What are the Flavor Characteristics of Brazilian Coffee Beans, What Growing Regions for Brazilian Specialty Coffee, and How Should You Drink Brazilian Cerrado Coffee

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Brazil: The World's Leading Arabica Coffee Producer

Brazil, as the world's number one Arabica coffee producer, accounts for approximately 30% of global total production. Brazilian coffee beans are also a key factor in determining coffee futures prices each year. If it's a bountiful year for Brazilian coffee beans, Brazil will ship coffee beans to the US ICE Exchange for inspection and storage. When Arabica coffee bean inventories at this exchange are sufficient, the prices of all Arabica coffee beans on the market will fall; conversely, they will rise.

Why Does Brazil Excel in Producing Arabica Coffee Beans?

Brazil's coffee cultivation history dates back to the 1720s, when Francisco de Mello Palheta, a Portuguese captain of Brazilian descent, won the favor of the governor's wife in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana at the time. He successfully brought coffee seeds from French Guiana to Brazilian soil, where coffee began to take root and flourish.

In the early days, coffee did not undergo large-scale production in Brazil and was mainly used for domestic sales. Later, due to the American Revolutionary War, Washington advocated changing from the original tea-drinking culture to coffee consumption, which significantly increased America's coffee imports. This also accelerated the expansion of coffee cultivation in Brazil. As coffee cultivation became increasingly economically profitable in Brazil, it became an important export crop, accounting for almost half of Brazil's total exports by 1850.

Brazil's geographical location is particularly special, with almost the entire country situated in tropical regions, which makes it very suitable for coffee cultivation. Most of Brazil consists of low-altitude flat land with distinct seasons, so coffee cherries typically mature around the same time, making unified harvesting very convenient. However, the disadvantage is that compared to other Central and South American coffee-producing regions, Brazil has lower altitudes and flatter terrain, making it difficult to form microclimates. Therefore, Brazilian coffee beans are not as hard in texture as other Central and South American coffee beans, nor do they have the refined, bright, and rich flavors of other Central and South American coffee beans. They are predominantly characterized by chocolate and nutty notes. However, this has not hindered people's love for Brazilian coffee beans.

Brazilian Coffee Bean Flavor Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee believes that Brazilian coffee beans are loved by so many people for two reasons: one is their high cost-performance ratio, and the other is that although the flavor is not particularly rich, the mellow and solid texture, along with the nutty flavor profile, makes one think of nut pies. Whether brewed directly as single-origin coffee beans or used as the main component in coffee blends, they are very suitable, being a coffee bean with mellow balance.

Brazilian Coffee Bean Growing Regions

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, the main regions currently producing Brazilian coffee beans include: Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia, and Espírito Santo. These four regions account for 90% of Brazil's total production, with Mogiana within São Paulo state being the most famous. However, the highest altitude region is not Mogiana, but Cerrado and South Minas in Minas Gerais.

FrontStreet Coffee currently offers two Brazilian coffee beans: one is a Yellow Bourbon coffee bean from Queen's Farm in Mogiana, São Paulo, and the other is a Red Bourbon coffee bean from the Cerrado region in Minas Gerais.

The Mogiana region is very close to South Minas. Coffee is grown among bushes, grasslands, and other vegetation. There are many farming families in this area, some of which adopt traditional large-scale farm operations, while others take small-scale modern approaches. Modern technology combined with mountain coffee cultivation culture has created the highest quality green coffee beans.

Brazil's Queen's Farm coffee is located in the Mogiana region at altitudes of 1400-1950 meters, covering 280 hectares, of which 200 hectares are planted with Yellow Bourbon variety. The unique geographical conditions and pleasant climate make this an ideal location for specialty coffee production.

Cerrado occupies a vast savanna covering 22% of Brazil's total area, deep in the Brazilian interior. The Cerrado coffee region referred to by FrontStreet Coffee is not the entire Cerrado savanna, but is limited to coffee-growing areas above 1000 meters altitude in the central-western part of Minas Gerais province, which can be called the Cerrado coffee region. This area represents the essence of the Cerrado savanna, with high altitudes and fertile soil, enabling the cultivation of specialty coffee beans with clear sweetness, high body, and high cleanliness.

