Brazil Queen Estate Single-Origin Coffee: Flavor Characteristics, Origin Region, and Brewing Parameters

Brazil Fazenda Rainha: Flavor Characteristics, Growing Region, and Brewing Parameters

Everyone's preferred taste profile is different, so consider buying small quantities to try different roast levels.

Roast Levels:

First crack middle to lower bean drop

First crack end bean drop

Between first crack end and second crack bean drop

Touching second crack bean drop

Into second crack 10-15 seconds bean drop

Dense second crack bean drop

We hope every roasting master can find a flavor they love.

Brazil

Population: 201,033,000

Brazil grows many different coffee varieties, several of which were domesticated and evolved within the country, such as Yellow Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai.

SUL DE MINAS

Historically, this region was the birthplace of large-scale coffee production in Brazil, and many generations of small farmers have worked here. Perhaps for that reason the area has more cooperatives than most. Despite being mostly small farms, it remains a well-industrialized region that has adopted mechanical harvesting. Recently, certain parts of the region have drawn more attention, such as Carmo de Minas, around the village of Carmo, where producers use soil and climate to cultivate coffee.

Altitude: 700-1,350m (2,300-4,400ft)

Harvest: May to September

Yellow Bourbon beans are naturally sweet and clean. Using the pulped natural (or semi-washed) method makes the acidity slightly bright while adding tropical fruit aromas, and the fragrant scent during brewing is especially appealing.

Fazenda Rainha belongs to the Carvalho Dias family and has been in operation for over 116 years. It sits in the mountainous region of São Paulo state near the Minas border, at altitudes from 1,200 to 1,400 meters, with abundant annual rainfall exceeding 1,800mm but no devastating floods, and an average annual temperature of only 19°C. The coffee fruit therefore grows a little more slowly but becomes sufficiently dense. Although production is lower, the aroma and flavor are unmatched by typical Brazilian highland beans. The estate grows mainly Bourbon varieties, including some heirloom Bourbon trees over 110 years old. Beyond the varieties, Fazenda Rainha's meticulous processing is another key to its exceptional quality.

Brazil Fazenda Rainha

Country: Brazil   Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Estate Name: Fazenda Rainha

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

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing Method: Hand-picked, then processed using the pulped natural method

Harvest Period: Latest harvest arriving May 2006

Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha) Detailed Analysis

Origin: Brazil Fazenda Rainha (Mogiana) region

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

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 works with COE host countries to complete the cupping selection and online auctions of specialty coffees, while also recommending and promoting anything related to coffee quality improvement. The aim is to identify exemplary specialty coffees in the host countries and exchange experience across the industry.

Flavor: Sweet, clean beans. The pulped natural method gives the acidity a slight brightness that is beautifully balanced with sweetness, and some batches even show tropical fruit aromas. The fragrant scent during brewing is especially appealing. Expect delicate lemon acidity, the fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice, black tea, and a smooth, refined mouthfeel.

Hand-brewed Brazil Fazenda Rainha: 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji Royal grinder #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water, let it bloom for 27 seconds, then pour to 105g and pause. Wait until the water level drops halfway before pouring again. Slowly pour until reaching 225g total, discarding the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm) is located in the Alta Mogiana region of São Paulo state, north of São Paulo city. The estate is highly renowned in Brazil and owned by the Carvalho Dias family. The family's four major estates have won awards every year since the first Brazil COE competition in 1999, winning more than 12 times in 7 years. In 2004 they even swept the championship, 9th place, and 11th place, among others. Among Brazil's countless estates, many have hoped to qualify for awards over the years but found it difficult. Yet this family's estates have consistently won multiple awards. Fazenda Rainha itself has placed 2nd in 2000, 3rd in 2001, and 29th in 2005, and has won awards 3 times to date. Yellow Bourbon beans are inherently sweet and clean, and the natural (or pulped natural) method makes the acidity subtle yet perfectly integrated with sweetness, with tropical fruit aromas.

Estate Introduction

This Fazenda Rainha belongs to the distinguished Carvalho Dias family. The family's four major estates have won awards every year since the first Brazil COE competition in 1999, winning more than 12 times in 7 years. In 2004 they even swept the championship, 9th place, and 11th place, among others. Many estates across Brazil have hoped to qualify for these awards and found it difficult, yet this family's estates keep winning. Fazenda Rainha itself has placed 2nd in 2000, 3rd in 2001, and 29th in 2005, and has won awards 3 times to date.

The Carvalho Dias family is also a founding member of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association. Their commitment to coffee quality and environmental protection is evident to all. On their family farms they use natural waterfalls to develop pollution-free hydroelectric power, becoming self-sufficient in electricity (another award-winning estate is named after this waterfall, Waterfall Estate). They have built churches, classrooms, nurseries, and medical stations, insist on preserving original forest with native flora and fauna, and continue reforestation efforts. Fazenda Rainha is a good example: because its altitude is higher and the terrain is not flat, mechanical harvesting is impossible, so all the fruit is picked entirely by hand. They also plant low-yield, high-quality Bourbon varieties, which makes it a representative estate of Brazil's premium coffee essence.

Coffee Bean State: Roasted beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk

Origin: Brazil

Roast Level: Medium roast

Brazil Fazenda Rainha COE Natural Yellow Bourbon

Country: Brazil

Grade: COE

Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Located in the mountainous region of São Paulo state near the Minas border, at altitudes from 1,200 to 1,400 meters, with abundant annual rainfall exceeding 1,800mm but no devastating floods, and an average annual temperature of only 19°C. The coffee fruit grows a little more slowly but becomes sufficiently dense. Although production is lower, the aroma and flavor are unmatched by typical Brazilian highland beans. The estate grows mainly Bourbon varieties, including some heirloom Bourbon trees over 110 years old.

