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Coffee has a Family Tree

Remix: Enter Typica

Exploring the family tree of coffee at our cupping table has been invigorating, fascinating, and, of course, delicious. By focusing on a very particular line of genetic relationships, those stemming from the Caturra branch of the Bourbon variety, we have come to understand subtle similarities and differences that result from the many processes—both natural and human-caused—that have developed the coffee family tree. Now our familiarity with the Caturra line allows us to explore another set of genetic relationships, stemming from the Typica variety by comparing a Caturra/Typica hybrid and a natural mutation of Typica.

Pache Colis is a hybrid of Caturra and Pache Comum, a natural mutation of Typica first discovered in Guatemala. Though not typically considered a particularly interesting cup, Pache Comum is known for its smoothness, a characteristic common to Typica and its descendants. Combining the smooth character of Pache Comum with the soft citrus and variable sweetness of Caturra makes Pache Colis one of our favorite varieties. Displaying incredible subtleties and rich, earthy sweetness that shows none of the harshness typically associated with savory coffees, Pache Colis brings out some of the best of its two parent varieties. Thus, it serves as a perfect window into the relationship between the Bourbon and Typica branches of Arabica’s family tree.

However, before we are accused of taking an unscientific approach to this comparison we came up with a good “control group” to emphasize the Typica characteristics of Pache Colis. Maragogype is a natural mutation of Typica discovered in Brazil which displays many of the characteristics of Typica’s sweetness and well-rounded body. Like Typica, it prefers very high elevations, and is not especially productive. It is one of the most interesting coffee varieties both for the size of its trees and the size of its seeds (usually 2-3 times that of a normal coffee tree or seed). Another interesting point about Maragogype is the controversy it has caused among specialty roasters. While some consider it one of the rarest, most delicious varieties, others consider the difficulty of finding and properly roasting Maragrogype to be hardly worth the trouble. It goes without saying that we fall in the former camp, and what’s more we believe Maragogype can teach us a lot about the dominant characteristics of the Typica branch, especially in contrast to Caturra varieties.

So please join us for this unique experience this Thursday night at 7 pm. The event is free and a great way to educate your mind and taste buds by enjoying excellent coffee.

Coffee Has a Family Tree

The Curious Case of Catimor

This week, we will follow the Caturra family of the Bourbon branch on coffee’s family tree by looking at Catimor. Catimor is an especially intriguing variety because of its history and parentage, as well as its varied cup quality. Catimor is a forced hybrid of Caturra and a variety called East Timor Hybrid (Tim-Tim, for short). Tim-Tim is a natural hybrid of Arabica and another common species called Canephora (known popularly as “Robusta”). Being an interspecific hybrid, Tim-Tim was found to be uncommonly resistant to diseases that affect Arabica, especially the common, and devastating, leaf rust disease. It was bred with Caturra in Portugal in 1959 with the hope of magnifying the disease-resistant qualities of both, while capitalizing on the high-yield characteristics of Caturra. The result was Catimor, which shows exceptional disease-resistance with above-average yield.

Catimor appeared to be the answer much of the industry was looking for after numerous leaf rust epidemics had wiped out entire crops in several countries, year after year. Thus, Catimor was introduced into the world’s largest coffee-growing country, Brazil, on a large scale during the 1970’s to prove its worth. Though the crop remained healthy and increased capacity for many producers, much of it was completely unfit for the market from a quality standpoint. The reason for this lies in its heritage.

The Canephora and Arabica species have one major difference directly affecting cup quality. On average, Arabica contains much more naturally-forming sugars than Canephora, while Canephora contains more proteins than Arabica. Generally speaking, the sweet and acidic flavors in coffee are a result of higher sugar content, while the savory and bitter flavors are the result of higher protein content. Thus, in Arabica’s ideal growing conditions Canephora is meaty, vegetal, and astringent. Because Catimor contained some Canephora genetic structure, the Brazilian growing conditions were a disaster from a quality standpoint.

