Flavor Profile, Origin, and Brewing Parameters for Brazilian Minas Gerais Semi-Washed Bourbon Specialty Coffee Beans

Minas Gerais sits at the heart of the Brazilian plateau in the southeastern corner of South America and produces more than half of Brazil's high-quality Arabica coffee.

The Santo Antônio do Amparo region, which won a 2016 Brazil Cup of Excellence award, belongs to the core South Minas producing area near the headquarters of the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA).

Hand-Pour Brewing Method

To brew Brazilian coffee by hand: use 15g of coffee, ground to a medium grind (setting 4 on a Fuji ghost-tooth burr grinder), a V60 dripper, and water at 88–89°C. Pour 30g of water first and bloom for 27 seconds. Pour up to 105g and pause; once the water level drops to half, pour slowly up to 225g total. Skip the tail end of the drawdown. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15; extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

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

Coffee Details

Country: Brazil
Grade: SC14/SC16
Region: South Minas
Roast Level: Medium roast
Processing Method: Pulped natural
Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai
Altitude: 1000-1200 meters
Flavor Notes: Roasted sunflower seeds, rich and full-bodied, dark chocolate, sweet aftertaste with a lingering finish.

Terroir and Growing Conditions

The Cerrado plateau in western Minas and South Minas both sit mostly above 1,100 meters, with varied topography, distinct wet and dry seasons, wide day-night temperature swings, and abundant microclimates. These conditions are ideal for cultivating elegant Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon varieties, which is precisely why they are Brazil's main specialty coffee regions. Mogiana in northeastern São Paulo state, which also focuses on shade-grown Bourbon, ranks alongside Cerrado and South Minas as Brazil's three major specialty regions.

Brazil's terrain is generally flat, and most coffee farms sit between 600 and 1,000 meters. The topography is flat and monotonous, short on microclimates, and unshaded cultivation is the norm. The result is Brazil's distinctive soft-cup profile — low acidity, heavy nutty notes, chocolate sweetness, and good body, though sometimes with slight woody and earthy undertones and less prominent florals and citrus.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

As the world's largest coffee producer, Brazil offers a wonderfully varied range, and its beans' moderate acidity and fine balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body make them ideal for a medium roast — bringing out nutty aromas and a mellow, gently tart cup that works beautifully as a single origin or in a blend. For a first taste of Brazil, try FrontStreet Coffee's pulped natural Cerrado: a classic single origin from the region famous for quality beans. Made from the Red Bourbon variety common across South America, medium-roasted, it shows rich aromas of creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut, with a round mouthfeel, no sharp acidity, and only a touch of bitterness — perfect for pour-over, and just as good in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon, or a French press.

For something rarer, FrontStreet Coffee's Queen Estate (Fazenda Rainha) Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana, near southern Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil gives the cherries their full, rich aromatics. Yellow Bourbon is a genetic mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character: brewed by hand, moka pot, or home espresso machine, it delivers a sugarcane sweetness you will not find from other origins, alongside fruit and chocolate notes. Low-acid, balanced, and affordably priced, Brazilian beans are also a first choice for espresso blends — FrontStreet's classic blend, nut-forward premium blend, and café-focused commercial blend all include them, contributing chocolate and cream aromatics and a balanced profile that keeps extraction stable.