Introduction to Brazilian Coffee Varieties, Cultivars, and Culture - Flavor Profile and Taste Description of Brazilian Red and Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans

Bourbon coffee is a natural mutant variety that evolved from the Typica品种. Both varieties belong to the Arabica species and are historically significant coffee varieties. Many later coffee varieties have been naturally evolved and artificially cultivated from these two varieties.

The Bourbon variety took root on Bourbon Island as early as the 18th century, gathering momentum. It finally reached the American continent—Brazil—in the 1860s and rapidly spread to various countries in Central and South America. Until now, Bourbon and its variants remain the preferred choice for coffee cultivation in Central and South America.

In the Brazilian region, 70-80% or more of Arabica coffee beans are Bourbon varieties or members of the Bourbon family, with the most common being Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, as well as Catuai and Catimor.

Red Bourbon Coffee Variety

Red Bourbon is perhaps the most common type because, under normal circumstances, coffee cherries gradually mature from unripe green to light yellow, then to orange, reaching optimal picking time when they present red color, and finally to overripe dark purple.

FrontStreet Coffee, through cupping comparisons, has discovered that FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Red Bourbon coffee beans possess a smooth mouthfeel and distinct sweetness. The higher the cultivation altitude, the more refined the flavor becomes.

Yellow Bourbon Coffee Variety

Yellow Bourbon is a unique Bourbon variant from São Paulo state, Brazil. It's mainly because the cherries don't turn red when ripe but instead present an orange-yellow color, hence the name "Yellow Bourbon."

FrontStreet Coffee, through cupping comparisons, has discovered that FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon has balanced and smooth acidity, with weak and clean bitterness, presenting an overall bright and refreshing profile. The higher the cultivation altitude, the clearer the flavor expression.

Catuai Coffee Variety

Catuai is a natural mutant of the Bourbon variety. Catuai plants have very close branch intervals, and the cherries are smaller than Bourbon, which allows for more fruit production in the same space, greatly increasing coffee cherry yield.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's cupping comparisons, Catuai coffee beans have bright and clean mouthfeel with distinct sweetness characteristics.

Catimor Coffee Variety

Catimor is an artificially cultivated hybrid of Catuai and Mundo Novo. Catimor inherits Mundo Novo's characteristics of high yield, strong disease resistance, and excellent cup quality, while inheriting Catuai's small plant size, quality acidity, and sun-dried coffee attributes.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's cupping comparisons, Catimor coffee beans have soft acidity, clean mouthfeel, and rich fruity aromatics.

Recommended Brazilian Premium Coffee Beans

Currently, FrontStreet Coffee offers two Brazilian premium coffee beans: one is FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Pulped Natural Red Bourbon from the Cerrado region, and the other is FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Queen Estate Pulped Natural Yellow Bourbon from Mogiana state. Both coffee beans strongly exhibit Brazilian regional flavor characteristics.

In FrontStreet Coffee's selected regional FrontStreet Coffee daily bean series, the Brazilian representative uses FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Red Bourbon from the Cerrado region. This is because the flavor profile of coffee beans from this area after brewing is highly representative of Brazilian regional characteristics: nuts, caramel, low acidity, and rich body, with excellent cost performance.

Compared to Cerrado's Red Bourbon, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon coffee possesses a more unique clean sweetness. It not only has the Brazilian regional characteristics of nuts, caramel, low acidity, and rich body, but also showcases brown sugar-like sweetness in the aftertaste. Those who enjoy strong body and distinct sweetness should try FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Queen Estate coffee beans.

A Quick Guide to Making Brazilian Coffee Taste Better

To allow Brazilian coffee to express its unique nutty and rich regional flavors, FrontStreet Coffee roasts both FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee beans to a medium-dark level, both shipped within five days after roasting to ensure 100% fresh roasted coffee beans—this is also key to making coffee taste great!

Medium-dark roasted coffee beans have a loose structure, making the substances in the coffee beans easier to extract. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using pour-over extraction. Use slightly lower temperature hot water and medium-coarse grind for coffee extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee's brewing parameter recommendations: Kono dripper (this dripper's characteristic lies in utilizing the tight fit between filter paper and dripper to achieve immersion-style extraction during pour-over coffee, resulting in higher coffee concentration), 88°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g coffee dose, grind size: sugar granule size (70% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve).

Extraction technique is as follows: First pour 30g of water for blooming, with a blooming time of 30 seconds. Second pour to approximately 125g of water, then wait for the coffee liquid to drop. When it drops to half, pour the final water to reach 225g. End the extraction after all coffee has finished dripping through. The total extraction time is generally around 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Important Notice :

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