Typica

Typica is one of the two founding lineages, alongside Bourbon, that carried arabica coffee out of Ethiopia. Seeds moved from Ethiopia to Yemen, then to India and on to Java by the late 1600s, where the Dutch propagated a single introduction that became the archetype of the Typica line. From Java, a plant was carried to the Amsterdam botanical garden and from there the Dutch and French distributed it into the Americas in the early 1700s, reaching Suriname, French Guiana, Martinique and Brazil, and later Jamaica. From those few introductions Typica spread across Central and South America and dominated plantations for two centuries. It is a tall, low yielding plant that is highly susceptible to leaf rust and other diseases, but it is still valued for its clean, sweet, well balanced cup. Typica is also the parent of several important mutations, including Maragogipe and, in Guatemala, Pache.