Arabica Varieties
Coffee from the species Coffea arabica are considered to have richer flavor than Coffea robusta. C. arabica has many different varieties, each with unique characteristics. Some well-known arabica coffees include:
| Variety | Arabica | Region(s) | Comments | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arusha | Arabica | Mount Meru in Tanzania, and Papua New Guinea | either a Typica variety or a French Mission. | |
| Bergendal, Sidikalang | Arabica | Indonesia | Both are Typica varieties which survived the Leaf Rust Outbreak of the 1880s; most of the other Typica in Indonesia was destroyed. | |
| Blue Mountain | Arabica | Blue Mountains region of Jamaica. Also grown in Kenya, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea (where it is known as PNG Gold) and Cameroon (where it is known as Boyo). | A unique mutation of Typica. | |
| Bourbon | Arabica | Réunion, Rwanda, Latin America. | Around 1708 the French planted coffee on the island of Bourbon (now called Réunion) in the middle of the Indian Ocean, all probably from the same parent stock - the plant the Dutch gave them. Unsurprisingly, it mutated slightly and was planted throughout Brazil in the late 1800s and eventually spread through Latin America. Bourbon produces 20-30% more fruit than Typica varieties. El Salvador is known as the Bourbon Country. | |
| Caturra | Arabica | Latin and Central America | This is a mutation of the Bourbon variety, found near the town of Caturra, Brazil in the 1930s. It produces a higher yield than Bourbon, and this is generally due to the plant being shorter, higher yielding, and with less distance between the branches. A relatively recently selected botanical variety of the Coffea arabica species that generally matures more quickly, produces more coffee, and is more disease resistant than older, traditional arabica varieties. In fact this mutation is not unique; it led to the formation of the Pacas variety in El Salvador (from Bourbon) and the Villa Sarchi in Costa Rica (from Bourbon). Genetically it is very similar to Bourbon although it usually produces a poorer cup quality but this is mainly due to the variety yielding more. | |
| Catuai | Arabica | Latin America | This is a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra bred in Brazil in the late 40s. | |
| Charrieriana | Arabica? | Cameroon | This is a newly found variety from Cameroon. It has gained some press recently due to its caffeine-free nature. Not yet grown commercially, but it probably will be. | |
| Colombian | Arabica | Colombia | Coffee was first introduced to the country of Colombia in the early 1800s. Today Maragogype, Caturra, Typica and Bourbon cultivars are grown. When Colombian coffee is freshly roasted it has a bright acidity, is heavy in body and is intensely aromatic. Colombia accounts for about 12% of the coffee market (by value) in the world, third in volume after Vietnam and Brazil. | |
| Ethiopian Harar | Arabica | Ethiopia | From the region of Harar, Ethiopia. Known for its complex, fruity flavor that resembles a dry red wine. All three Ethiopian varieties are trademarked names with the rights owned by Ethiopia. | |
| Ethiopian Sidamo | Arabica | Ethiopia | From the Sidamo (now Oromia) region of Ethiopia as well. All three Ethiopian varieties are trademarked names with the rights owned by Ethiopia. | |
| Ethiopian Yirgacheffe | Arabica | Ethiopia | From the Yirgachefe district in the Gedeo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia. All three Ethiopian varieties are trademarked names with the rights owned by Ethiopia. | |
| French Mission | Arabica | Africa | French Mission is actually Bourbon that was planted in East Africa by French Missionaries around 1897. | |
| Guadeloupe Bonifieur | Arabica | Guadeloupe | ||
| Hawaiian Kona | Arabica | Hawaii | Grown on the slopes of Hualalai in the Kona District on the Big Island of Hawaii. Coffee was first introduced to the Islands by Chief Boki, the Governor of Oahu, in 1825. | |
| Java | Arabica, Robusta and interspecific hybrids | Indonesia | From the island of Java, in Indonesia. This coffee was once so widely traded that "java" became a slang term for coffee. Java encompasses a regional style, not a cultivar of coffee. | |
| K7 | Arabica | Africa | A Kenyan selection of French Mission Bourbon selected at Legelet Estate in Muhoroni, Kenya. Selected based on cupping trials. | |
| Mayagüez | Arabica | Africa | A Bourbon cultivar grown in Rwanda. | |
| Mocha | Arabica | Yemen | Yemeni coffee traded through the once major port of Mocha. Not to be confused with the preparation style (coffee with cocoa). | |
| Mundo Novo | Arabica | Latin America | Mundo Novo is a hybrid between Bourbon and Typica, crossed in the 1940s. | |
| Orange, Yellow Bourbon | Arabica | Latin America | Red Bourbon and Orange Bourbon are types of Bourbon that have been selected from spontaneous mutation. | |
| Pacamara | Arabica | Latin America | Pacamara is a hybrid between the Typica mutation Pacas and Maragogipe. It was bred in El Salvador in 1958 probably to achieve a Typica variety that produces larger beans. | |