But this would hardly spell doom for this forced hybrid with such unique characteristics. While many in Latin America gave up on it from a specialty point of view, some commercial markets remained open to it. Also, Catimor was taken back to the Indonesian region where Tim-Tim first flourished and where it found a more hospitable home. The higher average rainfall of tropical micro-climates like Sumatra, combined with some lower growing elevations around the Sumatran lakes Tawar and Toba were perfect for the cultivation of both high-yield and high-quality Catimor. Today many, if not most, specialty coffees from Sumatra contain some degree of Catimor, some being exclusive to the variety.

Though many claim that a good Catimor is hardly distinguishable from Bourbon, with a crisp acidity and lingering sweetness, many of our cuppings with Catimor have shown some very unique characteristics. The higher protein content tends to bend fruit and floral flavors in a more savory direction, adding depth and complexity. Where many Bourbon-types produce dominant citrus notes, Catimor gives a much earthier stone fruit acidity, with molasses and brown sugar sweetness. The aftertaste of most Catimor is straightforward savory, sometimes conjuring root vegetable, sometimes bending toward red pepper. Needless to say, balancing these unique coffees can be a particularly perplexing, but also rewarding, challenge.

First Family Tree Cupping Recap

Our Family Tree series got off to a magnificent start Thursday, March 7th. Fifteen of our friends showed up to discover the connections between branches on the family tree of coffee. And we were once again reminded one of the most amazing aspects of cupping specialty coffees with friends: everyone’s palate is (at least) a little different.

As we moved through the process of cupping, from smelling the fragrance of the dry grounds, to the aroma of the wet grounds, and finally the flavors and nose of the completed brew-cycle, the range of experience was both interesting and instructive. In the dry fragrance, the descriptors of the Caturra variety generally connoted fruit-like characteristics, especially citrus fruits. By contrast, the Mayaguez showed much more range, from brown sugar/molasses to cardamom, yet specifically lacking in fruit character. Personally, this was very surprising to me because I know the Mayaguez to be a decidedly more fruity coffee than the Caturra. This made me very eager to hear more of everyone’s experience.

In the wet aroma, everyone seemed to get a much better sense of the range of the Caturra. The citrus tones were complemented by sugar-browning aromas like vanilla, grain, and sweet nutty characteristics. Toward the end of the wet aroma, many were beginning to detect some of the more savory characteristics of the Caturra, even its slight spiciness. Similarly, the character of the Mayaguez came into a much fuller focus as sharp citrus and berry-like aromas presented themselves. As the deeper sugar browning character of the Mayaguez came into contact with these fruit aromas, many of us were puzzled exactly how to identify this aroma, and the range of descriptors was even a little comical.

The tasting portion of the cupping is always the most interesting, and I almost always hear something like this: “At the beginning I thought I liked [X] coffee, but now I think I like [Y] coffee more.” This is because the brew-cycle is not fully complete until both coffees cool and reveal their full range of flavor. As expected, the Mayaguez started off with well-defined fruits, most people detecting lime and sharp berry flavors. The Caturra, by contrast, was much softer with a brown sugar sweetness edged by savory spices. As they lost heat, the Mayaguez’s fruits only sharpened, and partially gave way to pepper-like savory characteristics. The Caturra, however, remained soft, only presenting more depth of nutty sweetness and vanilla, with a modest citrus complement. Throughout the shifts, many of us felt our preferences change before our very taste buds.

This cupping was pure joy for me, as it illustrated some of the characteristics common to these second-generation Bourbon varieties like citrus and wide-ranging sweetness. However, by both their differences in intensity and stability, they illustrated the importance of variety in evaluating the possible range of flavors in specialty coffees. It is my hope that this cupping was only the beginning, and that both of these principles—commonality and difference—will be front and center in unique ways throughout our discovery of the Family Tree of coffee.

Coffee Has a Family Tree

Meet Mayaguez

Until recently, Mayaguez was treated as a sub-variety of Bourbon, due to its similar size, shape, and growth patterns. However, as coffee markets in Rwanda and Burundi have come into their own, Mayaguez has been increasingly looked upon as a unique variety. Lower yielding than other mutations of Bourbon, such as Caturra or Catuai, Mayaguez developed soon after coffee was first introduced into Rwanda by German missionaries in 1904. A natural mutation, it is especially acclimatized to Rwanda and Burundi, growing best at elevations between 1200m and 1800m in these countries where the average elevation is 1700m. In Rwanda, Mayaguez is especially concentrated in the western and northwestern areas of the country, near the waters of Lake Kivu, where settled volcanic soil provides the organic content that makes for its unique cup characteristics.

