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Brazil Fazenda Rainha COE Natural Yellow Bourbon

Country: Brazil

Grade: COE

Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Located in the high-altitude region near the Minas border in Sao Paulo state, at elevations of 1,200 to 1,400 meters, the area receives abundant annual rainfall of over 1,800mm without devastating floods, and the average annual temperature is only 19°C. These conditions make the coffee cherries grow slightly slower, resulting in denser beans. Although production is lower, the aroma and flavor are unparalleled among typical Brazilian highland coffees. The estate primarily grows Bourbon varieties, including some Bourbon trees over 110 years old.

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Pulped Natural

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Estate: Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm)

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

Fazenda Rainha's Coffee Processing System

Ripe cherries are hand-picked into cloth bags to avoid contact with the ground. Cherries harvested on any given day go straight to the estate's processing facility for Pulped Natural processing. Hand-picking into cloth bags prevents earthy flavors and improper fermentation. On arrival, the cherries undergo an immediate "washing": they are cleaned, and unqualified or dried fruits (boia beans) are screened out by size. The qualified beans then move on to depulping in a pulper machine.

After depulping, the beans still retain some mucilage on their parchment. At this stage they are laid out on patios to dry until the moisture content drops to around 20%. This lets the beans absorb their own starchy components while avoiding the drawbacks of full natural processing, where drying cannot be controlled. Those residual starchy components provide a special sweetness without tipping into uncontrolled off-flavors or moldy tastes.

The beans are then finished in mechanical dryers to bring the moisture down to 11%, after which they rest in storage. Before export they are hulled and graded. This segmented Pulped Natural method is one of the main reasons for Fazenda Rainha's consistent flavor, and the estate's insistence on Bourbon varieties is the other key to its excellent reputation!

Fazenda Rainha, Brazil

Country: Brazil | Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Estate Name: Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm)

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

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing Method: Hand-picked, then Pulped Natural processing

Harvest Period: Latest harvest arriving May 2006

A Detailed Look at the Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha) Coffee Beans

Origin: Fazenda Rainha (Mogiana) region, Brazil

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Altitude: 1,200-1,400m

Processing Method: Pulped Natural

This estate-grade Yellow Bourbon from Brazil's Fazenda Rainha features full, mature sweetness with rich fruity notes and a persistent aftertaste that earns universal acclaim. Whether brewed in American-style drip machines or used as the sweet backbone of an espresso blend, it satisfies even professional experts and is considered an essential purchase!

Yellow Bourbon is inherently sweet and clean. The Pulped Natural (semi-washed) method brings out a slightly brighter acidity while preserving tropical fruit aromas, and the aroma that overflows during brewing is particularly delightful.

Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm) belongs to the Carvalho Dias family and has been operating for over 116 years. Located in the high-altitude region near the Minas border in Sao Paulo state at 1,200 to 1,400 meters, it receives annual rainfall of over 1,800mm without devastating floods, and the average annual temperature is only 19°C. The cherries mature slightly more slowly here, producing denser beans. Although production is lower, the aroma and flavor stand unmatched among typical Brazilian highland coffees. The estate primarily grows Bourbon varieties, including some trees over 110 years old, and its meticulous, thoughtful processing is another key to the estate's exceptional 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 collaborates with the COE host countries to run cupping selections and online auctions of specialty coffees, while also recommending and promoting anything related to coffee quality improvement. The goal is to identify exemplary specialty coffees in the host countries and to exchange experience for the whole industry to learn from.

Flavor Profile: Sweet, clean beans with slightly brighter acidity from the Pulped Natural process, beautifully balanced against the sweetness. Some batches even display tropical fruit aromas, and the overflowing aroma during brewing is particularly delightful. Expect delicate lemon acidity, the fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice, black tea notes, and a smooth, delicate texture.

Pour-Over Brewing: For Fazenda Rainha Brazil, use 15g of coffee ground medium (Fuji ghost-tooth burr grinder at #4) in a V60 dripper with water at 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds. Then pour to 105g and pause. Once the level in the coffee bed drops to half, continue pouring slowly up to 225g, avoiding the tail end. Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm) sits in the Mogiana (Alta Mogiana) region of Sao Paulo state, north of Sao Paulo city. The estate is highly renowned in Brazil and owned by the Carvalho Dias family, whose four major estates have won awards every year since the first Brazil COE competition in 1999, taking more than 12 prizes in 7 years. In 2004 they even swept the championship, 9th place, 11th place, and more. Many Brazilian estates, large and small, have hoped over the years to qualify for an award and found it difficult, yet this family's estates have won multiple prizes year after year. Fazenda Rainha's own record is impressive: 2nd place in 2000, 3rd place in 2001, and 29th place in 2005, giving it 3 COE awards to date. Yellow Bourbon is inherently sweet and clean, and natural or Pulped Natural processing yields slightly lower acidity but excellent integration with sweetness and tropical fruit aromas.

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 COE competition in 1999, taking more than 12 prizes in 7 years; in 2004 they swept the championship, 9th place, 11th place, and more. Many Brazilian estates have struggled for years to qualify for an award, yet this family's estates win year after year. The Fazenda Rainha carried by FrontStreet Coffee has an impressive record of its own: 2nd place in 2000, 3rd place in 2001, and 29th place in 2005, 3 awards to date.

The Carvalho Dias family are also founding members of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association, and 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 themselves self-sufficient in electricity (another of their award-winning estates is named after that waterfall, the Waterfall Estate). They have built churches, classrooms, nurseries, and medical stations, and they insist on preserving original forests with their native flora and fauna while continuing reforestation. At Fazenda Rainha, environmental protection is thorough: the high-altitude terrain is too steep for mechanical harvesting, so every cherry is picked entirely by hand. Combined with their low-yield, high-quality Bourbon varieties, it makes this a representative estate of Brazil's premium coffee at its finest!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, and its beans carry moderate acidity with an excellent balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body, making them ideal for medium roasting that fills the room with nutty aroma; they work as single origin or in blends alike. FrontStreet Coffee's Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon is the rare mutation of Red Bourbon with an even cleaner fruit character: through pour-over, moka pot, or home espresso you can taste the sugarcane sweetness unique to this origin, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

If you simply want a first taste of Brazil, FrontStreet Coffee's pulped natural Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic choice, showing creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut aromas with a rounded, low-acid cup and just a touch of bitterness; it suits pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press. Brazil's low acidity, balance, and friendly price also make it the first pick for espresso formulas: FrontStreet Coffee's crema-rich Classic Blend, nutty Premium Blend, well-balanced Dark Cocoa Blend, and cafe-oriented Commercial Blend all include Brazilian beans, contributing chocolate and cream aromas, gentle sweet-sour-bitter harmony, and more stable extraction.