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Estate: Fazenda Rainha

Flavor: Lemon, sugarcane, black tea, smooth and refined

Fazenda Rainha's Depulping System

Ripe cherries are hand-picked into cloth bags to avoid contact with the ground. Cherries harvested on the same day are always sent to the estate's processing facility that same day for pulped natural processing. Hand-picking into cloth bags avoids earthy flavors and improper fermentation. Once the cherries reach the facility, they are immediately washed clean, and unqualified or dried fruits (the floating bóia beans) are screened out by size. Qualified beans continue to the depulping stage on a pulper machine.

After the fruit pulp is removed, the beans still carry some mucilage on their parchment. At this point the mucilage-covered beans are placed on patios to dry until moisture content drops to around 20%. This stage lets the beans absorb their own starch components without the drawbacks of the uncontrolled drying flavors found in the full natural method. These residual mucilaginous starches give a special sweetness without turning into uncontrolled off-fruit flavors or developing moldy tastes.

They are then sent to drying machines for final drying, bringing moisture content down to 11%, and moved to storage for resting. Before export they are dehulled and graded. This segmented pulped natural method is one of the main reasons for Fazenda Rainha's stable flavor. Of course, insisting on Bourbon varieties is another reason for its highly regarded reputation.

Altitude: 1400-1950m

Processing Method: Pulped natural

From Brazil's Fazenda Rainha estate-level Yellow Bourbon, this coffee offers full, mature sweetness with rich fruity notes and a persistent aftertaste. Whether used as a single origin for filter coffee or as the main sweet component in an espresso blend, it satisfies professional experts and is listed as an essential purchase bean.

CERRADO

Cerrado means tropical savanna. Although the term often refers to the whole savanna stretching across many countries in Brazil, in coffee terminology it refers to the Cerrado region in western Minas Gerais state. This is a newer coffee-producing region, which perhaps explains why it is dominated by large, mechanized farms. In fact, ninety percent of farms in this area exceed 10 hectares (24 acres).

Altitude: 850-1,250m (2,800-4,100ft)

Harvest: May to September

BAHIA

Bahia, on Brazil's eastern side, is the country's northernmost coffee-growing region. In recent years more and more interesting coffees have emerged from this area, drawing attention. In the 2009 Cup of Excellence competition, five of the top ten entries came from Bahia.

Brazil Mogiana COE Champion Estate Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon Pulped Natural

Flavor Description: The raw beans carry slight orange peel and spice aromas. When ground, they release rich toasted hazelnut, cinnamon, and sweet pumpkin pie aromas. On entry there is delicate lemon acidity, plum, guava, and fresh sugarcane juice sweetness. The mid-palate presents fresh-cut vanilla pods, black tea, and unsalted butter. Overall the flavor combines complexity with a persistent aftertaste and a smooth, refined, consistent mouthfeel.

Region: Mogiana

Producer: Rainha Farm Fazenda Rainha

Processing Method: Pulped Natural (PN)

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Fazenda Rainha Award Record

2014 COE Cup of Excellence 13th Place

2013 COE Cup of Excellence 2nd Place

2012 COE Cup of Excellence 8th Place

2011 COE Cup of Excellence Champion

2010 COE Cup of Excellence 20th Place

2009 COE Cup of Excellence 6th Place

2008 COE Cup of Excellence 14th Place

The Carvalho Dias family, founding members of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association, has operated Fazenda Rainha since 1890. The estate owner's nephew, Gabriel de Carvalho Dias, now runs and manages it. The estate lies near Minas Gerais, with high terrain and rugged slopes. Because of these geographical limits, mechanized cultivation and harvesting are impossible, so cultivation and picking are done entirely by hand. At altitudes between 1,100 and 1,500 meters, with average annual rainfall of 1,800-2,000mm and an average annual temperature around 19°C, these are ideal conditions for coffee. The raw beans have a solid texture and excellent flavor expression. Carefully controlling every step from cultivation and care to harvesting and post-processing, Fazenda Rainha dedicates all its effort to producing exceptional quality green coffee beans.

Under the management of Regina Helena Mello de Carvalho Dias and family members, the estate maintains excellent quality and a unique flavor profile, making it a perennial winner in Brazil's COE cupping competitions, placing in 2000, 2001, and 2005, and earning the honor of Brazil COE Champion in 2011.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

As the world's largest coffee producer, Brazil offers a wide range of coffees with moderate acidity and a beautifully balanced mix of sweetness, bitterness, and body, which makes them ideal for medium roasting. If you just want a first taste of the region, FrontStreet Coffee's pulped natural Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic Brazilian single origin. Cerrado is a well-known local growing region prized for high-quality beans, and this lot is the common South American Red Bourbon variety. Roasted medium, it shows rich aromas of creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut, with a rounded, non-acidic cup and a light bitter finish, and it works for pour-over as well as the moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press.

For a rare estate variety, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana near Sul de Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries absorb abundant nutrients and develop a full aroma. Part of the area keeps traditional farm management while another part has adopted modern standardized operations, which has greatly improved local coffee quality. Queen Estate grows the rare Yellow Bourbon, a genetic mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character. Whether brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot, or on a home espresso machine, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate delivers the fresh sugarcane sweetness that other regions rarely show, alongside fruit and chocolate notes.

Brazil's low-acid, balanced profile and approachable price also make it a first choice in many espresso recipes. The chocolate and cream aromas and the gentle sweet-sour-bitter balance of Brazilian beans add up to a stable, consistent extraction, which is why they appear in FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blends, including the classic blend, the nutty specialty blend, and the well-balanced Black Cocoa blend.