Why Does Brazilian Coffee Have a Unique Flavor? Images and Flavor Profiles of Brazil's Top 10 Coffee Brands

For more premium coffee knowledge, please follow the WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee

The world's three major beverages are tea, cocoa, and coffee. You might rarely see cocoa, but coffee is everywhere. Walking down the street, you can easily spot passersby holding a cup of coffee. Especially in a place like Guangzhou, you might find yourself in a coffee shop just around the corner. Coffee has become the choice of more and more young people. As one of the world's three major beverages, the daily consumption of coffee is enormous, and behind this massive consumption lies the support of a major coffee-producing country—Brazil.

Brazil's production capacity is so large that you can find Brazilian coffee beans in almost every coffee shop. For example, FrontStreet Coffee has two types of Brazilian single-origin beans. When some friends mention they don't want acidic coffee, our FrontStreet Coffee baristas always recommend Brazil's Queen Estate.

Geographical Location

Brazil is located in eastern South America, spanning from 5 degrees north latitude to 35 degrees south latitude, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the east and connecting with Colombia to the northwest. Brazil's terrain is mainly divided into two major parts: one is the Brazilian Plateau with an altitude of over 500 meters, distributed in the central and southern regions of Brazil; the other is plains with an altitude below 200 meters, mainly distributed in the Amazon River basin in the north and west. Most regions of Brazil are in tropical zones, with average temperatures in the Amazon plain ranging from 25°C to 28°C, while the southern regions have average annual temperatures between 16°C and 19°C.

Coffee Cultivation History

For those unfamiliar with the history of coffee spread, it might be surprising to hear FrontStreet Coffee say that "just over three hundred years ago, Brazil didn't have a single coffee tree." After all, many friends know that Brazil is the largest producer of coffee beans, so how could it not have even one coffee seedling?

This dates back to an "improper romance." In 1727, Francisco Palheta, a Portuguese army captain from Brazil, was sent to French Guiana to mediate territorial disputes between France and the Netherlands. Unexpectedly, the governor's wife of French Guiana fell deeply in love with this army officer and gifted him coffee seedlings (some say it was coffee seeds). After returning to Brazil, Francisco Palheta resigned from his official post and went to Pará province in the northwest near the equator to cultivate coffee. This sparked a wave of coffee cultivation in Brazil, and coffee fields gradually moved to the more populous southeastern states of São Paulo, Espírito Santo, and Paraná in the south. By 1845, Brazilian coffee beans already accounted for 45% of the world's total coffee production.

Cultivation Environment

The altitude for Brazilian coffee cultivation ranges between 400 to 1,600 meters. Compared to Central American coffee, the cultivation altitude is relatively low, with flat and monotonous terrain lacking microclimates. Additionally, Brazilian coffee cultivation mostly uses sun-drying cultivation methods, allowing coffee cherries to quickly absorb sufficient heat and mature. It is precisely for these reasons that Brazilian coffee beans have soft texture, low density, and a typical soft bean flavor—low acidity, prominent nutty taste, chocolate sweetness with good body, but with a slight woody and earthy taste, while floral and citrus notes are not obvious. FrontStreet Coffee's baristas often recommend Brazilian coffee to friends who dislike acidity, precisely because Brazilian coffee is relatively mild and won't overwhelm you with the wild, assertive rising acidity and citrus notes typical of African beans.

Varieties

Brazil grows a wide variety of coffee varieties, with Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, Mundo Novo, and Catuai being the main varieties. Catuai, Acaia, Obatã, Aramosa, Laurina, and others are also cultivated and researched.

The variety of coffee, geographical and climatic environment, soil texture, cultivation techniques, harvesting, and processing methods are all like results nurtured from the land, directly affecting the quality of coffee beans. Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer. If we include both "commercial grade" and "specialty coffee," Brazil accounts for 30% of global coffee consumption. Besides native conditions like climate and geographical area, Brazil's "industrialization" of coffee has created today's enormous national income and efficiency.

Brazil primarily cultivates Arabica Bourbon and Catuai varieties. These bean varieties have relatively high yields compared to many other varieties.

Processing Methods

As everyone knows, the most common coffee processing methods are natural (dry) and washed. Brazil initially mostly used the natural processing method, but later to improve bean quality, Brazil developed the semi-washed (pulped natural) processing method in 1990. As early as the mid-18th century, the Dutch used washed processing methods for coffee, but since washed processing requires a large amount of water, it wasn't practical in Brazil.

