Flavor Profile and Taste Characteristics of Cerrado Coffee Beans from Brazil | Pour-Over Brewing Techniques and Parameter Recommendations

Brazil Coffee: From Quantity to Quality

If you're wondering which country produces the most coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes it's undoubtedly Brazil. With an annual total output of about 2.7 million metric tons, it accounts for one-third of the world's total coffee bean production. But did you know? Actually, Brazil's geographical environment is not particularly suitable for coffee growth. According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, Brazil has a monotonous topography and an extremely dry climate. The altitude is also generally low, with an average altitude of about 1,000 meters in Brazilian coffee plantations. Moreover, in the past, to increase production, Brazil often used semi-mechanized machines to harvest both ripe and unripe coffee together, resulting in low-quality raw coffee beans. However, when coffee became Brazil's main economic crop, Brazilian coffee beans successfully made a comeback through soil improvement and coffee variety enhancement.

Brazil's Major Coffee Growing Regions

Currently, Brazilian coffee beans are mainly concentrated in the central and southern regions, distributed across 7 states with about 14 coffee-producing areas: South Minas, Minas Mountains, Chapada de Minas, Matas de Minas, Mogiana, Centro-Oeste de São Paulo, Montanhas do Espírito Santo, Conilon Capixaba, Cerrado, Planalto da Bahia, Atlantic Baiano, Paraná, Rondônia, and Cerrado. Among these, the most representative is undoubtedly the Cerrado region. It can be said that the South Minas and Cerrado regions have contributed immeasurably to the rise of Brazilian coffee.

The Cerrado Region: Brazil's Premium Coffee Heartland

The Cerrado region is located in the mountainous southern part of the "Cerrado Grassland Climate Zone," which spans eight provinces in central Brazil and covers an area of about two million square kilometers. It's worth mentioning that this Cerrado grassland is the largest tropical savanna (or tropical steppe) in South America, with rich native plants and animals, and its climate and ecological characteristics are distinctly different from the Amazon basin in northern Brazil.

Coffee in the Cerrado region is mostly grown at altitudes around 1,000 meters, with fertile soil rich in minerals. Moreover, local coffee beans are mostly processed using washed or semi-washed methods, resulting in cleaner flavor profiles, with a unique genmaicha tea note in the finish, sometimes accompanied by nutty sweetness or creamy aromas.

The so-called Cerrado Coffee Region refers to the area where the great savanna extends into the Minas province's plateau regions at altitudes of 850-1,200 meters. This distinguishes it from "South Minas (Sul De Minas)," which is also located in Minas province. The flat and open terrain of the savanna is particularly suitable for establishing large estates, combined with distinct dry and wet seasons and a relatively cool plateau climate, which allows coffee berries to ripen more uniformly. Thus, the Cerrado region stands out among Brazil's many producing areas and can be considered a quality choice for Brazilian beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Selections

As a quality coffee harvester, how could FrontStreet Coffee miss the coffee beans from this region? The Frontsteet Brazil Bourbon coffee beans that FrontStreet Coffee acquired come from Brazil's Cerrado region. This Frontsteet Brazil coffee bean offers balanced flavor and represents a very typical Brazilian coffee style. Prominent nutty flavors, distinct chocolate notes, and low acidity. Like many full-bodied coffees, FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium roast for this coffee to reduce unpleasant acidity while enhancing its body, making the entire coffee taste smooth.

The South Minas region has dry winters and abundant summer rainfall, with distinct dry and wet seasons that help coffee yield and quality. The only drawback is the excessive iron content in the soil and lack of necessary minerals like nitrogen and calcium. The Brazilian authorities have invested heavily in high-tech technology to customize soil mineral improvements for coffee farmers, assisting in the healthy growth of coffee. They have also established large-scale irrigation systems to overcome the adverse conditions of dryness and poor soil. The coffee production from the Minas Gerais region can reach almost 50% of Brazil's total coffee production, making it the main source of Brazilian coffee.

