REINA DE SABA

About This Coffee

100% Typica is becoming increasingly rare in the world of high-end specialty coffee. This lot offers a unique opportunity to taste this important variety. In the cup we find a very clean and transparent expression of terroir: dark berries, honeysuckle, and lemon curd. It continues to be an honor to work with the coffees from renowned exporter and producer Alejandro Renjifo of Fairfield Trading. Alejandro has been an influential figure in the development of Colombian specialty coffee and works with many of the most well-known producers in the country. A few years ago, he began his own farming project atop San Agustín, in southern Huila, where he is now cultivating Caturra, Typica, and Gesha. Bourbon and Typica compose the most culturally and genetically important groups of coffees in the world. Historical records indicate that seeds were taken from the natural coffee forests of Southwestern Ethiopia to Yemen, where it was cultivated as a crop. Recent genetic tests have confirmed that Bourbon and Typica were the main seeds taken from Ethiopia to Yemen. From Yemen, descendants of Bourbon and Typica spread around the world, forming the basis of modern Arabica coffee cultivation. Typica reached Brazil in the early 1700’s, and quickly spread throughout most of Central and South America. Until the 1940’s, the majority of coffee plantations in Central America were planted with Typica. However, because this variety is both low yielding and highly susceptible to major coffee diseases, it has gradually been replaced across much of the Americas with Bourbon varieties such as Caturra, Catuai, and also hybrids.