Introduction to Brazilian Red Bourbon Coffee Beans | The Past and Present of the Red Bourbon Coffee Bean Family

Brazil is the world's largest coffee-producing country, and FrontStreet Coffee offers both Brazilian specialty and blended beans. FrontStreet Coffee knows many people believe Brazilian beans are poor quality because they are so often used for blending, but nothing is absolute. Today FrontStreet Coffee wants to introduce a bean it uses in high volume every day — Brazil Red Bourbon. It serves at FrontStreet both as a Brazilian daily coffee and in espresso blends, which means it can be used for pour-over and espresso alike.

Brazil Red Bourbon - Semi-Sun Dried

Country: Brazil

Variety: Red Bourbon

Processing: Hand-picked, then semi-sun dried

Origin: South Minas

Altitude: 700m-1200m

Processing Method: Semi-washed

Flavor: High sweetness, clean, smooth, low acidity, with tropical fruit aroma

01 | Origin Introduction

South Minas, with its hilly terrain at altitudes of 700m-1200m, is Brazil's earliest coffee-producing area. Because of rising labour costs, mechanical harvesting now predominates. This area was also the first to commercialise coffee, and many large exporters can be seen established here. The Bahia region in northern Brazil mainly produces washed Brazilian coffee, while the coastal Espírito Santo region is the main export area for Brazilian Robusta varieties.

Brazil's coffee-growing areas are dominated by two types of terrain: the Brazilian plateau above 500 meters altitude and the Brazilian plain below 200 meters. The main varieties grown, and well known, are the Bourbons — Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon and Flat Bean Santos. The flavor profile of Brazilian coffee is chiefly low acidity, nutty flavors, balance and moderate body. In the world of specialty coffee, Brazilian coffee is not outstanding, but in espresso it is often used as a blending variety. Because of its high balance, merchants often use it as a Blue Mountain-style bean.

Bourbon Variety

Let me briefly explain what Bourbon coffee is. Bourbon coffee was initially cultivated on Réunion Island, which was called Bourbon Island before 1789. The Bourbon variety is a sub-species mutated from Typica and, along with Typica, belongs to the oldest surviving coffee varieties. When the fruits ripen they turn bright red. For Red Bourbon, the color of the cherries after flowering and fruiting generally goes from green > slightly yellow > slightly orange > ripe red > darker red when fully ripe, hence the name "Red Bourbon variety." In fact, Red Bourbon is just what we generally call the Bourbon variety. Bourbon grown at high altitudes typically has a better aroma, brighter acidity and may even show wine-like flavors. Simply put, Bourbon is a coffee-tree variety in the Arabica family. It generally bears red fruit, called Red Bourbon. Besides this there are also Yellow Bourbon and Orange Bourbon; Yellow Bourbon has relatively lower yields but better quality.

Spread Route of Bourbon Variety

Because the Typica variety introduced to Brazil in 1727 had low yield and was prone to disease, Bourbon was introduced to Brazil around 1860 via Campinas in the south and quickly spread northward to other regions in South and Central America. In Latin America today, although most Bourbon has been replaced by its variants (especially Caturra, Catuai and Mundo Novo), it is still grown in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Peru. In Africa, French missionaries known as the Spiritans (from the Holy Ghost Congregation) played an important role in spreading Bourbon. In 1841 the first church was established on Réunion, and a branch was set up in Zanzibar in 1859. From Zanzibar, branches were established in 1862 at Bagamoyo (coastal Tanzania, then called Tanganyika) and St. Augustine (Kikuyu, Kenya), and another branch was established in 1893 at Bura (Taita Hills, Kenya). Each branch was accompanied by the planting of coffee seeds brought from Réunion.

In 1899, seedlings cultivated at Bura were brought to another French mission at Santa Cruz (near Nairobi). In 1900 they were introduced to the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, and seeds were distributed to local residents willing to grow coffee. This is the origin of what is called "Missionary Bourbon." Then the Kent variety was introduced in 1920. As a result, coffee in Tanzania is still mainly Bourbon and Kent to this day.

French Bourbon colony — 1860: Pointed Bourbon to New Caledonia; Yemen — 1732: Round Bourbon to British St. Helena Island; 1860: Round Bourbon to Brazil; 1900: Round Bourbon to Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania; after 2000: Pointed Bourbon to Colombia.

03 | Processing Method Introduction

Semi-washed method: After the cherries are harvested, unripe fruit and foreign matter are removed through water channels, then the outer skin and part of the pulp are removed, followed by a mucilage remover to eliminate the remaining mucilage. Removing mucilage helps reduce the required sun-drying time and lowers the risk of fermentation. This method is often used when climate conditions are not ideal: if air humidity is high, the climate warm, or there is rainfall, there is a risk of mold during drying. That is why most washed beans in Brazil's commodity trade are processed by the semi-washed method.

