Glossary > Varietals & Genetics > Hibrido

Hibrido

Varietals & Genetics

In Simple Terms

Hibrido is simply Spanish for hybrid - loosely used in Central America to describe coffee plants of mixed or unknown parentage. It's a general descriptor rather than a specific cultivar name.

What is the Hibrido coffee varietal?

Hibrido is simply Spanish for hybrid - and in Central American coffee it's a descriptive category rather than a specific named cultivar. When a producer lists Hibrido on a specification, they typically mean plants of mixed or uncertain parentage: crosses involving traditional Arabica varieties (usually Bourbon) with other cultivars, sometimes including disease-resistant Catimor-type plants.

In some contexts it may refer specifically to Catimor-type plants where local naming conventions differ from international standards. In others it describes locally selected crosses without a formal name.

If varietal character matters to your buying decision and you encounter Hibrido on a specification, it's worth asking the exporter exactly what the cross is. Hibrido tells you it's not a pure traditional variety - it doesn't tell you much more than that without clarification.