Beverage
Yellow Bourbon
C tier
Yellow Bourbon is a Bourbon arabica colour mutation producing yellow cherries at maturity rather than red. Selected and popularised especially in Brazil, it shares Bourbon’s plant architecture and cup pedigree while offering slightly different ripening cues for farmers and a reputation for pronounced sweetness. In the cup Yellow Bourbon often delivers honeyed sweetness, citrus or yellow fruit, caramel, and smooth body with clear arabica acidity. It is a frequent specialty lot for filter brewing and espresso, especially as natural or pulped-natural processes that amplify fruit sugars.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
Yellow-fruited Bourbon mutants were identified and selected on Brazilian farms.
Brazilian research and estates multiplied Yellow Bourbon for quality-oriented plantings.
Yellow Bourbon became associated with sweet natural and pulped-natural Brazilian profiles.
Specialty buyers outside Brazil sought named Yellow Bourbon microlots.
Central American farms trialled Yellow Bourbon alongside red types for cup diversity.
Competition coffees highlighted Yellow Bourbon sweetness under varied processes.