For years, a coffee variety called "Caturra" has captivated consumers in Colombia. This word means "small" in the indigenous Guaraní language. I'm going to describe aspects of this variety, distinguished by its small size, related to its origin, history, advantages and disadvantages, characteristics, and care. Let's begin.
Coffea Arabica Caturra is one of the most famous coffee varieties in the world and one of the most cultivated in our country. According to experts, this type of coffee combines high yields with excellent cup quality, resulting in a very pleasant flavor for the end user. The Caturra variety comes from the Bourbon family and the Bourbon-Typica Group, with a single-gene mutation that causes the plant to grow smaller.
Origin and history
Its origins are in Ethiopia and are linked to the Arabica coffee, which is characterized by producing a fine, smooth, and aromatic coffee . This variety must be grown at high altitudes, so its harvest is usually more expensive and its caffeine levels are lower than those of other varieties. In Latin America, this variety was discovered in the state of Minas de Gerais in Brazil. There, the coffee bean developed a single-gene mutation that causes a certain type of dwarfism, which has become one of the greatest advantages during its planting process. This made it the first natural coffee mutation found in the world. This adaptability helped it spread throughout Central and South America. Because it is short, this variety allows coffee growers to grow more plants per square meter, compared to taller varieties such as Typica and Bourbon.
The Caturra variety arrived in Colombia in 1952, gaining great popularity for its size and planting density, which facilitates work in coffee-growing regions dominated by mountainous areas and slopes. It became widely distributed throughout the country in the following decade and was planted for a long time under shady trees. Caturra is a high-yielding variety with excellent potential for excellent cup quality, provided it is planted in appropriate environments and soils, with processing work that stimulates its characteristics. These microenvironments are generally found in locations with a low average annual temperature of 14°C or an altitude of 2,050 meters above sea level.
Disadvantages
This variety is highly susceptible to pests and fungi such as rust. It can also be affected by cherry anthracnose (fungus) and nematodes (worms), which is why it requires a great deal of care, which is vital for a high-yielding end result.
Characteristics
It is a dwarf and compact coffee tree. The color of its leaf buds is green. Its fruit size is average. Its yield potential is high. It produces a balanced, sweet beverage with bright acidity and medium body. The resulting cup of fruit is of high quality. Its buds are dark green, much lighter than other coffee trees. Its leaves are large, round, and broad. Their texture can be rough and wavy at the edges. Its tree produces less than the Bourbon, but more than the Typica. Its trunk is thick, sparsely branched, robust, and compact. When ripe, its fruits are usually red and yellow. Its nutritional requirements are high, and the first harvest takes three years.
Cherry Care
For many growers, the less technologically advanced the coffee , the better its flavor, a quality that is an advantage when selling it, since the appearance of the bean is often what matters most. For this reason, caring for the cherries is very important, as this resource contributes to the production of better coffee. Leaving the coffee cherries to dry for a long period of time improves the quality of the product. The less technologically advanced, the better. The most important thing is to properly care for the crop, paying attention to its growth, as well as to the harvesting, natural drying, roasting, grinding, and packaging processes.
Finally, remember that the Caturra coffee variety, especially known for its small size, produces an excellent low-growing coffee, which offers good yields and a pleasant flavor.