Differences, Distinctions, and Award Recognition of Brazil South Minas Semi-Washed Bourbon Premium Coffee Beans

Product Information

Manufacturer: Dazhen Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee

Shelf life: 30 days

Net weight: 227 g

Packaging: bulk

Taste profile: sweet

Bean state: roasted coffee beans

Sugar content: no

Origin: Brazil

Coffee variety: Bourbon

Roast level: medium

Coffee Details

Country: Brazil

Grade: SC14/SC16

Region: South Minas

Roast level: medium

Processing method: pulped natural

Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai

Altitude: 1000-1200 meters

Flavor notes: roasted melon seeds, rich and full-bodied, dark chocolate, sweet aftertaste with a lingering finish.

Brazil's Coffee Regions

The Cerrado plateau in western Minas and South Minas mostly sit above 1100 meters, with rich topography, distinct wet and dry seasons, wide day-night temperature swings, and abundant microclimates. Those conditions are ideal for cultivating elegant Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon, which naturally made these Brazil's main specialty coffee regions. Mogiana, in the northeast of Sao Paulo state, also focuses on shade-grown Bourbon and ranks alongside Cerrado and South Minas as one of Brazil's three major specialty regions.

Brazil's terrain is generally flat, with coffee farms mostly at around 600-1000 meters. That flat, uniform landscape lacks microclimates, and the traditional practice of growing coffee without shade trees has produced Brazil's signature soft bean profile: low acidity, strong nutty notes, chocolate sweetness, and good body, with slight woody and earthy notes, and without prominent floral or citrus aromas.

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

The Santo Antonio do Amparo area, which recently won the 2016 Brazil Cup of Excellence, belongs to the core producing zone of South Minas, near the headquarters of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA).

Brewing Method

Hand-pour brewing for Brazil coffee: 15 g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji ghost-tooth grinder, setting 4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. Pour 30 g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring to 105 g and pause. Wait until the water level drops halfway, then slowly continue to 225 g. Avoid the tail end. The ratio is 1:15, and total extraction time is 2:00.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Brazil is the country most drinkers reach for when they want sweetness and body without sharp acidity, and FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado Red Bourbon is the classic single-origin example. It comes from the well-known Cerrado region and is a common red Bourbon, roasted medium to bring out cream, peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut. The body is round, with almost no acidity and a light bitter note, and it is flexible enough for pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, or French press.

For a rarer Brazilian expression, FrontStreet Coffee's Queen Farm comes from Mogiana, near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the fruit and builds a full aroma. The variety is the uncommon Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon that tends to taste cleaner and fruitier. Whether brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot, or on a home espresso machine, it shows a sugarcane-like sweetness that is hard to find elsewhere, along with fruit and chocolate.

Brazil also forms the base of most FrontStreet Coffee espresso blends, because low acidity, balance, and a friendly price make it a natural foundation. The Classic Blend with its generous crema, the nutty Premium Blend, the balanced Black Cocoa Blend, and FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend built for cafes all contain Brazilian coffee. Beyond adding chocolate and cream aromas, the Brazilian component softens the sweet-sour-bitter balance, which in turn makes extraction more stable.