Bourbon is one of the most widely known and oldest varietals of Arabica. The varietal was introduced to and named after the island of Bourbon (now known as Reunion Island) by French missionaries from Yemen in the early 1700s. It spread through Africa and the Americas in the mid 1800s. Many varietals today have a lineage tied to the Bourbon varietal. Bourbon is known to have great cup quality but has medium-low volume per-plant production and is susceptible to all of the major coffee diseases.
Caturra is a naturally occurring dwarf mutation of Bourbon discovered in Brazil in the early 20th century. First identified on a plantation in Minas Gerais, it was selected and propagated for its compact size, which allows for denser planting and easier harvesting. By the mid-1900s, Caturra had spread throughout Latin America, becoming one of the most influential cultivars in the region’s coffee development.
Caturra maintains much of Bourbon’s cup potential, clean sweetness, balanced acidity, and approachable structure, while offering significantly higher yields per plant. Its compact stature, however, does not make it hardier: Caturra remains highly susceptible to leaf rust and other major coffee diseases. For many producers, it represents the classic tradeoff between cup quality and agronomic risk.