Brazil's Coffee Varieties

In 1927, the earliest coffee variety introduced to Brazil was Typica. However, due to Typica's low yield and very poor disease resistance, making it unsuitable for economic benefits, it was eliminated by Brazilian coffee. By 1869, Brazil introduced Bourbon coffee from Bourbon Island or Yemen, which quickly replaced Typica due to its high productivity. In 1935, a mutation of Bourbon coffee was discovered in Brazil and named Catuai, but due to poor growth quality at the time, it failed to become Brazil's main coffee bean variety. Currently, Brazil's main varieties are Bourbon, Catuai, Mundo Novo, and Maragogype.

Queen's Farm: Premium Yellow Bourbon

Take FrontStreet Coffee's Frontsteet Brazil Yellow Bourbon as an example. This time, FrontStreet Coffee selected Yellow Bourbon coffee beans from Queen's Farm in the Mogiana region of São Paulo state. Queen's Farm has 280 hectares of coffee cultivation area, of which 200 hectares are Yellow Bourbon coffee. Due to the advantages of terrain and climate, this has become a unique place for producing Brazilian specialty coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee: Brazil · Queen's Farm Coffee Beans

Region: Mogiana
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Processing: Natural
Altitude: 1400-1950m

The characteristic of this Frontsteet Brazil Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon coffee bean is its very distinct sweet aftertaste. FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium roast to enhance its nutty aroma and increase its body. When cooled, this Frontsteet Brazil coffee will have slight acidity with a hint of fermented fruit flavor.

The Rise of Brazilian Specialty Coffee

After 2000, with the international auction held by the COE (Cup of Excellence) international coffee cupping competition, coffee farmers had the incentive to work hard to produce high-quality coffee. Coffee beans produced in high-altitude areas of the south received excellent praise, especially farms around the Minas highlands. The coffee quality is leading among Brazilian beans, and production is also the largest. For example, Cerrado in western Minas, Matas in eastern Minas, northern Bahia, or small farms in the south—Minas has almost become synonymous with Brazilian specialty coffee.

In recent years, coffee has been precisely categorized by processing methods (washed, semi-washed, semi-natural, natural). These methods have enhanced the characteristics of Brazilian coffee, developing various flavors, textures, and finishes that are completely different from traditional Brazilian coffee. Especially semi-natural, semi-washed, and natural processing methods perform best, making the coffee appear cleaner with lower acidity and increased fruity aroma, reducing the rich chocolate flavor. However, recently, Brazil's weather has been quite harsh. Due to frost and drought, it's expected that Brazil's coffee production in 2022 will be significantly reduced.

Brewing Brazilian Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee's Method

Due to the flavor and texture characteristics of Frontsteet Brazil coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses a Kono dripper for extraction in daily store preparations. Many customers ask about the reason. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce some small tips for brewing Brazilian coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Extraction Parameters: Kono dripper, 88℃ water temperature, 15g coffee dose, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, medium-coarse grind (70% pass-through rate with Chinese standard #20 sieve)

To enhance Brazilian coffee's body, FrontStreet Coffee uses a Kono dripper. If you observe carefully, unlike the V60, the Kono dripper's ribs are very short, almost unable to achieve drainage effects. During the brewing process, the upper part of the Kono dripper is compressed by air, tightly fitting the filter paper against the dripper, similar to a "siphon" phenomenon. The coffee flow rate slows, extending the contact time between coffee grounds and water, which helps increase the coffee's body. This is suitable for medium-dark roasted coffee beans like Frontsteet Brazil Queen's Farm, Frontsteet Blue Mountain Coffee, and Frontsteet Golden Mandheling.

To prevent over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee reduces the brewing water temperature to 88 degrees. With lower temperature, water molecules are less active, thus reducing extraction speed. If you're interested, you can try using V60 and Kono drippers to extract Frontsteet Brazil coffee beans separately—you might experience different feelings!

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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