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Hello and welcome to the Legendary Coffee Tour 2018: Cultivar Caravan! Today we are going to talk about coffee varieties! We’ll go through what varieties technically are in coffee, what some of the most commonly found ones are and where they come from, and we’ll not only get the chance to taste different coffee varieties but also other things that have similar diversity of genetics and profile as a way of establishing context and developing our palates. Also, we’re going to have a lot of fun. First, I’m going to give a relatively brief presentation that will arm you with just enough knowledge to be dangerous—because we like to live dangerously in coffee— before we go ahead and start to taste through and get an idea of the significance of botanical variety not only in coffee but also in general. 2
What is a “Variety?” • Every living creature is defined by its taxonomy, which defines specific things such as what Kingdom something belongs in (e.g. animal, mineral, or vegetable), how those kingdoms are broken up (e.g. the Animal kingdom includes insects, fish, mammals, humans; plant life would include trees, flowers, undersea plants, fruits, mushrooms), and so on down to breakdowns within a particular species. • PS That’s where we get the word “specific” from! • The classifications that are underneath Species are far more genetically specific, and can have distinct characteristics that can seem unrelated even though they are related. • In coffee, there are more than 125 species of the Genus Coffea, but we only commercially focus on 2 of them – Arabica and Canephora(Fun fact: Robusta is actually a variety of the species Canephora– there are two important varieties: Robusta is the most common) 3
*Coffea Arabica’s taxonomy was established by Antoine de Jussieu in 1713, which is a significant year in coffee’s history (as we’re about to find out). He originally gave the plant the botanical designation of Jasminum arabicanum. The famous Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus assigned the specific Genus of Coffea in 1737. 3
We know that Ethiopia is the birthplace of Coffea arabica because that country has the greatest genetic diversity among wild Arabica plants in the world. Outside of Ethiopia, all of the known Arabica coffee types contain around 1% of the genetic diversity that is represented in Ethiopia. Part of what we need to discuss before we get to talking about how varieties are different from each other is how they made their way around the world once leaving Ethiopia, and how that genetic bottleneck happened. We’ll take you on a $0.10 history of the coffee plants’ journey around the world. 4
The $0.10 History of Coffee Varieties (We Think) • Ethiopia has countless varieties, most or all of which grew wild, most likely the highest concentration in the area where Ethiopia and Sudan border. • Within Ethiopia, coffee traveled from its origins in the southwest (Yirgacheffe/Sidama) to the northeast region around Harrar. It was probably carried by slaves, traders, and religious migrants who chewed and brewed the leaves, and who made a kind of energy snack by mashing coffee pulp with animal suet and rolling it into balls. They likely planted seeds when they relocated, or perhaps dropped them along the way. • Coffees in Harrar adapted to the climate, and the profile and appearance changed 5
• Yemen inherited a handful of Ethiopian varieties (most likely taken from Harrar and surrounding) which transplanted to Arabian Peninsula in the 16 th century. • Yemen was the first place to commercially cultivate coffee for sale, and quickly became a very strong producer as well as very jealous of its plants (stealing coffee seeds or plants was very severely punished) 6
Java = A single variety from Yemen was smuggled by Dutch spies and transplanted to the colony in Java in the 17 th century, and the first coffee export crop year was 1711. Dutch agriculture was tremendously advanced and efficient, and Java quickly became the largest producer of coffees in the world. 7
• The Noble Tree = single Java tree given to king of France in 1713 as a gift of peace upon signing a treaty; one of the first greenhouses on the continent was built to house it. • Clippings from the Noble Tree are thought to be the origin of most of the coffee in the New World, starting on Martinique in the early 18 th century and branching outward, and spread as diplomatic gifts among European sovereigns 8
• Coffees that we call “Typica” are thought to be more or less “direct” descendants of the Noble Tree and its clippings, though pure “Typica” is very hard to find nowadays and most of what is called Typica has changed or mutated in some way 9
