The Story and Legend of Brazil South Minas Semi-Dry Process Bourbon Specialty Coffee Beans

The Cerrado plateau of western Minas and the southern Minas Gerais highlands, with elevations mostly above 1,100 meters, offer rich topography, sharply defined wet and dry seasons, wide day-night temperature swings, and abundant microclimates. These conditions are ideal for cultivating elegant Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon, which naturally makes the area Brazil's leading specialty coffee region. Mogiana, in northeastern São Paulo province, likewise focuses on shade-grown Bourbon, and together with Cerrado and southern Minas Gerais it forms Brazil's three major specialty coffee regions.

Hand Brew Brazil

15g of grounds, medium grind (setting 4 on a Fujimarke conical burr grinder), V60 dripper, water at 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g, wait until the water level drops halfway, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g. Discard the tail. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Shelf Life: 30 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste Profile: Sweet coffee beans
State: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Brazil
Coffee Type: Bourbon coffee
Roast Degree: Medium roast

Coffee Details

Country: Brazil

Grade: SC14/SC16

Region: Southern Minas Gerais

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Pulped natural

Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai

Elevation: 1000-1200 meters

Flavor Profile: Roasted sunflower seeds, rich and full-bodied, dark chocolate, sweet aftertaste with a lingering finish.

Brazil's terrain is relatively flat, and coffee farms mostly sit between 600 and 1000 meters. The uniform topography offers few microclimates, and farmers traditionally practice non-shade cultivation. As a result, Brazil developed its characteristic "soft bean" profile — low acidity, prominent nutty flavors, chocolate sweetness, and excellent body, with slight woody and earthy notes, while floral and citrus aromas remain subdued.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The pulped natural, or semi-dry, process behind this Brazil lot is exactly what gives FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon its appeal — and it is the classic place to start with Brazilian coffee. Cerrado is a well-known local region celebrated for high-quality beans, and this lot belongs to the common South American Red Bourbon variety. Roasted medium, it delivers rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a round, smooth body, no acidity, and a light bitter edge. It works as a pour-over and equally well in a moka pot, as espresso, in a siphon, or in a French press.

For a rarer and fruitier Brazilian experience, FrontStreet Brazil Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana, near southern Minas. The estate's fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries absorb abundant nutrients and build a full aroma, and its Yellow Bourbon variety — a natural mutation of Red Bourbon — gives a cleaner fruit character. Across a pour-over, moka pot, or home espresso machine, it shows a sugarcane sweetness, fruit, and chocolate that set it apart from ordinary Brazilian highland beans.