Brazil Mogiana Queen Estate Natural COE Specialty Coffee Beans: Grind Size, Roast Level, and Processing Method

Coffee Details

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Estate: Fazenda Rainha

Flavor Notes: Lemon, sugarcane, black tea, smooth and delicate

Fazenda Rainha's Coffee Processing System

Ripe coffee cherries are hand-picked into cloth bags so they never touch the ground. Every cherry harvested on a given day goes straight to the estate's processing facility for pulped natural processing. Hand-picking into cloth bags prevents earthy flavors and any improper fermentation. On arrival at the facility the cherries are "washed" immediately: cleaned thoroughly, then screened by bean size to remove unqualified or dried beans (bóia beans). The qualified beans move on to depulping in a pulper machine.

After the fruit pulp is removed, the beans still carry some mucilage on their parchment skin. They are then laid out on patios to dry until moisture content falls to around 20%. This stage lets the beans absorb their own starch components while avoiding the weakness of a full natural process, in which the drying curve and flavor cannot be controlled. The residual mucilage starches give a special sweetness without running away into off-fruit flavors or moldy notes.

Afterward the beans go to drying machines for final drying, bringing moisture down to 11%, and are then moved to storage for resting. Before export they are dehulled and graded. This segmented pulped natural method is one of the main reasons Fazenda Rainha's flavor profile is so stable. Of course, insisting on Bourbon varieties is another reason its flavor enjoys such a high reputation.

Brazil Fazenda Rainha

Country: Brazil, Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Estate Name: Fazenda Rainha

Owner: Regina Helena Mello de Carvalho Dias, of the Carvalho Dias family

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing Method: Hand-picked, followed by pulped natural processing

Harvest Period: Latest harvest arriving May 2006

Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha) Coffee Beans Detailed

Origin: Brazil, Fazenda Rainha (Mogiana) region

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Altitude: 1,200 — 1,400m

Processing Method: Pulped Natural

From Brazil's Fazenda Rainha estate-grade Yellow Bourbon: full, ripe sweetness with rich fruit undertones and a persistent aftertaste that earns endless praise. Whether brewed as American-style coffee or used as the main sweet component of an espresso blend, it satisfies professional experts and sits on their must-buy lists.

Yellow Bourbon beans are naturally sweet and clean, and pulped natural (semi-washed) processing leaves their acidity slightly bright while tropical fruit aromas fill it out — the aroma is especially generous during brewing, which makes the coffee all the more appealing.

Estate Introduction:

Fazenda Rainha belongs to the renowned and respected Carvalho Dias coffee family. The family's four major estates have won awards every year since the first Brazil Cup of Excellence competition in 1999, taking more than 12 wins in 7 years. In 2004 they swept champion, 9th place, 11th place and more. Many estates across Brazil have hoped for years to qualify for such awards and struggled to do so, yet the family's estates have won repeatedly. Even Fazenda Rainha, purchased by Oscher, has a brilliant record: 2nd place in 2000, 3rd place in 2001, 29th place in 2005. To date, Fazenda Rainha has won awards 3 times.

The Carvalho Dias family is also a founding member of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association. Their commitment to coffee quality and environmental protection is plain to see. On their family farms they use natural waterfalls to generate pollution-free hydroelectric power, making them self-sufficient in electricity (another award-winning estate in the family is named after that waterfall — Waterfall Estate). They have built churches, classrooms, nurseries and medical stations, and they insist on preserving original forest of native flora and fauna while continually undertaking reforestation. Fazenda Rainha is a good example of how thorough that protection is. Because of its high altitude and non-plain terrain, machines cannot be used for harvesting — every cherry is picked entirely by hand. They also plant low-yield, high-quality Bourbon varieties, making it a representative estate of Brazil's premium coffee.

Fazenda Rainha belongs to the Carvalho Dias family and is over 116 years old. It lies in the mountainous area of São Paulo state near the Minas border, at altitudes of 1,200 to 1,400 meters. Annual rainfall is abundant, reaching over 1800mm without becoming disastrous. The average annual temperature is only 19°C, so the fruit ripens slightly more slowly, but the bean density is more than sufficient. Production is smaller, yet its aroma and flavor surpass what most Brazilian highland beans can offer. The estate mainly grows Bourbon varieties and even has ancient Bourbon trees over 110 years old. Beyond the varieties, Fazenda Rainha's meticulous, thoughtful processing is another key to its quality.

Related Knowledge:

The Cup of Excellence (COE) program and its trademark are currently owned and managed by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), a non-profit organization based in the United States. Each year ACE works with the host countries of the COE cupping competition to complete specialty coffee cupping screening and online auctions, while also recommending and promoting anything related to coffee quality improvement. The goal is to identify models of specialty coffee in host countries and exchange experience for the industry to learn from.

Flavor: The beans are naturally sweet and clean. Pulped natural processing leaves their acidity slightly bright but beautifully balanced with sweetness. Some even carry tropical fruit aromas, especially the generous aroma during brewing, which makes the coffee all the more appealing. Delicate lemon acidity, the fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice, black tea, and a smooth, delicate mouthfeel.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk

Coffee Bean State: Roasted coffee beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Brazil

Roast Level: Medium roast

Brazil Fazenda Rainha COE Natural Yellow Bourbon

Country: Brazil

Grade: COE

Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Fazenda Rainha is the Carvalho Dias family's Yellow Bourbon, and its pulped natural processing is exactly what gives it that clean sugarcane sweetness and delicate lemon acidity. The FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate is the same estate and the same rare Yellow Bourbon, grown on the red volcanic soil of Mogiana near Southern Minas, where the family's farming tradition has improved quality year after year.

Roasted medium, the FrontStreet Queen Estate shows the sugarcane freshness and chocolate and fruit notes that no other region quite reproduces, and it drinks well as a pour-over, in a moka pot or through a home espresso machine. If you are tasting Brazil for the first time, the FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is the classic entry point — a pulped natural Cerrado single origin with creamy peanut, toast, caramel and hazelnut, round and low in acidity.