Colombia is best known in the coffee world as a producer of high quality Arabica coffees. However, there are many varieties of Arabica grown in Colombia. Coffee farmers choose to grow coffees varieties that offer superior flavor, high yield, and provide resistance to coffee leaf rust, which has the potential to destroy all of the coffee plants on any given coffee farm. Common varieties grown in Colombia include Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Castillo, and Colombia. Each has features that make coffee farmers choose it as the primary coffee grown on any given farm.
Caturra
Historically the most common coffee variety grown in Colombia is Caturra. This variety is favored for its relative resistance to leaf rust and high yield, making it an ideal choice for coffee plantations. Caturra is often grown in conjunction with other varietals like Castillo and Colombia, but it remains the primary choice for many coffee farms across the country. Like other commonly grown coffees, Caturra came to be used because it is a natural mutation of the bourbon variety that occurred in the 20th century in Brazil. This natural mutation also has a higher yield than the bourbon variety it came from. Caturra is a smaller than average plant making it management and harvest easy. Caturra is popular in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Brazil as well as in Colombia. This is a good Arabica coffee but not the best. Its yield and leaf rust resistance are considered fair trade offs for less than top quality.
Castillo
Castillo has risen to the top spot of Arabica coffee production in Colombia with roughly forty percent of all Colombian coffee being this variety. Castillo is not a natural mutation but rather a hybrid developed by Cenicafé, the research arm of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation. It is a cross between Caturra and a disease resistant variety from the island of Timor in the East Indies. Like Caturra, it is a compact plant and easy to manage and harvest. It is significantly less susceptible to leaf rust and has a high yield. Castillo grown at higher altitudes is sweet and balanced with a popular flavor profile superior to Caturra.
Typica
Typica is an old coffee variety with exceptional flavor and floral notes. It is generally limited to being grown at higher altitudes where the risk of coffee leaf rust is less. One of the oldest coffee varieties, Typica is known for its floral aromas and nuanced flavors. Coffee farmers who grown this variety have a large plant with yield challenges and perpetual risk of coffee leaf rust with the tradeoff being that it produces some of the best coffee in the world!
Bourbon
The Bourbon coffee variety comes from coffee exported from Yemen to an island in the Indian Ocean. The original name of the island was Bourbon but now is named Reunion. This coffee has exceptional aroma and flavor but, like typica, is easily infected by coffee leaf rust. Thus, in Colombia, Bourbon is only grown at the highest altitudes where leaf rust is uncommon.
Cenicafé 1
The most recent hybrid developed by Cenicafe bears their name. It is a cross between Caturra and Timor Hybrid 1343. It features superior seed quality, a compact plant, high yield, and superior adaptability to conditions throughout all of Colombia’s coffee growing regions. Besides being resistant to coffee leaf rust this variety is resistant to Coffee Berry Disease. Cenicafé developed this hybrid with a changing climate in mind so that Colombian coffee production and quality will suffer less as the climate changes!