaica, Hawaii's Kona region, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. The World Coffee Research Institute defines this variety as low-productivity, high-quality coffee that is vulnerable to leaf rust and insect pests. It is also often described as clean and sweet-and-sour coffee.

The coffee trees grown by Ironhide Card can grow up to 5 meters long, with mostly horizontal branches and bronze-colored leaves. The trees themselves have a long life, and there are even coffee trees as old as 50 years old.

The aroma and flavor of the coffee are supple and slightly sour. On the palate, you can feel its pure and delicate taste and slightly medium mellow taste.

Bourbon bourbon-[characterized by milder taste]

Bourbon, which originated in Ethiopia, is a naturally mutated "iron pickup" that first appeared on the island of Bourbon and later spread to places such as East Africa and Brazil. "bourbon" has high quality, medium production capacity and high sweetness of coffee. However, this variety has low resistance to leaf rust, coffee beetles and other diseases and pests. It is usually grown in Burundi, Rwanda and South America.

The coffee trees planted in bourbon can be as high as 4murmur5 meters. The branches will grow upward, and their young leaves are green. Farmers usually cut the length of the leaves of bourbon plants to about 2 meters to facilitate harvesting. Although this variety is similar to the tin card species, the bourbon species is stronger and has more yield than the iron card species. The coffee brewed with bourbon is mild in taste and the proportion of acidity and mellowness is just right.

Why do you want to know about the bourbon? This is for the same reason as "Iron pickup": because it is the first coffee tree species to be discovered, and the "bourbon" variety extends to many other varieties.

Ethiopian Heirloom Ethiopian native species-[more than 3000 species of coffee beans fall into this category]

Although most coffee varieties come from "iron pickup" or "bourbon", coffee comes from Ethiopia at first, and the Royal Botanical Garden has confirmed that 95% of coffee genes come from Ethiopia. There are more than 3000 varieties of coffee beans grown in Ethiopia alone, and people usually choose several varieties from them. As for the coffee trees native to Ethiopia, they are difficult to distinguish because of the complexity of their appearance and leaf appearance. When you see the coffee bag marked "Ethiopian native species", it means that the coffee may be wild or come from farmland with little human intervention.

The beans from the Yegashafi region have a unique rich aroma and are the most advanced coffee beans among the native species of Ethiopia. Coffee beans native to Ethiopia vary in size and aroma from place of origin, such as Sidamo, Harrar, Jimma, Limu, Teppi and Kaffa.

Timor Hybrid Timo hybrid-[controversial hybrid]

Timo hybrid is a controversial coffee because it is a natural hybrid of Arabica and Robsta, and it has a high proportion of Robusta, which gives Timo cold resistance and resistance to leaf rust. The price is its poor flavor and aroma.

For this reason, this unique coffee is used to graft many breeds, especially "Katimo" and "Satchmo". In classification, "Katimo" belongs to the hybrid of "Kaddura" and "Timo", while "Sachimo" belongs to the hybrid of "Vera Saatchi" and "Timo". Examples of these varieties include "Casteo", "Colombia" and "Masayesa".

Buyers of boutique coffee often avoid coffee related to Timo hybrids, but some producers, especially in low-altitude areas where leaf rust is more prone, believe that reducing the risk of the disease is more important than the quality and price of coffee.

Gesha/Geisha Rosa-[Variety with very little yield]

The variety "Rose Summer" originated in Mount Rosa in Ethiopia, then spread to Central America through Costa Rica and is now grown in small quantities in Panama, Malawi, Kenya and Guatemala. But it didn't shine in Panama until 2003, and since then, the Panamanian "Rose Summer" has become the best-known coffee variety in the coffee industry. The coffee is used by most finalists in coffee competitions, and with raw beans bidding for $803 (about 5549.93 yuan) a pound last year, "Rose Summer" has become synonymous with excellence and uniqueness.

The coffee tree of rose summer is characterized by the wide spacing of each branch growing from the trunk, and the raw bean belongs to long bean. "Rose Summer" has very unique flavor characteristics: tea, with the aroma of jasmine, orange blossom and bergamot flavor, as well as delicate floral aroma.

This kind of coffee is suitable for growing at high altitudes (at least 1400 meters above sea level is recommended by the World Coffee Research Institute). It has low production capacity and needs careful care, although it will get a high price in the bidding. But as long as producers grow "rose summer" outside Panama, they will see it die of inappropriate climate and soil.

Yemeni species-[native varieties belonging to Yemen]

The species of the phylum should be from Ethiopia. Because this variety of coffee tree has been planted in Yemen since ancient times, it is called the original species of Yemen. Yemeni coffee has a variety of rich aromas, including sweet and spicy fruits, as well as herbal aromas.

F1 Hybrids "F1 hybrid"-[new variety with strong disease resistance and high production capacity]

The "F1" hybrid is a new coffee variety with high quality flavor, strong resistance to leaf rust and high productivity. It is usually only cultivated in high-end nurseries. It is worth noting that the "F1" hybrid includes the variety Centroamericano, which only recently won the Outstanding Cup competition in Nicaragua.