| Pacas | Arabica | Latin America | A natural mutation of the Bourbon variety found in El Salvador in 1949. | |
| Pache Comum | Arabica | Latin America | Is a mutation of Typica first found in Santa Rosa, Guatemala. | |
| Pache Colis | Arabica | Latin America | Pache Colis is a hybrid between Pache Comum and Caturra. This variety produces distinctly larger fruit and roughly textured foliage. | |
| Panama | Arabica | Panama, Costa Rica | Gesha or Geisha variety, grown in the highlands of Boquete in Chiriquí Province, highly sought after by bidders in auctions, achieving high prices. Originally from the village of Gesha, Ethiopia. It was planted in the 1950s as a rust resistant crop and rediscovered in the early 2000s. The most expensive varietal at coffee auctions, fetching $170USD in 2010. | |
| Maragogype | Arabica | Latin America | Maragogype is a Typica mutation, first discovered in the Maragogype region of Brazil's state Bahia. Maragogype is well known for producing big beans. | |
| Mundo Novo | Arabica | Latin America | Mundo Novo is a hybrid between Bourbon and Typica, crossed in the 1940s. | |
| Ruiri 11 | Arabica | Kenya | Ruiru 11 was released in 1985 by the Kenyan Coffee Research Station. While the variety is generally disease resistant, it produces a lower cup quality than K7, SL28 and 34. | |
| S795 | Arabica | India, Indonesia | Probably the most commonly planted Arabica in India and Southeast Asia, known for its balanced cup and subtle flavour notes of mocca. Released during the 1940s, it is a cross between the Kents and S.288 varieties. | |
| Santos | Arabica | Brazil | Brazil Santos is usually used as a grading term for Brazilian coffee rather than a variety of Arabica. The name refers to the port in Brazil where coffee passed through, and was regarded as higher quality than "Brazilian coffee". Brazilian Santos is usually of the Bourbon variety. | |
| Sarchimor | Interspecific hybrid | Costa Rica, India | A hybrid between the Costa Rican Villa Sarchi and the Timor variety. Because of its Timor parent, Sarchimor is quite resistant to leaf rust disease and stem borer. As well as Costa Rica, it is grown in India. | |
| SL28 | Arabica | Kenya | A selection, by Scott Labs in Kenya from the Tanganyika Drought Resistant variety from northern Tanzania in 1931. Excellent flavour, commonly blackcurrant acidity. | |
| SL34 | Arabica | Kenya | Selected by Scott Labs from the French Mission variety grown in Kenya. Selected for its superior cup quality (although inferior to SL28), but not resistant to CBD, CLR or BBC. | |
| Sumatra Mandheling and Sumatra Lintong | Arabica | Indonesia | Mandheling is named after the similarly spelled Mandailing people located in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The name is the result of a misunderstanding by the first foreign purchaser of the variety, and no coffee is actually produced in the "Mandailing region". Lintong on the other hand, is named after the Lintong district, also located in North Sumatra. This is not a specific cultivar, but rather a region with a specific processing style. | |
| Sulawesi Toraja Kalossi | Arabica | Indonesia | Actually the S795 varietal, grown at high altitudes on the island of Sulawesi (formerly Celebes), Indonesia. Kalossi is the small town in central Sulawesi which serves as the collection point for the coffee and Toraja is the mountainous area in which the coffee is grown. Sulawesi exhibits a rich, full body, well-balanced acidity and is multi-dimensional in character. Sulawesi itself is not a cultivar of coffee. | |
| Timor, Arabusta | Interspecific hybrid | Indonesia | Timor is not actually a variety of coffea arabica, but a hybrid of two species of coffee; coffea arabica and coffea canephora (also called Robusta). It was found on the island of Timor around the 1940s and it was cultivated because of its resistance to leaf rust (which most arabica coffee is susceptible to). It is called Hybrido de Timor in the Americas and Tim Tim or Bor Bor in Indonesia. Another hybrid between the two species is called Arabusta but generally only found in Africa. | |
| Typica | Arabica | Worldwide | Typica originated from Yemeni stock, taken first to Malabar, India, and later to Indonesia by the Dutch. It later made its way to the West Indies to the French colony at Martinique. Typica has genetically evolved to produce new characteristics, often considered new varietals: Criollo (South America), Arabigo (Americas), Kona (Hawaii), Pluma Hidalgo (Mexico), Garundang (Sumatra), Jamaica Blue Mountain (Jamaica), San Bernado & San Ramon (Brazil), Kents & Chickumalgu (India) | |
| Uganda | Arabica/Robusta | Although it mostly produces Robusta coffee, there is a quality Arabica bean grown there known as Bugishu around the Sipi Falls area. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Coffee Varieties
Famous quotes containing the word varieties:
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”
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