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Is red bourbon mainly grown in Brazil? Why is yellow bourbon ripe not red?

Published: 2026-04-26 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/04/26, According to historical records, coffee was introduced to northern Brazil in 1727. At that time, it was the Typica variety. Although Tienca is one of the most important Arabica coffee varieties in coffee culture and genetics, its yield and disease resistance are low, which is not economically beneficial. So, Brazil is

According to historical records, coffee was introduced to northern Brazil in 1727, when it was a variety of Typica. Although Ironpickup is one of the most important varieties of Arabica coffee culturally and genetically, its yield and disease resistance are low, which is not economic.

As a result, Brazil introduced Bourbon varieties in the 1860s. Although bourbon varieties are also vulnerable to diseases and insect pests, bourbon yields about 30 per cent higher than tin pickups, so bourbon began to replace tin pickups. Bourbon was first planted in Campinas in southern Brazil. Bourbon adapted to the soil and water of Brazil, so it quickly expanded to other parts of Brazil and gradually spread to other coffee-producing countries in South and Central America.

Subsequently, the Campinas Institute of Agronomy (IAC) was established in Brazil to support research on coffee crops and to find coffee varieties suitable for the Brazilian environment and climate. During this period, IAC has developed a number of coffee varieties, such as Kaddura, Catuai, MondoNovo and Maragogipe, but not all of them are suitable for growing in Brazil, so red bourbon, yellow bourbon, Kaduai and New World varieties are still the main varieties in Brazil.

At present, the selected Brazilian coffee beans in Qianjie are selected from red bourbon beans grown in the country, using half-sun treatment. Because Brazilian coffee has the characteristics of low acidity, nut and chocolate flavor, it will be roasted in medium depth. After brewing, it has the flavor of nuts, peanuts and cocoa chocolate, low acidity and moderate mellowness.

After blooming, ordinary bourbon coffee trees will produce green fruits, which will gradually turn yellow and orange as the fruit ripens, and finally turn red when they mature. Therefore, in order to distinguish it from the yellow bourbon, it is especially called the red bourbon. However, there will be a special bourbon variety in Brazil, and that is Yellow Bourbon.

According to records, Huang bourbon was first discovered in 1930 in Pederneiras, northeast of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, because its final fruit does not turn red, but retains the yellow appearance. At that time, some people thought it was a natural variety of red wave plate, while others said it was the natural reproduction of red wave plate and "Amerelo de Botocatu (a variety of iron pickup with yellow fruit found in Sao Paulo in 1871)."

Why did it turn yellow? In 1942, a professor named Krug discovered the genetic origin of the color and named it "Xanthocarpa". In Greek, "Xanthus" means yellow and "carpus" means fruit.

Coffee fruit is a plant that contains luteolin, a flavonoid with a yellow crystal appearance. The color of coffee fruit is determined by "anthocyanin". "anthocyanin" widely exists in grapes, cherries and other berries, but "anthocyanin" has dominant and recessive genes. Coffee plants with the dominant XcXc gene will produce red berries, but some fruits will have the recessive XCXC gene, at this time, the primary color of luteolin will appear, and the fruit will appear yellow.

At first, it was found that yellow bourbon was found to have the characteristics of high yield and excellent quality, so it quickly became popular in Brazil, but in the next few years, production declined and resistance to disease became worse, requiring special care. It is now more suitable for planting at 1000 or higher altitudes, and it is currently only grown in molecular producing areas of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, such as Morgiana. Due to the higher altitude and the large temperature difference between day and night, the fruit has a longer time to develop a richer flavor.

Through the cup test, it is found that compared with red bourbon, yellow bourbon has soft acidity, refreshing sweetness and creamy texture and is more palatable. Qianjie has also acquired a yellow bourbon coffee bean from the Queen's Manor in the Morgiana area, which is also sun-treated and medium-depth baking. after hand cooking, there will be a sweet fruit, with nutty flavors such as sugar cane, chocolate and peanuts, weak and clean bitterness. the taste is smooth and delicate.

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