04 | FrontStreet Coffee Green Bean Analysis

Brazilian coffee comes in numerous varieties, with sun-drying the main processing method, classified by origin-state name and transport port. Because production areas are scattered and quality uneven, classification standards are not uniform: beans are classified by impurity content from NO.2 downward, and by bean size from NO.13 to NO.19. The Brazilian grading system targets defect ratio, size, flavor and taste scores, forming its own independent system, more complex than other countries'. For example, "Brasil Santos NY 2 SC17/18 SS FC" — NY2 is the defect-ratio grading, where larger numbers represent higher defect ratios; the sequence runs 2, 2/3, 3, 3/4... NY indicates the New York grading standard. SC 17/18 indicates bean size. SS FC (Strictly Soft and Fine Cup) represents flavor and taste, divided into two groups: the first group — Strictly Soft, Soft, Softish, Hard, Hardish, Rioy/Rioysh, Rio; the second group — Fine Cup and Good Cup. Brazilian coffee's main characteristics are high sweetness, cleanliness, smoothness and low acidity, with quite broad uses, widely loved by the general public.

05 | FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis - Roaster: Yangjia 600g Semi-direct Fire

Brazilian coffee generally grows at altitudes of 1000-1300 meters, so its density is relatively low, moisture content moderate, bean texture relatively soft, and the thickness from bean surface to core thinner, which means it is not suited to roasting at too high a temperature, as that would create burnt bitterness. We choose a medium-fire bean entry, maintaining heat through the dehydration stage. After first crack begins, we make fine adjustments as the temperature rises to promote more complete caramelization. This semi-washed bean heats up slowly after first crack and can be discharged before approaching second crack. Preheat the roaster to 200°C, open the air vent to 3, turn on the fire after 30 seconds, adjust heat to 160, keep the vent unchanged. Return temperature point at 1'30", maintain heat. Turn yellow at 5'00", grassy smell disappears, entering the dehydration stage. Heat is reduced to 130, vent opened to 4. On reaching 168°C, heat is reduced again to 100. At 8'00", dehydration is complete, the bean surface shows wrinkles and black markings, the toast aroma turns to coffee aroma, which is the prelude to first crack. Watch for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 8'50", vent fully open to 5. Development time after first crack is 3 minutes and 10 seconds. On reaching 190°C, heat is reduced to 50, and at 194°C reduced again to 30; discharge at about 200°C.

This is a flavor-balanced coffee with a typical Brazilian style. Nut and chocolate flavors are prominent, with low acidity.

06 | FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Grind size: 4 (Japan Fuji R440)

Water temperature: 89°C

V60 dripper, 15g coffee, water temperature 90-91°C, grind 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15, 30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s. Segmented pour: pour to 120ml then stop, then slowly pour to 225ml (30-120-75), total extraction time 2 minutes.

Other drip extraction suggestions: French press, recommend grind 3.5-4 / water temperature 90°C. AeroPress, recommend grind 2.5, water temperature 90°C.

[Espresso #2]

A Colombia and Brazil blend has natural sweetness, with some nutty, peach and almond flavors, caramel sweetness and a chocolate-like silkiness, and a noticeable balance. Today, adjusting the grind, I tried for the first time a double portafilter with 1.9 grind size and a 21.5g dose, but found the dose was too high, with no liquid output after 5 seconds. Reducing the dose to 20.5g at the same grind size, I extracted 42g of espresso in 28 seconds using a 1:2 ratio.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Red Bourbon is the backbone of Brazilian coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee offers both single-origin Brazilian lots and Brazilian-based blends. Brazil is the world's largest producer, with a huge range of beans carrying a moderate acidity and a fine balance of sweetness, bitterness and body — which is exactly why it suits a medium roast so well, giving a nutty aroma, a mellow cup and a light acidity.

For a first taste of the origin, FrontStreet recommends the semi-washed Cerrado Red Bourbon, a classic Brazilian single origin from the well-known Cerrado region; a medium roast brings cream, peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut, with a rounded, non-acidic cup and a faint bitter note, and it suits pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon and French press. For something rarer, the Brazil Queen Estate comes from Mogiana near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil develops a full aroma; its unusual yellow Bourbon — a mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character — yields a sugarcane-like clarity, fruit notes and chocolate flavors that other regions cannot match.

Brazil's low-acid, balanced and affordable character also makes it the first choice for many espresso recipes. FrontStreet's classic blend, its nut-forward signature blend, its balanced Black Cocoa blend and its commercial blend for coffee shops all contain Brazilian beans, which contribute chocolate and cream aromas along with a gentle sweet-sour-bitter balance that keeps extraction stable.