Flavor and Aroma of Fazenda Rainha - Brazilian Queen Coffee Varieties and Prices

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Estate Introduction

This Queen's Farm (Fazenda Rainha) belongs to the renowned and respected coffee family Carvalho Dias. The family's four major estates have won awards every year since Brazil's first COE competition in 1999, taking more than 12 wins in 7 years. In 2004 they even swept the championship along with 9th and 11th place. Over the years many large and small Brazilian estates have hoped to be shortlisted, only to find it very difficult, yet the estates under this family have collected awards year after year. Even the Queen's Farm (Fazenda Rainha) sourced by FrontStreet Coffee has a glorious record: 2000 runner-up, 2001 third place and 2005 29th place. To date, Queen's Farm has been honored three times.

The Carvalho Dias family are also founding members of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association. Their commitment to coffee quality and environmental protection is plain to see. Across the family farms they harness natural waterfalls to generate pollution-free hydroelectric power, making themselves self-sufficient in electricity (another award-winning estate in the family is named after this waterfall). They have built churches, classrooms, nurseries and medical stations, insisted on preserving the original forest of native flora and fauna, and carried out continuous reforestation. Queen's Farm is a case in point: environmental protection there is thorough. Because the terrain is high and far from flat, machines cannot be used for harvesting, so all fruit is picked entirely by hand. They also plant the low-yield, high-quality Bourbon variety, making it a flagship estate for high-quality Brazilian coffee.

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee

Address: No. 10, Bao'an Front Street, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Guangzhou

Manufacturer Contact: 020-38364473

Shelf Life: 90

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk

Coffee Bean Raw/Roasted Degree: Roasted coffee beans

Contains Sugar: Sugar-free

Origin: Brazil

Roast Degree: Medium roast

Brazil Fazenda Rainha COE Natural Yellow Bourbon

Country: Brazil

Grade: COE

Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Set in the mountains near the Minas border in São Paulo state, at altitudes of 1,200 to 1,400 meters, with abundant annual rainfall of more than 1,800mm that nevertheless never causes flooding. The average annual temperature is only 19°C, so the coffee fruit ripens a little more slowly, but its texture and density are more than sufficient. Though yields are lower, the aroma and flavor are unmatched by ordinary Brazilian highland beans. The estate grows mainly Bourbon varieties and even keeps Bourbon trees more than 110 years old.

Roast Degree: Medium roast

Processing Method: Pulped Natural

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Estate: Queen's Farm

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

Queen's Farm's Coffee Processing System

Ripe cherries are hand-picked into cloth bags so they never touch the ground. Fruit harvested on the same day must reach the estate's processing plant the same day for pulped natural processing. Hand-picking into cloth bags guards against earthy flavors and any improper fermentation. When the harvested fruit arrives at the plant, it is "washed" immediately: the cherries are rinsed clean and any substandard or dried fruit (bóia beans) is screened out by size. Beans that pass screening go on to be depulped in a pulper.

After the pulp is removed, the fruit still carries some mucilage attached to the parchment. At this stage the mucilage-covered fruit is spread on patios to dry until moisture content falls to about 20%. This step lets the coffee absorb its own starches while avoiding the uncontrolled drying flavors that full natural processing can bring: the residual mucilage starches contribute a special sweetness without tipping into off-fruit or moldy flavors.

The coffee is then moved to drying machines for a final pass, bringing moisture to 11%, and afterward transported to storage for a resting period. Before export it is dehulled and graded. This segmented pulped natural method is one of the main reasons Queen's Farm's flavor is so consistent. Insisting on Bourbon varieties, of course, is the other reason its reputation for flavor runs so high.

Brazil Queen's Farm

Country: Brazil Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Estate Name: Queen's Farm (Fazenda Rainha)

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

Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha) Coffee Bean Detailed Analysis

Origin: Brazil Queen's Farm (Mogiana) region

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Altitude: 1,200-1,400m

Processing Method: Pulped natural

This estate-grade Yellow Bourbon from Brazil's Queen's Farm offers a full, mature sweetness, rich fruity notes and a long-lasting aftertaste that keeps people talking. Whether used as a single origin for an American-style coffee maker or as the main sweet component in an espresso blend, it satisfies professionals, who list it as a must-buy on their bean list.

Yellow Bourbon beans are naturally sweet and clean. Pulped natural (or semi-washed) processing makes their acidity slightly bright while adding tropical fruit aroma. The aroma that spills out during brewing is especially lovable.

Fazenda Rainha (Queen's Farm) belongs to the Carvalho Dias family, and the estate is over 116 years old. It is set in the mountains near the Minas border in São Paulo state, at altitudes of 1,200 to 1,400 meters, with abundant annual rainfall of more than 1,800mm that never causes flooding. The average annual temperature is only 19°C, so the coffee fruit ripens a little more slowly, but its texture and density are more than sufficient. Though yields are lower, the aroma and flavor are unmatched by ordinary Brazilian highland beans. The estate grows mainly Bourbon varieties and even keeps Bourbon trees more than 110 years old. Besides growing Bourbon, Queen's Farm's meticulous, careful processing is another key to its excellent quality.

Related Knowledge

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

Flavor: Naturally sweet and clean beans; pulped natural processing makes their acidity slightly bright but well balanced with sweetness, and some even show tropical fruit aroma. The aroma that spills out during brewing is especially lovable. Delicate lemon acidity, the fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice, black tea, and a smooth, delicate texture.

Hand-pour Brazil Queen's Farm. 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fujiyama serrated-blade grinder setting 4), V60 dripper, 88-89°C water. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops halfway before pouring again, slowly, up to 225g. Discard the tail end. Water-to-powder ratio 1:15. Extraction time 2:00.

Queen's Farm (Fazenda Rainha) is located in the Mogiana (Alta Mogiana) region of São Paulo state, north of São Paulo city. The estate is very well known in Brazil and owned by the Carvalho Dias family. The four major estates under Carvalho Dias have won awards every year since the first Brazil COE competition in 1999, taking more than 12 wins in 7 years. In 2004 they even swept the championship along with 9th and 11th place. Over the years many large and small Brazilian estates have hoped to be shortlisted, only to find it difficult, while the four major estates under this family have collected awards year after year, and Queen's Farm (Fazenda Rainha) has a glorious record of its own: 2000 runner-up, 2001 third place and 2005 29th place. To date, Queen's Farm has been honored three times. Yellow Bourbon beans are naturally sweet and clean, and natural (or pulped natural) processing makes their acidity slightly subtle but well balanced with sweetness, with tropical fruit aroma.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this estate sounds familiar, that is because FrontStreet Coffee carries its most famous expression: the Brazil Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon from Mogiana. Grown on the region's fertile red volcanic soil, this rare Yellow Bourbon — a natural mutation of Red Bourbon — delivers the clean sugarcane sweetness that sets the estate apart, alongside fruit and chocolate notes, and it performs beautifully in a pour-over, moka pot or home espresso machine.

If you would rather begin with a broader introduction to Brazil, FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic pulped-natural single origin, medium roasted for creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut aromas with a plump, round body and very little acidity. Brazilian beans also anchor FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blends, lending chocolate and cream aromas and a soft sweet-tart-bitter balance that helps keep extraction stable in milk drinks.