What is the 74110 coffee variety?

74110 is an Ethiopian coffee variety selected by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC). The name is its catalogue number: “74” marks the year it was selected, 1974, and “110” is its accession number. The mother tree was found near Bishari in western Oromia, and the selection was made to resist coffee berry disease (CBD), a fungal infection that destroyed large parts of Ethiopia’s crop in the early 1970s.

The trees are short and compact, with small leaves and small cherries. That makes them well suited to dense planting on smallholder plots. After its release, 74110 was distributed widely through southern Ethiopia, and it is now one of the most common named varieties in Gedeo (Yirgacheffe), Sidama and Guji. It is often grown alongside its sister selection, 74112, and the two are frequently listed together on lot specifications.

For buyers, seeing 74110 on a spec sheet means more traceability than a generic “heirloom” label. It doesn’t promise a particular flavour, because altitude, processing and farm practice shape the cup far more than the variety does. But it does tell you the lot comes from a known, documented selection, and it is behind many of the classic floral, citrus and stone-fruit Ethiopian profiles. Expect small, dense beans that take heat quickly in the roaster.