Given its close connection to its parent-variety, it is no surprise that Mayaguez displays many characteristics similar to Bourbon in terms of cup quality. High-quality Mayaquez is often aromatically complex, offering a crisp, up-front acidity, often floral and citric, subtle berry-like midtones, and a well-balanced, heavy sweetness often reminiscent of brown sugar or molasses. Combining the bright, citric acidity beloved in many Kenyan coffees with the subtlety and sweetness often found in Ethiopian coffees, it is no wonder that Mayaguez has come to stand out so well among the Bourbon family.

Coffee Has a Family Tree

As part of our upcoming "Coffee Has a Family Tree" cupping series, we'll be sharing some info on the different coffee varieties we're putting on the cupping table each week. Learn a little about the cultivation and history of each variety before having a chance to sample them every first and third Thursday.

A Closer Look at Caturra

The Caturra variety stands out from the family tree of Bourbon for many reasons, not least of which have to do with its cultivation and cup quality. A natural dwarf of Bourbon originally discovered in the town of Caturra in Brazil, it is a notoriously difficult plant to cultivate, requiring constant pruning and fertilization. However, the variety is cultivated because its production is greater than most other varieties in the right conditions with the right care. Caturra’s dwarf size and wealth of secondary branches are credited with this higher production, as each plant is able to hold more cherries while taking up less space, allowing farmers to plant more Caturra per hectare than most other varieties. It also matures noticeably faster than other varieties, and is believed to have some disease resistance. For these reasons, it has been involved in extensive selective breeding throughout Central America.

Particularly sensitive to elevation, Caturra grows best between 500m and 1700m. Though some sources claim 800m is optimum for production, most agree that production and quality are inverse with Caturra. Thus, a slightly higher elevation, between 1300-1400m will give quality on par with Bourbon, but with much lower yield (though still greater yield than Bourbon). Rainfall also impacts the cultivation of Caturra, with an ideal range between 100-140in/year. Though it developed and was discovered in Brazil, the necessary conditions of its cultivation have taken it away from Brazil, where it is rarely grown. At present, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua boast the greatest numbers of Caturra in the coffee-growing world.

In the cup, Caturra demonstrates its Bourbon family heritage with pronounced, often very citrusy acidity. Though most claim clarity (especially in the acidity) increases at higher altitudes, the “clean” characteristic of Bourbon is often lost in the sweetness of Caturra. Thus, earthy, nutty flavors are experienced in the cup, as opposed to the subtle fruit and wine or honey-like sweetness of Bourbon. In terms of mouthfeel Caturra is consistently softer, but still considered medium or full-bodied. Whether its flavor quality as a varietal should be considered on par with Bourbon and Typica is often debated among coffee lovers. However, under the right growing, processing, and roasting conditions, the excellent quality of a cup of Caturra can hardly be disputed.

May 17th: First Public Cupping at Joe Bean

Ever wonder how we come up with the flavor descriptions on our coffee?

At Joe Bean, we spend hours every week tasting our coffee, focusing on three main categories of coffee flavor: sweetness, acidity, and mouth-feel. Whether we are profiling a new crop or quality-testing an old favorite, tasting is one of the most crucial aspects of what we do. The method that enables us, and coffee professionals all over the world, to detect and describe nuances in each bean is cupping.

In the tradition of public wine and beer-tasting events, Joe Bean would like to welcome you to our cupping table. On Thursday, May 17, come experience this internationally-employed process for yourself, free of charge. Featuring our new Peruvian and Guatemalan coffees, we would like to welcome you to experience coffee origins in this very unique way. As a technique to develop your palate to detect the many subtleties of coffee flavor, this is an opportunity to enhance your everyday experience of coffee, as well.

Following the May 17 event, you are welcome to our cupping table every third Thursday, as we compare and contrast various coffee origins, discovering how aspects of planting, growing, processing, and roasting contribute to an array of brilliant flavors.

See ya there!