Keeping the weekend theme going og Geisha thought it needed to be added to the list of varietal posts.

Varietal:Geisha (or gesha)

Origin:Ethiopia

Grows Best at:post 1500 masl

Type:Heirloom

Prevalent in:Ethiopia, Costa Rica and Panama

Predominant Colour:Red

Fruit size:Standard

Leaf Characteristics:Elongated thin and long

Plant Characteristics: Tall thin, elongated leaves

Geisha is a controversial varietal when found in central america that is for sure. Extremely rare at the moment although expect to see lots in the coming years. Made famous around five years ago by panama Hasienda La Esmerelda. and the best of panama competition.

Little known it was originally introduced to central america in Costa Rica (1953 est) not Panama as many think. Originally from a south western Ethiopian town of Gesha its an heirloom varietal, that is low yeilding, thin and spindly branches open to strong winds, and pest friendly as they come (although resistant to coffee rust). The leaves are very long and thin too and grows very tall (if not a little gangly).

Can grow and many altitudes, but anecdotal evidence shows this only shines at real big elevation (post 1500 masl) lower altitude coffee tends to be of poorer quality than those from higher up.

Although esteemed in coffee circles the fact its a geisha is no guarantee of quality although when it is right it has potential to be amazing.

Special Notes:An example of this can be found in the Costa Rica La Candelilla Tarrazú 100% Geisha El Quemado lot

Time for another Varietal post I do plan to do a few of these over the coming weeks, having got my head back into the books. If you want to see what we have done so far, I’ve created a page with them all here

Varietal:Rasuna

Related to:Catimor and tipica

Origin:Indonesia

Grows Best at:1100-1300 masl

Type:Hybred

Prevalent in:Indonesia

Predominant Colour:Red

Fruit size:Standard

Leaf Characteristics:Elongated Leaves

Plant Characteristics: Medium tall tree, small elongated leaves

The Rasuna variety derives from the cross of Catimor and Tipica varietal’s.

This is a new variety being planted in Sumatra around the Takengon area.
In Sumatra there has been a push towards Catimor for its high yeilds, but it been noted to have a short production life of around 10 years, after this time has passed, yields get dramatically lower over a short
period.

Another varietal used has been Typica, but this is a low yielded variety in Sumatra but has a much longer production life compared to Catimor before its yiled drops off.

So the obvious solution was to combine the two which they did and here it is, Rasuna

Special Notes:An example of this can be found in the Sidikalang we offer this year.

Links:Catimor and Tipica

Its been a while since one of these so its time for another varietal post. This time its the interesting Icatu thats been very difficult to tie down. An interesting and potentially exciting varietal, one to watch.

Varietal: Icatu

Related to: C.arabica and c. canephora

Origin: Brazil

Grows best at: 800ft and higher

Type: Hybred

Prevalent in: Brazil

Predominant Colour: Red and Yellow

Fruit size: Large

Leaf Characteristic’s: No noticeable traits

Plant Characteristic’s: Tall plant

Special Notes:

Only when I started to dig into this varietal did I find how widespread it is. With DNA in Iapar 59 and others, this relatively young varietal came to the forefront in 1985 in Brazil (again), but was officially released in 1993.

There are lots of sub varietals around icatu, most of them just sub variations. These hybrids are the result of repeated backcrossing of arabica with robusta hybrids to arabica cultivars with Mundo Novo and Caturra, and is by far the most complicated of the varietals I’ve looked at so far.

It has a strong resistance to leaf rust, and rootknot neratodes.
A relatively young varietal its true potential as a specialty coffee has yet to be accessed but its pest resistance and it success in brazil’s COE competition (our Brazil Rancho Sao Benedito from the 2008 competition a great example) show positive signs. In the cup too

Typical characteristics: Low acidity, medium to full body, sweet dark chocolate taste with a hint of citric aroma.

Links: Mundo Novo

This one has been great fun to do. It started trying to find out more about Criolla (Machacamarca is stated as this varietal) and information was sparse. Hitting the books I found out that its another name in Bolivia and Peru for Typica.

I’m so enjoying putting these together its very cool indeed.

Varietal: Typica (also known as Criolla, Sumatra, Blawan Pasumah and Blue Mountain)

Related to: n/a

Origin: Central America

Grows best at: Higher Altitudes

Type: n/a

Prevalent in: Central America

Predominant Colour: Red

Fruit size: Large elongated cherries

Leaf Characteristics: Small elongated leaves

Botany: Natural Hybred

Special Notes:

My search for information on Criolla brought me to typica. Typica is grown throughout Central America Jamaica and some Indonesian islands. The plant has large elongated cherries, with the tree producing thin leaves that are long in appearance.

It grows best in sandy soils and mixed reports of its hardiness to pest and disease. Its yield is quite low. The famous Jamaican blue mountain is from the typical varietal.

Criolla (the Bolivian Machacamarca and the Café David) is another name for typica. Basically Typica is also known as Criollo in Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. This variety was introduced 100 years ago in the Piura Andes of Peru, because of its like of high altitudes. My experience of Typica and altitude has given some great results

Coffee that are typical on has bean, Bolivian Machacamarca, Bolivian Café David, Jamaica Blue mountain, El Salvador La Ilusion, some fairly acclaimed coffee.

Another in our Varietal series. This was a tough one to find out more about. anything you have on it I’d like very much.

Varietal: Maracatu (also known as Maracaturra)
Related to: Maragogype & Caturra
Origin: Brazil
Grows best at: 800metres or higher
Type: Highbred
Prevalent in: Brazil
Predominant Colour: Red
Fruit size: Large
Leaf Charicteristics: Large Leaf

Special Notes:

Also known as Maracaturra this is a mutant of of Maragogype and Caturra. Very distinctive large leaves large fruit and flowers. Found in Central America predominantly (exclusively in my experience) El Salvador, Nicaragua, Brazil and Mexico being some.
Typical taste profile is bright acidity which is very complex, which is bright fruity, and well developed.

Links:Maragogype, Cattura, Pacamaras

Number three in the Series (I haven’t forgotten about this project) just trying to find time where I can. It will take some time. I also plan to do some work with the varietal family tree.

Varietal: Maragogype

Related to: Typica

Origin: Brazil

Grows best at: 800ft upwards

Type: Mutant

Prevalent in: Brazi, Guatemala, Mexico

Predominant Colour: Red

Fruit size: Very Large

Leaf Charicteristics: Tall large leaves and large fruit and large seeds.

Special Notes:

Pronounce mar-rah-go-jeepeh this varietal was originally found in Brazil (again) and is a mutant from Typica. The plant is very distinctive its very tall huge leaves and fruit.

The coffee seed / bean is also very distinctive due to its large oversize. This has created some interest in the bean as its very distinctive, and I’ve seen a lot of them from Brazil Guatemala and Mexico. I’ve head it said that the larger bean produce’s a more flavoursome coffee but my experiences don’t really show this. It’s a tiny bit of a gimmick but there are some fantastic samples out there, I think very little to do with the bean size and more to do with the quality of husbandry and environment.

The plant is very low yielding despite how tall it can grow. Cup characteristics are high acidity bright citrus fruits like lemon grapefruit and floral properties.

Links: Pacamara (crossed with pacas)Maracatu (crossed with Caturra)