Yellow Bourbon

Yellow Bourbon first appeared in the 1930s on a Red Bourbon farm near Pederneiras in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, and is thought to be either a natural mutation of Red Bourbon or the result of a cross with a yellow fruited variety known locally as Botucatu. From 1942 the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas ran formal trials, selecting and multiplying strains over several years before releasing the variety to growers. The yellow colour comes from a recessive trait affecting fruit pigmentation, sometimes called xanthocarpa, rather than a change in the coffee itself. Yellow Bourbon is valued for a sweet, mellow, often honeyed cup and can be higher yielding than Red Bourbon, but like other Bourbon types it has only weak resistance to leaf rust and needs careful management.