Imagine you were handed two apples. One is a Granny Smith, and the other is a Red Delicious. They look completely different, taste different, and have a different mouthfeel. However they are both apples. Coffee is similar. The varietal of a tree can impact how it grows, tastes, and fights against pests and diseases. Different varietals develop through natural mutation. All of which stem from a common ancestor; Coffea Arabica Typica.
Typica is characterized as a low-yielding tree, copper-colored leaves, and long, oval seeds. It produces a high-quality & sweet cup in the right environment.
Typica then mutated into the Bourbon variety.
Bourbon is characterized as a low-yielding tree (yet more than Typica), vibrant green leaves, and small & dense seeds. It is known for its complex acidity, and can mature into red, yellow, orange, and pink cherries.
Then, Bourbon mutated into Maragogype, and so on, and so on. There are also cultivars, which are man-made varietals; cross-bred for desirable traits. For example, the Pacamara cultivar was crossbred between the Pacas & Maragogype varieties. This produced what is known as the “Elephant Bean” due to its incredibly large size.
One farm that Viewfinder has a direct relationship with, Spirit Mountain in the Dominican Republic, employs the use of the Parainema cultivar. Chad Wallace, owner of Spirit Mountain, switched to Parainema for its resistance to a coffee plant disease called Leaf Rust as well as its good performance at lower elevations.