When people think about what makes coffee taste the way it does, they usually think about roasting. Or brewing. But the varietal — the specific type of coffee plant — is quietly shaping the cup before any of that begins.
At Jack Murat, this story starts with a single varietal and is now expanding into something considerably more interesting. Here's what we know so far.
What a coffee varietal actually is
Coffee comes from the genus Coffea — a family of flowering plants that originated in the forests of Ethiopia somewhere between 600,000 and a million years ago. Within that genus, Coffea arabica is the species responsible for most of the world's specialty coffee.
But arabica isn't a single plant — it's a vast family of cultivated varieties, each with its own growth habit, yield, disease resistance, and cup profile. These varieties are called cultivars or varietals. Some emerged through natural mutation (Bourbon, Typica); others were developed through deliberate breeding programmes (Catimor, Marsellesa, F1 hybrids). Each behaves differently in the cup and differently in the field.
Varietal selection is one of the most consequential decisions a coffee farmer makes — and it's a long-term one. Coffee trees take three to four years to bear fruit. You're committed for the life of the planting, which could be decades.
How we started: Catuai in Mareeba
When Jack Murat was established in 2014, the varietal choice was Catuai — Red Catuai (Catuai Rojo) and Yellow Catuai (Catuai Amarelo). These were introduced through a government programme evaluating coffee cultivation viability in Australia's tropics. They were selected for their compact growth habit (important for mechanical harvesting), their disease resistance, and their documented flavour potential.
Catuai was developed in Brazil in the 1950s and 60s as a cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra. It's widely grown in Central and South America. In Mareeba, it's found its footing. A decade of growth in our volcanic loam soils, shaped by our specific climate, has produced trees that are well-adapted and productive.
In the cup, our Catuai produces the flavour profile that has become associated with Jack Murat: cane sugar sweetness, clean stone fruit acidity — white peach, nectarine — a smooth body, and a long caramel finish. It's not a dramatic coffee. It's a precise one.
The next planting: more Catuai, from our own trees
For our next paddock expansion — scheduled for October 2025 — we're planting Catuai Rojo again. But this time, the seed comes entirely from our own plantation. A decade of adaptation to Mareeba's specific conditions is embedded in those trees. Sourcing seed internally means we're selecting for performance here, not performance somewhere else.
This matters more than it might seem. Varietals behave differently in different environments. A Catuai grown at 1,200 metres in Costa Rica is not the same expression as a Catuai grown at 600 metres in Mareeba, even if the genetics are nominally identical. Ten years of local selection is worth something.
The trial programme: what's coming next
Alongside the Catuai core, we're running a structured varietal trial programme in partnership with Griffith University and plant breeder Dr Fawad. The goal is to identify varietals that perform well in Mareeba's specific conditions — combining quality in the cup with yield, resilience, and adaptability.
The current shortlist under trial:
Marsellesa
A hybrid developed by CIRAD in France, Marsellesa (also known as Mundo Maya or H3) was bred for disease resistance and cup quality. It's an F1 hybrid — genetically uniform, vigorous, high-yielding. Early trials at other Australian origins have shown promising flavour potential. We're watching how it behaves in our soil and climate specifically.
NR25
NR25 is a hybrid varietal with strong disease resistance and adaptation to lower-altitude, higher-temperature conditions — characteristics relevant to our environment. Cup profile at other origins leans toward sweetness and moderate acidity. [Insert any first-season observations from the Mareeba trial here]
Paraiso
Paraiso is an Ethiopian-descent varietal with documented cup complexity — florality and bright fruit notes not commonly associated with the Catuai profile. If it adapts, it could open up a meaningfully different flavour category in our range. [Insert trial status and any observations]
IPR 107
Developed by the Instituto Agronômico do Paraná in Brazil, IPR 107 is known for its balance of yield, disease resistance, and cup quality. It's widely grown in Brazil and being evaluated more broadly. [Insert trial status]
How we're evaluating them
Each trial varietal occupies its own plot. We're monitoring tree health, growth rate, flowering timing, cherry development, and yield across seasons. Crucially, we're also cupping the fruit — every season we process small lots from the trial trees and evaluate them independently.
The assessment criteria are simple but demanding: cup quality above 83 points consistently, acceptable yield for commercial viability, and adaptability to our specific soil and climate. A varietal that scores well on one criterion but fails on another isn't viable. We need the full picture.
It will take at least three to four more seasons of data before we draw firm conclusions. Coffee research requires patience. We'll report back each year.
Why this matters
The varietal story in Australian coffee is only just beginning. Most of the country's planted area is Catuai — reliable, known, and good. But 'good' is not the ceiling. The next decade will see Australian producers working with a wider range of varietals, producing more distinct and complex cup profiles, and building a flavour identity that's genuinely its own.
At Jack Murat, we're not trying to replicate another origin. We're trying to understand what belongs here — what thrives in this soil, under this sun, and produces the best possible expression of this place. The varietal programme is central to that.
We'll publish updated trial results each season. If you have questions about our varietal work, or you're a researcher or producer interested in collaborating, get in touch.
