The Historical and Cultural Story of Brazilian Coffee: How to Brew Hand-Poured Brazilian Coffee Beans for the Best Taste

Brazilian coffee beans are renowned worldwide by coffee enthusiasts for their pure nutty and cocoa flavors and rich, full-bodied taste. At the same time, Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee beans. Consequently, the mechanization level of Brazilian coffee processing is quite high, which results in relatively uniform flavor profiles among Brazilian coffee beans. For instance, the FrontStreet Coffee Yellow Bourbon from Queen's Farm and the FrontStreet Coffee Cerrado Red Bourbon introduced in FrontStreet Coffee's shop are two beans that best exemplify Brazilian coffee flavors. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will explore the flavor characteristics of FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee beans and share pour-over brewing parameters for all pour-over coffee enthusiasts.

Brazilian Coffee Cultivation History

According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, Brazilian coffee was introduced to Brazil from French Guiana in the 1720s. A Portuguese captain from Brazil, Francisco Palheta, captured the heart of the governor's wife in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana at the time, successfully bringing coffee seeds into Brazil. Since then, coffee quickly adapted in Brazil, spreading from the north to São Paulo state in the southeast and Paraná province in the south. These areas have slightly higher latitudes and experience winter frosts, causing severe losses for coffee farmers.

From 1970 to 1980, Brazilian farmers developed the warmer Minas province and Bahia in northern São Paulo state. These regions have warm winters without frost, and to this day, Minas province has become one of Brazil's main specialty coffee producing regions.

Before 1990, the Brazilian government strictly monitored the coffee industry, implementing both severe intervention and price protection measures. Additionally, the country consistently maintained minimum price protection for farmers, leading to coffee overproduction.

Since 1990, with the opening of free markets, the former "Brazilian Coffee Institute" (IBC) was replaced by the National Economic Association Federation, a non-investment administrative body. This association pursued a non-intervention policy, allowing producers to negotiate directly with exporters. Exporters' activities are supervised by government legislation, and relevant authorities register legitimate exporters. From three hundred years ago to today, coffee has become Brazil's primary economic source, and Brazil has become the world's largest coffee-producing country.

Brazilian Coffee Bean Regions

FrontStreet Coffee's previous articles have often mentioned that a coffee bean's flavor depends on its growing region conditions, coffee variety, and processing method. This is because coffee beans are agricultural crops, and their natural quality changes due to these three major factors.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, the main regions currently producing Brazilian coffee beans are: Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia, and Espírito Santo. These four regions account for 90% of Brazil's national production. Among them, Mogiana within São Paulo state is the most famous, but the highest altitude region is not Mogiana, but rather Cerrado and Sul de Minas in Minas Gerais. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce the characteristics of these three most famous Brazilian coffee regions.

Sul de Minas (South Minas)

With elevations ranging from 700m to 1200m, this region consists of hilly terrain and is one of Brazil's earliest coffee production areas. Due to rising labor costs, most coffee is now mechanically harvested, and it's also the earliest region where coffee was commercialized. We can see many large exporters established here. The Bahia region, located in northern Brazil, mainly produces washed Brazilian coffee, while the coastal Espírito Santo region is the main export area for Brazilian Robusta varieties.

Cerrado

Occupying 22% of Brazil's total area, this vast savanna is deep in the Brazilian interior. The Portuguese word "Cerrado" means "closed land." The Cerrado savanna originates from Mato Grosso province in southwestern Brazil, extending through central-western Minas and reaching western Bahia province. The Cerrado coffee region referred to by FrontStreet Coffee is not the entire Cerrado savanna, but limited to coffee planting areas above 1000 meters altitude in central-western Minas province that can be called the Cerrado coffee region. This area represents the essence of the Cerrado savanna, with high altitudes and fertile soil, producing specialty coffee beans with clear sweetness, high body, and high cleanliness.

Mogiana

This region is very close to southern Minas. Coffee is planted among shrubs, grasslands, and other vegetation. In this area, there are many farming families, some of whom adopt traditional large-scale farm operations, while others engage in small-scale modern operations. Modern technology combined with mountain coffee cultivation culture creates the highest quality green coffee beans. Currently, both Brazilian coffee beans at FrontStreet Coffee are precisely the Red Bourbon from the Cerrado region and the Yellow Bourbon from Mogiana. So what are the characteristics of these two varieties?