The Brazilian semi-washed method involves first removing defective floating fruits through water tanks, then removing the peel, pulp, and part of the mucilage layer, followed by washing for one hour. Due to the short soaking and fermentation time, the mucilage is not completely washed away, and some remains on the bean shell. At this point, the sticky parchment beans are spread out on drying patios to dry, preferably using well-ventilated African raised beds.

Reading this, some friends might ask FrontStreet Coffee, isn't this similar to the washed processing method? At this point, FrontStreet Coffee would explain that yes, Brazilian semi-washed processing is indeed very similar to washed processing, except that its soaking time is much shorter than washed processing, thus protecting some of the mucilage for sun-drying.

Compared to traditional washed processing methods, this processing method saves a large amount of water, reduces resource costs, and also changes the poor quality coffee from Brazil's extensive natural drying. Because the peel and pulp are removed, the sun-drying time is greatly shortened, reducing the chances of over-fermentation, mold, and infection. It can be said that this semi-washed processing method is Brazil's unique approach adapted to local conditions.

Coffee Growing Regions

Brazil has 26 states, and 17 of them produce coffee, but 7 states have the largest production, accounting for 98% of the country's total production.

The 7 states are: São Paulo (Mogiana, Centro-Oeste), Paraná (Norte Pioneiro do Paraná), Bahia (Planalto da Bahia, Cerrado da Bahia, Atlântico Baiano), Espírito Santo (Montanhas do Espírito Santo, Conilon Capixaba), Minas Gerais (Sul de Minas, Cerrado Mineiro, Chapada de Minas, Matas de Minas), Rondônia, and Rio de Janeiro.

Among them, on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list, there are two Brazilian beans. One is the Brazil Queen Estate from the Mogiana region of São Paulo state; the other is the Red Bourbon from Cerrado Mineiro in Minas Gerais state.

[FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queen Estate]

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

Mogiana

This area is in São Paulo state, very close to southern Minas. Coffee is grown among shrubs, grasslands, and other vegetation. In this region, there are many farming families, some of which operate traditional large farms, while others adopt small-scale modern operations. The combination of modern technology and mountain coffee cultivation culture has created the highest quality Brazilian coffee beans.

[FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Red Bourbon]

Country: Brazil
Region: Cerrado Mineiro
Altitude: 1000m
Variety: Red Bourbon
Processing Method: Semi-washed

Cerrado Mineiro

Growing coffee in Cerrado Mineiro (also known as Savannah) is a triumph of Brazilian coffee technology. More and more large coffee plantations in Cerrado Mineiro use high-tech for production, with very few regions having this level of technology. The plateau climate has four distinct seasons, and fruit matures very stably, with no rain during the harvest season. Savannah coffee generally uses natural processing methods, which is also a current trend.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Brewing Parameters:

Using Kono dripper, 88°C water temperature, 15g coffee dose, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, medium-fine grind (80% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve)

For darker roasted coffee beans to highlight their rich body, FrontStreet Coffee chooses to brew with the Kono dripper. The characteristic of the Kono dripper is its immersion function, which can use immersion to extract more coffee substances, enhancing the rich mouthfeel. Because it has few ribs located at the bottom, it allows the filter paper to fit tightly against the dripper to achieve the effect of restricting airflow, thereby slowing down the water flow and increasing the contact time between water and coffee.

Choosing 88°C water temperature is considered a lower brewing temperature, which can avoid extracting too much of the undesirable flavors from the coffee beans during the brewing process, because the darker the roast, the more these undesirable flavors increase.

Brewing Technique

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction. First, 30g of water for blooming for 30 seconds, then small circular pour until reaching 125g when segmented. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until reaching 225g and stop. (Timing starts from blooming) The extraction time is 2 minutes. FrontStreet Coffee tries to maintain consistency in brewing technique when brewing both beans.

Flavor Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee can clearly feel that both of these Brazilian coffee beans have a relatively rich mouthfeel, with distinct nutty and chocolate notes, exhibiting typical flavor characteristics of Brazilian coffee growing regions. The Queen Estate Brazil Yellow Bourbon coffee beans have a cleaner taste with better layering, and sweetness leaning toward caramel. The Red Bourbon coffee beans have an overall more rounded feel, with chocolate flavors that are stable and persistent.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473