A tall, classic variety with excellent cup potential at high altitude, but modest yields and susceptibility to the major coffee diseases.
Bourbon is a tall Arabica of the Bourbon-Typica group, prized for cup quality at high altitude but limited by relatively low production and susceptibility to leaf rust, berry disease and nematodes. It is the ancestor of many widely planted mutations and crosses, and is now grown mainly in a few Central American countries and Peru.
Field notes
- i
French missionaries carried it from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now La Réunion) in the early 1700s, which gave it its name.
- ii
It stayed on the island until the mid-1800s, reached Brazil around 1860, then spread through South and Central America.
- iii
Caturra, Catuai and Mundo Novo have largely displaced it, though it persists in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru.
Family tree
Offspring
Sources · 1 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-11-11.
- WCR Arabica Varieties Catalog: Bourbon · World Coffee Research