Is Brazilian Pulped Natural Bourbon Coffee Delicious? Brewing Methods for Brazilian Coffee

Coffee Origin Information

Country: Brazil

Grade: SC14/SC16

Region: South Minas

Roast Level: Medium Roast

Processing Method: Pulped Natural

Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai

Altitude: 1000-1200 meters

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

Brazilian Coffee Regions

The Cerrado plateau in western Minas and South Minas, with altitudes mostly above 1100 meters, offers rich topography, distinct wet and dry seasons, significant day-night temperature differences, and abundant microclimates. These conditions are ideal for elegant Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon, which naturally makes these areas Brazil's main premium coffee regions. Mogiana in northeastern São Paulo state, focused on shade-grown Bourbon, ranks alongside Cerrado and South Minas as Brazil's three major premium coffee regions.

Elsewhere, Brazil's terrain is generally flat, with coffee farms mostly at 600-1000 meters, the landscape flat and lacking microclimates. Combined with the customary non-shade cultivation, this has shaped Brazil's signature "soft bean" profile: low acidity, heavy nutty notes, chocolate sweetness, good body, with slight woody and earthy tones — florals and citrus barely register.

Minas Gerais state sits in the heart 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 took the 2016 Brazil Cup of Excellence, belongs to the core of South Minas, near the headquarters of the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA).

Brewing Method

Hand-pouring Brazilian coffee: 15g of grounds at a medium grind (Fuji Royal R4 grinder), V60 dripper, water at 88-89°C. Pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Once the level drops to halfway, pour slowly to 225g total. Discard the tail end. Ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Coffee Varieties

Bourbon:
Related to: Original variety
Origin: Bourbon Island or Ethiopia
Grows best at: 800 meters and above
Type: Original variety
Commonly found in: Coffee-growing regions worldwide
Main colors: Red, yellow, and orange — but primarily red
Bean size: Average
Leaf characteristics: Broad, short

The Bourbon variety originates from Bourbon Island or Ethiopia, is susceptible to pests and diseases, and yields less. Some data suggests Yellow Bourbon out-yields Red and Orange Bourbon, though Red Bourbon remains the most common. Bourbon is closely related to SL28, Typica, and Caturra. Because it yields less even in suitable environments, it often delivers very high cup quality — lower yields mean the plant absorbs soil nutrients more effectively. Typical Bourbon cup characteristics: low body, balance, and distinct sweetness, making it an excellent base bean for espresso blends.

Catuai:

Catuai was created through artificial hybridization of Caturra and Mundo Novo, with good resistance to natural disasters — wind and rain in particular.

The Catuai tree is relatively short, and its fruits grow densely, making them harder to harvest. Fruits come in red and yellow; no evidence has been found that yellow tastes better than red — in fact, some cupping evaluations find that while yellow-fruit coffee may show good acidity, its cup cleanliness falls short of red.

Catuai was developed in Brazil and is now widely grown throughout Central America.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this pulped natural Bourbon's nutty, chocolate-sweet character appeals to you, Brazil has even more to offer. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic single origin from the region: medium roasted, it shows rich aromas of cream peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut — rounded, non-acidic, with only a light bitter edge — and works beautifully in pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, or French press.

For something rarer, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Fazenda Rainha (Queen Estate) grows Yellow Bourbon, a mutation of Red Bourbon with an even cleaner fruit character, in Mogiana's fertile red volcanic soils near South Minas. Expect the sugarcane sweetness unique to this origin, alongside fruit and chocolate notes. And Brazilian beans are the backbone of FrontStreet Coffee's espresso lineup for good reason: our Classic Blend, Signature Blend, Dark Cocoa Blend, and Commercial Blend all include Brazil, whose low acidity, chocolate and cream aromas, and gentle balance of sweet, sour, and bitter make every shot more stable to extract.