Brazilian Coffee Bean Variety Characteristics

Red Bourbon Variety

Bourbon is a subspecies resulting from a Typica mutation, belonging to the same category as Typica as one of the oldest existing coffee varieties. When green fruits mature, they呈现 bright red. Compared to Typica, Bourbon plants have broader leaves and grow more densely. Although the fruit yield is higher than Typica, the harvest period is also 2 years, making it a low-yield variety. Through FrontStreet Coffee's cupping, it was found that Red Bourbon coffee has excellent texture, with wine-like acidity and sweet aftertaste.

Yellow Bourbon Variety

Yellow Bourbon is also a genetic mutation of Bourbon. Bourbon has long been considered a leader among coffees due to its high yield and good quality. Yellow Bourbon is a unique Bourbon variant from São Paulo state, Brazil. Unlike Red Bourbon, the coffee fruits turn orange-yellow when mature rather than red, hence the name Yellow Bourbon. Because Yellow Bourbon is grown at very high altitudes, its flavor is exceptional. Through FrontStreet Coffee's cupping, it was found that the flavor typically features nuts and chocolate, with balanced and smooth acidity, weak and clean bitterness, and an overall bright and refreshing character.

What is Pulped Natural Processing?

Friends who know about FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans must know that FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series mostly uses washed processing. Since the washed processing method involves removing the pulp and mucilage layer of coffee beans for fermentation, the resulting coffee flavor is cleaner. FrontStreet Coffee has also mentioned in previous articles that coffee flavor is usually related to variety, growing climate and environment, and processing method. Brazil's green bean processing method originated from local climate characteristics.

Brazil has a dry climate, theoretically very suitable for traditional natural processing. However, Brazil's individual batch production is extremely large, and rough natural processing can easily lead to negative flavors like earthiness. The cost of washed processing is higher, so Brazilians adapted to local conditions and invented a processing method between natural and washed - pulped natural processing (also called semi-washed processing). The harvested mature coffee cherries have their skin and pulp removed. Since the skin of unripe green cherries is not easily peeled off, this step allows for re-screening of defective beans, ensuring consistent maturity of coffee cherries. Finally, the parchment beans are spread flat on drying grounds until they reach appropriate moisture content, then sent for hulling and packaging. FrontStreet Coffee believes this processing method takes less time than traditional natural processing and saves considerable water resources compared to traditional washed processing.

How to Brew Brazilian Coffee?

No matter what method is used to extract coffee, using freshly roasted coffee beans is very important~ because only freshly roasted coffee beans can exhibit the best aroma and flavor layers. All coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are shipped within 5 days of roasting completion, ensuring 100% fresh grinding.

To highlight the mellow coffee texture of Brazilian coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee roasts them to a medium-dark level. The longer the roasting time, the more porous the coffee bean structure becomes, and the faster the release of coffee substances. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends adjusting the grind size coarser when brewing Mandheling coffee and avoiding too hot water to reduce extraction in the later stages and minimize bitterness.

FrontStreet Coffee Store Extraction Parameters

Filter: KONO

Dose: 15g

Water temperature: 89°C

Grind size: Medium grind, 75% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve

Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15

Bloom with 30g of water 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. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cone. (Timing starts from the beginning of blooming) The KONO filter cone has a slightly longer extraction time, with total extraction time of 2'10". (If using V60 filter cone for extraction, total extraction time is 2'00")

Brazilian Cerrado Coffee Bean Flavor

Obvious sweetness on entry, accompanied by faint lemon aroma, containing rich nutty flavors, with prominent dark chocolate flavor in the later stages. The overall experience is rather rounded.

Brazilian Queen's Farm Coffee Bean Flavor

Balanced mouthfeel, with almond and cocoa as the main notes, highlighting the sweetness of cane sugar. This is a coffee with good fullness and abundant sweetness.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473