Brazilian Coffee Bean Varieties

Red Bourbon

According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, Bourbon is a sub-species that mutated from Typica, belonging to the oldest existing coffee varieties along with Typica. When green fruits ripen, they display a bright red color. Compared to Typica, Bourbon plants have broader leaves and grow more densely. Although the yield is higher than Typica, the harvest period is still 2 years, making it a low-yield variety. However, it offers excellent quality with wine-like acidity and sweet aftertaste.

To put it more simply, Bourbon is a coffee tree variety belonging to a branch of the Arabica species. It generally produces red fruits, called Red Bourbon. Additionally, there are Yellow Bourbon and Pink Bourbon. Red Bourbon refers to the general Bourbon coffee tree where, after flowering and fruiting, the coffee cherry color changes from: green > light yellow > light orange > mature red > darker red when fully ripe, thus earning the name Red Bourbon. It offers better aroma, brighter acidity, and even exhibits wine-like flavors when tasted. Furthermore, according to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Red Bourbon is currently the most widely planted variety in Brazilian coffee regions.

Yellow Bourbon

As mentioned above, Yellow Bourbon is also a genetic mutation of Bourbon. Bourbon has long been considered outstanding among coffee varieties due to its high yield and excellent quality. Yellow Bourbon is a unique Bourbon variant exclusive to São Paulo state, Brazil. Unlike Red Bourbon which turns red when ripe, Yellow Bourbon cherries turn orange-yellow when mature, hence its name. Because Yellow Bourbon is grown at very high altitudes, its flavor is exceptional.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's cupping results, Yellow Bourbon coffee beans grown in high-altitude regions exhibit excellent flavor performance. Yellow Bourbon coffee beans swept the top three awards in the Brazil Cup of Excellence competition for two consecutive years, making it popular in the specialty coffee world. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Yellow Bourbon typically features nutty and chocolate notes, with balanced and smooth acidity, weak and clean bitterness, creating an overall bright and refreshing profile.

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce the basic information about these two FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian coffee beans:

FrontStreet Coffee: Brazilian Red Bourbon Coffee Beans

Country: Brazil
Region: Sul de Minas
Altitude: 1000m
Variety: Red Bourbon
Processing: Pulped Natural
Flavor: Nuts, Chocolate, Cream, Peanut, Caramel

FrontStreet Coffee: Brazilian Queen's Farm Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans

Country: Brazil
Region: São Paulo State (Queen's Farm)
Altitude: 1400-1950m
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Processing Method: Pulped Natural/Natural
Flavor: Nuts, Cream, Peanut, Fermented Fruits, Cane Sugar

As described above, both of these FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian coffee beans are processed using the pulped natural method. So what makes pulped natural coffee beans special?

Pulped Natural Coffee Processing

Pulped natural processing is one of Brazil's unique coffee processing methods. This is because Brazil developed this distinctive pulped natural method according to local dry climate conditions to process green coffee beans. Pulped natural processing can control the fermentation degree of mucilage after removing skin and pulp. Pulped natural processing lacks the "fermentation in water tanks, rinsing with clean water" process of washed processing. Without this fermentation step, the coffee bean flavor is distinctly different.

The above is FrontStreet Coffee's compilation of information about Brazilian coffee characteristics. So how should Brazilian coffee beans be enjoyed? As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, the flavor characteristics of FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee beans are relatively balanced, full-bodied, and feature nutty and cocoa flavors. Therefore, they are suitable both for espresso blends and pour-over coffee. However, according to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, most coffee enthusiasts prefer using FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee beans for pour-over coffee. This is because pour-over coffee allows you to taste the layered complexity of a coffee bean's flavor, as coffee flavors change with decreasing temperature. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to brew FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee beans using pour-over methods.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian Coffee Beans Pour-over Brewing Parameters

For the two FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian coffee beans mentioned above, both use medium roast and are from the same region, so their flavor differences won't be particularly significant. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee uses the same pour-over parameters for both.

Dripper: KONO
Dose: 15g
Water Temperature: 88°C
Grind Size: Medium grind, 75% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve
Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

Brewing Method:分段式萃取.

Use 30g of water for bloom for 30 seconds. Continue pouring in small circular motions to 125g, then segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from bloom) V60 dripper extraction time is 2'00", while KONO dripper extraction time is slightly longer at 2'10".

FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian Cerrado Coffee Bean Flavor: Obvious sweetness upon entry, accompanied by subtle lemon aroma, containing rich nutty flavors, with distinct dark chocolate notes in the finish, overall feeling quite rounded.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian Queen's Farm Coffee Bean Flavor: Balanced mouthfeel, with cane sugar sweetness prominent in the main notes of almond and cocoa, creating a coffee with good fullness and abundant sweetness.

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

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