Brazilian Pulped Natural | Mogiana Region | Fazenda Recrieo/Amusement Park Estate | Yellow Bourbon

Coffee is a craft best learned by tasting widely and comparing notes with other drinkers.

Fazenda Recrieo | Yellow Bourbon

Origin: Brazil

Region: Media Mogiana

Estate: Fazenda Recrieo

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing: Pulped Natural (Brazilian semi-washed)

Altitude: 1,100-1,300m

Flavor: Citrus, Cream, Hazelnut

Brazilian Coffee at a Glance

Brazilian coffee comes in a great many varieties. Like other Arabica coffees, the vast majority of Brazilian coffee is not washed but sun-dried, and beans are classified by their state of origin and by shipping port. Brazil has 21 states, 17 of which grow coffee, but five states account for 98% of national production: Parana, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, and Bahia. Parana in the south is the most productive of them, contributing 50% of the total.

Brazilian coffee is typically low in acidity, rich in oils, and full in body, and it suits medium and Italian roasting as a blend component. Brazil is the "giant" and the "monarch" of the coffee world - the largest producing country, home to roughly 39.7 billion coffee trees. Small farmers now account for 75% of Brazilian production, and the number of people working in Brazilian coffee is two to three times that of Colombia, the world's third-largest producer. Brazilian coffee generally grows on fairly flat land; to suit those conditions, estate owners developed improved Arabica trees decades ago that need neither high altitude nor shade and can be planted on plains or grassland in direct sun, unlike traditional high-altitude shade cultivation.

Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm)

Fazenda Rainha - Queen Farm - lies in the Alta Mogiana region of Sao Paulo state, north of the city of Sao Paulo. The estate is well known in Brazil and belongs to the Carvalho Dias family. The family holds four major estates that have won awards every year since the first Brazil Cup of Excellence in 1999, taking more than 12 wins in 7 years. In 2004 they swept the field, finishing 1st, 9th, and 11th. Estates large and small across Brazil have chased those awards for years with little luck; this family's four estates have collected them year after year.

Fazenda Rainha's own record is impressive: 2nd place in 2000, 3rd place in 2001, and 29th place in 2005 - three awards to date. Yellow Bourbon is naturally sweet and clean. Using the natural, or semi-natural, method trims its acidity slightly while combining well with that sweetness to create tropical fruit aromas.

The Carvalho Dias family is a founding member of the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association, and its commitment to quality and to the environment is plain to see. On the family farms, natural waterfalls drive pollution-free hydroelectric power that meets their electricity needs on their own - another of their award-winning estates is named after that waterfall, Waterfall Estate. They have built churches, classrooms, nurseries, and medical stations, and they insist on preserving original forest with its native plants and animals as well as replanting continuously. Take Fazenda Rainha: environmental protection there is thorough. Because the altitude is higher and the terrain uneven, machines cannot harvest the crop - every cherry is picked by hand. They grow low-yield, high-quality Bourbon, the essence of premium Brazilian coffee. This batch of Fazenda Rainha belongs to the Carvalho Dias family, and the estate has been in operation for over 116 years. It sits in the mountains of Sao Paulo state near the Minas border, at altitudes reaching 1,200 to 1,400 meters, with abundant annual rainfall of more than 1,800mm - enough to keep the trees supplied without causing flooding - and an average annual temperature of only 19°C. The fruit therefore ripens a little more slowly but gains density. The yield is smaller, yet the aroma and flavor are beyond what ordinary Brazilian highland beans can offer. The estate grows mainly Bourbon, and it still has Bourbon trees over 110 years old. Alongside the variety, Fazenda Rainha's meticulous, careful processing is the other key to its quality.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a direct comparison with this Mogiana lot, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen's Estate is the obvious place to start. It too comes from Mogiana, close to the South Minas border, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the fruit take up plenty of nutrients and build a full aroma. The variety is the rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon that gives a cleaner fruit profile. Brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot, or on a home espresso machine, it shows the sugarcane sweetness you simply do not find in other regions, alongside fruit and chocolate notes.

For the classic Cerrado side of Brazil, FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado Red Bourbon is a pulped natural - the same semi-washed family as the lot above. Roasted medium, it opens with cream peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut. The body is round, the acidity low, and a light bitterness keeps the cup from feeling flat. It is comfortable in a pour-over, a moka pot, an espresso SOE, a siphon, or a French press.

If you would rather drink Brazil in a blend, FrontStreet Coffee's espresso range leans on it heavily: the Classic Blend for its abundant crema, the Specialty Blend for a pronounced nut character, and the Dark Cocoa and Commercial blends all include Brazilian beans, which supply chocolate and cream aromas and a soft, balanced sweet-bitter structure that keeps extraction stable.