The most important thing about F1 hybrids is that it is usually more expensive and difficult for producers to obtain. They are propagated (that is, replicated) in large numbers in the laboratory of the tissue culture farm, rather than breeding with seeds, because their seeds (F2 or the second generation) do not have the same good quality as the maternal "F1". This means that farmers cannot rely on the performance of coffee trees. For this reason, the World Coffee Research Institute advises producers to buy seedlings only from creditworthy nurseries.

Caturra Kaddura-[suitable for intensive planting]

Kaddura is a high quality mutant of bourbon, which was found in Brazil in 1935. The "Kaddura" species is short, usually only 2m high, with short trunks and many branches and leaves, but with ordinary production capacity, common quality and common bean size. Kaddura species can adapt to a variety of planting environments. In fact, it is not accurate for the world coffee research laboratory to describe "Kaddura" as "ordinary production capacity". It is easily affected by leaf rust and insect pests and is often seen in Brazil and South America, but the yield of Kaddura species is about three times that of tin card species. Raw beans are smaller, with an average sieve size of 16.

Catuai Kaduai-[one of the widely cultivated varieties in Brazil]

"Kaduai" is a hybrid of "New World" and "Kaddura". It combines many of the characteristics of "Kaddura": ordinary production capacity, ordinary quality, ordinary bean size, vulnerable to leaf rust and insect pests, and small trees. The seed of Kaduai appeared in 1949 and its yield is extremely high. This variety is suitable for planting in areas with strong wind and rain, but sufficient fertilizer is still needed because the fruit is easy to fall from the branches. The cup test quality of Kaduai is good, but the overall flavor is still insipid.

Maragogype elephant bean species-[suitable for planting on the plateau]

The elephant bean is a mutant of the iron card species, which was found in the Brazilian state of Basiya in 1870. Coffee trees such as beans are taller and even higher than other coffee trees such as bourbon and tin card species. The seed size of this variety is larger, but the yield is rare. Although the coffee beans grown like beans are larger and more precious, if the altitude is not high enough, the coffee brewed does not have a particularly unique aroma.

Kent Ken special-[strong varieties resistant to rust]

Ken, which grows in India, is a mutant of tin card species. The variety was discovered in the 1920s at Doddengudda Manor, owned by an Englishman, Robert Kent, in Mysore, India. Because of its resistance to rust, it was quite popular with growers in the 1940s. At present, most of Ken specialties are planted in Tanzania, and the cup test quality is also very high. The aroma of Ken's special brewed coffee is fuller and deeper than that of bourbon.

Pacas Pacas species-[mostly cultivated in El Salvador]

The Pacas species is a mutant of the bourbon species, which was discovered at Pacas Manor in El Salvador in 1956. The size of raw beans is smaller, there are more branches and leaves growing on the trunk and the spacing is narrow. Because the fruit of Parkas is easy to mature, its yield is also higher. The Pacas species is suitable for planting in lowlands and its drought tolerance makes it suitable for sandy soil. The higher the planting ground of Pacas, the better its quality. The coffee brewed from this variety has a strong aroma, and in addition to El Salvador, parkas are also grown in parts of Honduras.

Mundo Novo New World species-[varieties with fixed fruit ripening period]

The new world species, discovered in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1943, belongs to the natural mating of bourbon species and Sodotala species. The New World species is also one of the largest varieties cultivated in Brazil. This variety has strong growth ability and can tolerate diseases and insect pests, so it has more yield. The coffee brewed by the New World species has a milder aroma.

Acaia Akai subspecies-[varieties suitable for mechanical harvesting]

Among the new world species developed by the Chippinas agricultural experimental site in Brazil, the species with larger seeds is Akaia. The Akaia species is the same as the New World species, with tall trees and short branches and leaves. If you look down from above, you can find that the diameter of the whole tree is relatively small. The aroma of the coffee brewed by the Akaia species is roughly the same as that of the New World species.

Pacamara Pacamara species-[varieties with low yields]

The Pacamara species is the artificial mating between the Pacas species and the elephant bean species Malago Rippi. The leaves are dark green and the leaf edges are wavy. The yield of Pacamara species is small, only a small amount is grown in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The coffee brewed from this variety is similar to tin card, with pure aroma and gentle taste, but low alcohol.

SL28- [mostly planted in Kenya]

SL28 was discovered and propagated in 1935 by Scott Lab, the institution responsible for coffee research in Kenya at the time. SL refers to the acronym of Scott Laboratories, and the number in the variety name represents the characteristics of each variety. SL28 is able to dry early, suitable for planting on the plateau and has a very high yield. SL28 brewed coffee with strong acidity and mellowness, and its cup test quality is also quite high.

SL34- [extremely high yield and drought tolerance]

SL34 is a variety bred by Scott laboratory in 1935. SL34 brewed coffee has a rich sour taste and mellow, and with a variety of different aromas, its cup test quality is also very high.

The above is just a brief introduction of many wonderful species in the world, there are still many noteworthy species, and new ones are constantly emerging, never-ending.

Producers should treat coffee varieties more cautiously and understand the planting needs and risks of each variety through observation. when planting new varieties, they should slowly consider and start again, and first plant them on a small scale on the farm.

For coffee lovers, taste as many varieties as possible, pay attention to their differences, and compare different varieties planted in the same producing area or the same varieties planted in different producing areas. When you know how varieties affect the flavor of coffee, you will love coffee more deeply.

Reference materials:

Chengzhen Coffee: a Survey of Coffee varieties

Photo Source: Internet

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