Caturra Coffee: Things to Know About This Bourbon Varietal
The perfect cup profile is difficult to define. But for Home Grounds, the best coffee beans are well-balanced and complex. Caturra coffee might just be the perfect choice, given its citrus acidity and chocolate sweetness.
Keep reading to learn more about what caturra coffee is and how to bring out the best in this Bourbon varietal.
What Is Caturra Coffee?
Caturra coffee is a natural hybrid of Bourbon coffee. To clarify, science divides beans into four different coffee bean species:
- Arabica
- Robusta
- Liberica
- Excelsa
It gets even more complicated than that. A cultivar is a plant whose traits have been bred into them by humans, while a varietal is a naturally-occurring variety of the original plant. In this context, Arabica is the coffee species, Bourbon is an Arabica varietal, and Caturra is a naturally-occurring hybrid of Bourbon.
As a natural hybrid of the Bourbon coffee, Caturra was first discovered in Brazil in the 1960s. Upon its discovery, Caturra quickly became the Arabica varietal of choice throughout Central America and Colombia due to its compact size and excellent cup quality. According to Bella Vista Coffee’s Quality Control Manager, Dulce Barrera (1):
…Caturra, like Bourbon, is resistant to droughts, winds, and…sunlight. It also adapts well to hot temperatures.
This hardiness and ability to adapt to unpredictable climate changes make this arabica varietal the best choice for many farms in this region.
Also, Caturra coffee plants possess a gene mutation that results in dwarfism, which makes them shorter in stature than Bourbon, the Arabica varietal from which it derived (2).
If you want to know more about some other coffee hybrid varieties, you can read our posts on Pacamara, H3 coffee, and Catuai coffees.
Caturra Coffee Cup Profile
How does the caturra coffee bean taste?
The caturra coffee bean’s flavour profile is well-balanced in its sweetness and acidity.
With definite chocolate notes on the sweeter end, the caturra is balanced with bright notes of tangerine, orange, lemon, and lime.
Since caturra coffee beans are very consistent in size, they do well as either a light, medium, or dark roast. On the lighter end, the caturra coffee’s natural citrus acidity is more pronounced, but the cup profile becomes more chocolaty on the darker end.
For more on the caturra bean’s flavour profile, watch this informative video from The Colombian Coffee Company.
Last but not least, while you can certainly brew Caturra coffee beans with any brew method you choose, steeping methods—like the French press—will yield the best results. You’ll get a bold, balanced cup with the proper time, temperature, grind size, and proportion.
Final Thoughts
The Caturra coffee bean yields a well-balanced, chocolaty citrus cup. Bring out the best in this excellent coffee Arabica varietal by making it in the French press.
Have you already tried it? Let us know how you liked it.
FAQs
Coffee flavour notes come from combining different taste aspects. They are derived from the flavours and aromas found on the coffee flavour wheel like chocolate and orange. Though it seems daunting, this flavour wheel is an excellent tool for developing your palate and finding your favourite beans, roast, and flavour profiles.
Yes, there are three main variations of Caturra coffee: red, yellow, and lerdo. Each variation of Caturra coffee has a slightly different appearance and flavour.
Yes, Bourbon and Cattura Coffees are similar, and there’s a lot of overlap between Caturra and Bourbon coffee beans. Because Caturra is a mutation of Bourbon, they’re both similar in flavour. However, Caturra is more compact and can be more susceptible to coffee leaf rust.
References
- Arabica Coffee Varieties | Caturra. (2022). Worldcoffeeresearch.org. https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/caturra
- Coffee varieties: A roaster’s guide to Caturra. (2021, November 29). MTPAK. https://mtpak.coffee/2021/11/coffee-varieties-roasters-guide-caturra/
