ABOUT RIVERA

This is our first year working with Laura Rivera, and we are extremely excited about it. Because of leaf rust, it is extremely difficult to find a 100% Typica lot in Colombia. Moreover, it is near impossible to find organically grown Typica anywhere in the world. Typica has long been one of our favorite heirloom-type coffee varieties, but it is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to find due to climate change. Nátaga is a new region for us as we continue to explore the vast coffee growing region of Huila. We are proud to offer one of the more exciting prospects we've come across in quite a while. 

ABOUT TYPICA

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.