Maragogipe.

A nineteenth-century Typica mutation recognised first by scale.

Rare beans

Maragogipe appeared in Brazil in the 1870s. Its unusually large beans stop the eye before the cup reaches the table.

It belongs among the rare beans: a box or two when the sample, ground and handling line up.

The opposite of Caturra

Maragogipe and Caturra are the same kind of accident pointed in opposite directions. Each is a single dominant gene altering the scale of the plant: Caturra shortens the internodes of a Bourbon until the tree is small enough to crowd together, while Maragogipe enlarges every part of a Típica, beans, leaves and the spaces between nodes alike. The beans run thirty to forty per cent above a standard arabica.

The spelling follows the Bahian town. Maragogype appears too and is not wrong; the house keeps one and stays with it.

Why there is never much

It is a tall, low-yielding tree, susceptible to Leaf rustHemileia vastatrix, la roya: the fungus that strips arabica of its leaves. Colombia's breeding programme exists to resist it, which is why Castillo and Tabi carry Timor Hybrid lines.More →, nematodes and coffee berry disease, and it wants less feeding than most, which sounds like a virtue until set against how little it returns. World Coffee Research calls it highly unproductive and points growers at Pacamara instead.

One figure runs the other way: the cherry-to-green outturn is very high, which offsets some of the per-tree loss and is worth raising when a price is being discussed. It stays a rare lot here because the economics make it one, not because scarcity sells.

Colombia's best green coffee beans, at auction · 2023

31 prize lots: NZ$44 to NZ$269 a kilo.

A dot for each lot of green coffee beans sold at Colombia's best-coffee auction in 2023, by its price in New Zealand dollars a kilo, beside the price of everyday Colombian green coffee beans imported into New Zealand that year.0$50$100$150$200$250$300Everyday green coffee beans, 2023: NZ$9.52 a kiloEveryday NZ$9.52Caturra, Castillo, Colombia, 87.78 points: NZ$44 a kiloBourbon, 87.89 points: NZ$47 a kiloBourbon, 87.22 points: NZ$47 a kiloBourbon, 88 points: NZ$48 a kiloBourbon Rosado, 87.28 points: NZ$48 a kiloColombia, Typica, 87.11 points: NZ$48 a kiloBourbon Rosado, 88 points: NZ$49 a kiloAjí, 87.61 points: NZ$51 a kiloBourbon, 87.44 points: NZ$51 a kiloGeisha, 87.56 points: NZ$52 a kiloGeisha, 87.06 points: NZ$52 a kiloGeisha, 87.5 points: NZ$55 a kiloChiroso, 89.39 points: NZ$62 a kiloCaturra, 88 points: NZ$72 a kiloGeisha, 88.17 points: NZ$72 a kiloCaturra Chiroso, 88 points: NZ$72 a kiloCaturra, 88.89 points: NZ$75 a kiloCaturra, Castillo, Colombia, 88.06 points: NZ$76 a kiloGeisha, 88.83 points: NZ$81 a kiloGeisha, 89.5 points: NZ$87 a kiloGeisha, 87.44 points: NZ$95 a kiloGeisha, 87.89 points: NZ$99 a kiloGeisha, 89.78 points: NZ$140 a kiloGeisha, 90.06 points: NZ$144 a kiloAjí, 89.56 points: NZ$151 a kiloGeisha, 90.39 points: NZ$161 a kiloGeisha, 90.39 points: NZ$161 a kiloGeisha, 90.33 points: NZ$173 a kiloGeisha, 90.33 points: NZ$173 a kiloGeisha, 90.61 points: NZ$253 a kiloGeisha, 90.61 points: NZ$269 a kiloA dot for each lot of green coffee beans sold at Colombia's best-coffee auction in 2023, by its price in New Zealand dollars a kilo, beside the price of everyday Colombian green coffee beans imported into New Zealand that year.0$100$200$300Everyday green coffee beans, 2023: NZ$9.52 a kiloEveryday NZ$9.52Caturra, Castillo, Colombia, 87.78 points: NZ$44 a kiloBourbon, 87.89 points: NZ$47 a kiloBourbon, 87.22 points: NZ$47 a kiloBourbon, 88 points: NZ$48 a kiloBourbon Rosado, 87.28 points: NZ$48 a kiloColombia, Typica, 87.11 points: NZ$48 a kiloBourbon Rosado, 88 points: NZ$49 a kiloAjí, 87.61 points: NZ$51 a kiloBourbon, 87.44 points: NZ$51 a kiloGeisha, 87.56 points: NZ$52 a kiloGeisha, 87.06 points: NZ$52 a kiloGeisha, 87.5 points: NZ$55 a kiloChiroso, 89.39 points: NZ$62 a kiloCaturra, 88 points: NZ$72 a kiloGeisha, 88.17 points: NZ$72 a kiloCaturra Chiroso, 88 points: NZ$72 a kiloCaturra, 88.89 points: NZ$75 a kiloCaturra, Castillo, Colombia, 88.06 points: NZ$76 a kiloGeisha, 88.83 points: NZ$81 a kiloGeisha, 89.5 points: NZ$87 a kiloGeisha, 87.44 points: NZ$95 a kiloGeisha, 87.89 points: NZ$99 a kiloGeisha, 89.78 points: NZ$140 a kiloGeisha, 90.06 points: NZ$144 a kiloAjí, 89.56 points: NZ$151 a kiloGeisha, 90.39 points: NZ$161 a kiloGeisha, 90.39 points: NZ$161 a kiloGeisha, 90.33 points: NZ$173 a kiloGeisha, 90.33 points: NZ$173 a kiloGeisha, 90.61 points: NZ$253 a kiloGeisha, 90.61 points: NZ$269 a kilo
Source: Cup of Excellence, Stats NZ · 2023

Prize lots: Cup of Excellence, Colombia's national competition, where the top-scoring green coffee beans are sold at an online auction. Winning bids in Colombia, before shipping, at each year's average exchange rate.

Everyday green coffee beans: the average value of green coffee beans imported into New Zealand from Colombia that year, with freight and insurance, before GST.