Bourbon

Bourbon takes its name from Bourbon Island, now La Reunion, where French missionaries introduced Yemeni coffee stock in the early 1700s. Isolated on the island for well over a century, the plant developed into a distinct variety with rounder cherries and a different growth habit to Typica. From around 1860 Bourbon seed was carried to Brazil and from there it spread north through Central and South America, crossing naturally with Typica and Ethiopian derived stock along the way. Bourbon is credited with a large share of the parentage behind Latin America's modern varieties, including Caturra, Mundo Novo and, further down the line, Pacas and Villa Sarchi. It has been largely replaced by its own descendants in most countries, though pure Bourbon is still grown in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, prized for a sweet, rounded, high quality cup despite only moderate yield and rust resistance.