Flavor Profile and Aroma of Brazilian Natural Process Bourbon - Brazilian Coffee Varieties and Prices

Brazilian Coffee Details

Country: Brazil

Grade: SC14/SC16

Region: Southern Minas

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Pulped natural

Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai

Altitude: 1000-1200 meters

Flavor Notes: Roasted melon seeds, full-bodied, dark chocolate, sweet aftertaste with lingering finish.

Brazil's Premium Coffee Regions

The Cerrado plateau in western Minas and Southern Minas sit mostly above 1100 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, which naturally makes them Brazil's main specialty coffee regions. Mogiana in northeastern São Paulo state also focuses on shade-grown Bourbon, ranking alongside Cerrado and Southern Minas as Brazil's three major specialty coffee regions.

Brazil's terrain is generally flat, and its coffee farms mostly sit at altitudes of 600-1000 meters. The uniform landscape lacks microclimates, and farmers traditionally cultivated without shade trees. The result is Brazil's distinctive soft-bean profile: low acidity, prominent nutty flavors, chocolate sweetness and a good body, with slight woody and earthy notes and little in the way of floral or citrus aroma.

Minas Gerais state lies in the heartland of the Brazilian plateau in southeastern South America and produces over half of Brazil's high-quality Arabica coffee.

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

Brewing Method

Hand Brew Method for Brazilian Coffee: 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji R-4 grinder), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Wait until the water level drops to half before continuing to pour. Slowly pour until reaching 225g in total. Avoid the final tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Coffee Varieties

Bourbon

Variety: Bourbon-related
Origin: Bourbon Island or Ethiopia
Optimal Growing Altitude: 800 meters and above
Type: Heirloom variety
Commonly Found: Suitable for coffee cultivation worldwide
Main Colors: Red, yellow and orange, but primarily red
Bean Size: Average
Leaf Characteristics: Broad, short
Special Notes:

Bourbon originates from Bourbon Island or Ethiopia. It is susceptible to pests and disease and yields relatively little. Some data suggests Yellow Bourbon out-yields Red and Orange Bourbon, but Red Bourbon remains the most common. Bourbon is closely related genetically to SL28, Typica and Caturra. Because it yields less even in favorable conditions, it often delivers very high cup quality—evidence suggests that lower yields tend to mean higher quality, since the plant can absorb soil nutrients more effectively.

Bourbon's typical cup is light in body, balanced and distinctly sweet, which makes it an excellent base bean for espresso blends.

Catuai

Catuai is an artificial hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo, with good resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain.

Catuai trees are relatively short, and compared with other coffee trees their fruit grows more firmly attached and is harder to harvest. Catuai comes in both red and yellow forms. To date no significant taste difference has been found between the two, though some cupping evaluations have found that while yellow-fruited coffee may have good acidity, its cleanliness is often inferior to red-fruited lots.

Catuai was first cultivated in Brazil and is now widely grown throughout Central America as well.

Product Information

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

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Brazilian coffee is the most balanced starting point for anyone exploring the Bourbon family. FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic single origin from Cerrado, a region known for producing high-quality coffee. Roasted medium, it shows dense notes of creamy peanut, toast, caramel and hazelnut, with a rounded, low-acid cup and a light bitterness; it brews well as pour-over and also works in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon or in a French press.

FrontStreet Brazil Queen's Farm comes from Mogiana, close to South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries take up abundant nutrients and develop a full aroma. Part of the area still farms in the traditional way while part has adopted modern, standardized management, and local quality has improved greatly as a result. Queen's Farm is a rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character, and it delivers a sugarcane sweetness found in few other regions along with fruit and chocolate notes, whether brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot or on a home espresso machine.

If you want the sweet, low-acid character in an espresso, FrontStreet Black Cacao Blend pairs Brazilian beans with Yunnan small-grain. The Brazilian component supplies mixed nut aromas and balance, while the Yunnan side brings chocolate and citrus; as an Americano it balances sweet, sour and bitter with nutty brown-sugar sweetness, and as a latte it gives an almond-and-cream smoothness. FrontStreet Classic Blend, with its rich crema, and FrontStreet Specialty Blend, with its deep nutty character, also lean on Brazilian beans to supply chocolate and cream aromas plus a gentle sweet-sour-bitter balance that keeps extraction stable.