Because of this journey around the world, the genetic material of coffee varieties got more and more narrow, as fewer and fewer distinct types of coffee were transplanted, and instead plants with very similar genetic material simply adapted to their new climates, which make them *seem* distinct even though they’re very closely related. 10
Arguably the two most important heirloom varieties of coffee are Typica and Bourbon, as they are the parent coffees of most of what we recognize in specialty coffee Typica plants are descendant from the Noble Tree and were used to propagate farms in the New World directly (more or less directly, anyway). Bourbon plants are related to a mutation of Typica variety that occurred on the island of Bourbon (now called Reunion), where coffee was planted by the French from plants they also got from Yemen. (Remember that Yemen was where Typica originated, as it was transplanted from there by the Dutch.) These two varieties share a lot of genetic material but have distinct differences. • Typica • Large fruit and seeds • Oval- or almond-shaped leaves • Bronze colored tips • Low productivity 11
• Highly susceptible • Sweet balanced profile, cherry, vanilla, almond, floral, gentle acidity • Bourbon • Round fruit and seeds • Slightly broader leaves • Green colored tips • Moderately productive • Highly susceptible • Sweet profile, lower acid: Butterscotch, caramel, some savory depth, lemon acidity 11
Typica and Bourbon are the genetic parents of a whole host of varieties that we are familiar with — so you can start to see where the genetic material begins to bottleneck, listen to how closely related these types are. This cluster diagram will illustrate how closely related and intertwined some of the most common varieties are. 12
Caturra = Bourbon mutation that occurred in Brazil, dwarf plant (1 gene difference from Bourbon) 13
Mundo Novo = Naturally occurring cross of Bourbon + Typica in Brazil 14
Catuai = A cross-breeding of Mundo Novo (Bourbon + Typica) with Caturra(dwarf Bourbon mutation) 15
Maragogype = A mutation of Typica discovered in Brazil in the 1870s, with massive leaves, fruit, and seeds 16
Pacas = A dwarf Bourbon mutation found in El Salvador 17
Pacamara = A Salvadoran cross between Pacas (a dwarf Bourbon mutation found in El Salvador) and Maragogype(a Typica mutation) 18
Sidra = Naturally occurring cross of Bourbon + Typica found in Ecuador 19
• Let’s talk about what these words all mean! 20
• Variety = naturally occurring variation within a particular species • Heirloom = varieties that are the result of natural selection occurring before human interference, perhaps even before agriculture 21
• Cultivar = term comes from “cultivated variety,” meaning the plant was selected, created, or propagated for particular characteristics • These are generally less genetically stable than varieties and will commonly revert back to their parent characteristics 22
• Hybrid = Created through cross-breeding between parents either interspecifically or from distinct parental lines • Timor Hybrid is the most famous hybrid – a spontaneous interspecific mutation that took place on the island of Timor in the late 1930s/early 1940s – a marriage of Arabica and Canephora • Timor Hybrid is also called Tim Tim and Hibirdo de Timor • Very thick trunk and branches, droopy almost Seuss-like shape • Highly productive and resistant • Variable cup quality but noticeably superior to straight Canephora • Genetically considered Arabica, as are hybrids made using its genetic material, which are most modern hybirds 23
• Castillo • Colombia • Catimor (Timor Hybrid + Caturra) • Sarchimor (Villa Sarchi [a dwarf Bourbon from Costa Rica] + Timor Hybrid) • Note: Not all cultivars are hybrids, but all hybrids are cultivars 23
• “Varietal” = the word used to describe the beverage made from a single variety of coffee and/or wine • “I am growing Bourbon variety trees on my farm.” • “I have made you a Bourbon varietal shot of espresso.” • Technically most of what we call “varieties” are actually “cultivars” – Caturra, Catuai, SL-28, SL-34, Pacamara, Pacas, Villa Sarchi… 24
There are many reasons why certain varieties are commonly associated with particular places, and those regions are either natural, practical, or commercial. Here are a few of the circumstances and considerations around different types of coffee 25
• Heirlooms – Typically indigenous or wild (as in Ethiopia) and spread by wind and insect/animal – these tend to grow without intentionality on a farmer’s part. They are “just there.” 26
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