True origin of the Pink Bourbon coffee variety

Pink Bourbon is a coffee variety with a quite characteristic appearance, a pink color from the skin to the kernel, stable resistance to pests and diseases, rich aroma and diverse flavors. This coffee variety was first discovered in 2014, by a researcher working at Cafe Imports, in a traditional Bourbon growing area in Colombia. The mature tree has tall and scraggly appearance, similar to Bourbon and is believed to be a spontaneous cross of Red and Yellow Bourbon.

In 2017, Cafe Imports began testing the Pink Bourbon gene by DNA Analytica with two morphologically different plants, both colloquially known as Pink Bourbon. The results showed that these two research subjects had a high similarity rate with trees carrying Ethiopian coffee genes and were “similar to wild trees from Ethiopia”.

In 2023, with pretty big advances in genetic testing, they continued testing with five samples from different regions of Colombia and Costa Rica: four Pink Bourbon samples and one Orange Bourbon sample. Test samples were sent to RD2 Vision for analysis. All five samples were identified as Pink Bourbon and were confirmed to have “no relation to Bourbon, and are indigenous to Ethiopia.”

After a series of studies from 2017 to now – 2023 – when the information was announced, the Cafe Imports team of scientists and researchers determined that Pink Bourbon is not a hybrid or a mutation from the Bourbon variety. The degree of similarity in the genetic code structure shows that this is a pedigree variety developed from the indigenous Ethiopian tree variety.

How did an Ethiopian landrace Ethiopia come and grow in Colombia? Cafe Imports’ announcement raises two well-founded assumptions:

– One is that Pink Bourbon may have been brought to Colombia to enrich the local gene pool as a parent of another hybrid coffee variety;

– Second, Pink Bourbon may have been a mistake as someone was trying to bring another local Ethiopian variety here, but they ended up creating another coffee variety that we now call Pink Bourbon.

Language is simply an imperfect means for us to communicate and define things and events. Therefore, the name Pink Bourbon is simply a way to distinguish this coffee variety from others. Whether or not the change is important depends largely on tests and detailed genetic code evaluation as well as the impact of this name in the genealogical system. However, the coffee variety with the name Pink Bourbon itself has its own position because of its flavor characteristics, and we cannot deny that.

The cryptography and genetics of specialty coffee is one of those topics that is always followed and appreciated; Especially in the transformation towards sustainability, improving transparency and enhancing today’s original values. This is also a topic that brings many surprises because with today’s scientific advances, decoding genes and finding the true origins of familiar coffee varieties opens up many new doors and unexpected results in the development journey of the coffee ecosystem. Follow XLIII Coffee to update more information about the coffee industry in general and specialty coffee in particular.

Source:

– Pink…Bourbon?: Cryptozoology and Genetics in Specialty Coffee – Cafe Imports

– One Lie And A Truth: Pink Bourbon’s True Origin – Sprudge