Brazil Black Coffee | Cerrado Region | Sami Boy Yellow Bourbon PB Peaberry

FrontStreet Coffee Geisha 2018 | Panama La Esmeralda Estate | Red Label Natural | Blue Label Washed | Green Label Natural

Origin Information

Country: Brazil

Region: Santo Antônio do Amparo, the southern part of Minas, State of Minas Gerais

Estate Name: Fazenda Samambaia (nicknamed "Sammy Boy")

Owner: Dias Cambraia

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Grade: Peaberry

Processing Method: Hand-picked, then Pulped Natural processing

Cupping Report

Roasting time: 12 minutes

Dry Aroma: Sweet fragrance, almond nuts, berry acidity, oily aroma

Wet Aroma: Brown sugar, caramel, nuts, fruit oiliness, creamy sweetness

Slurping: Obvious sweetness on entry, thick body with distinct oiliness after swallowing. Spice notes and Japanese brown rice flavor remain clear. Bright acidity on both sides of the tongue that turns gentle in the middle. Diverse flavors including almond, nuts, peaches, and plums. As the cup cools, a cool fragrance comes forward, with almond sweetness, milk fragrance, and tea aroma alternating.

After winning its reputation, Fazenda Samambaia earned a permanent place on the fixed bean menus of several renowned specialty shops. Widely adopted by celebrities in espresso recipes, it became a reference point for baristas in multiple countries and won multiple NB (National Body) awards. Reportedly, during the 2007 WBC national competitions, many competing shops chose this coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee affectionately calls Fazenda Samambaia "Sammy Boy." The Travel and Adventure Channel's "Living Coffee" program - hosted by Paul Bassett, the 2003 WBC World Champion - mentioned Yellow Bourbon as an espresso variety, and George Howell, a towering figure in specialty coffee, lists it on his bean menu as well. Since Oscher promoted Yellow Bourbon last year, this Sammy Boy Yellow Bourbon was imported for the first time in March and caused a genuine sensation. At the recently concluded Tokyo WBC competition, it was equally clear that Yellow Bourbon had become an important option for Brazilian beans in espresso recipes.

Yellow Bourbon from Brazilian estates delivers full, mature sweetness, rich fruit and red wine notes, and a persistent aftertaste. Whether brewed American-style or used as espresso base, it satisfies the professionals - who list it as a must-buy on their menus! Since late last year, Oscher has cupped over twenty Yellow Bourbon varieties, and this batch of Sammy Boy Peaberry is the third wave of the year!

Yellow Bourbon beans are naturally sweet and clean. Pulped Natural (semi-washed) processing gives them a bright acidity that balances harmoniously with that sweetness, and some lots even show fruit and red wine aromas. The overflowing fragrance during brewing only adds to their appeal.

This Sammy Boy Yellow Bourbon (Fazenda Samambaia) belongs to the Dias Cambraia coffee family, which is dedicated to continuous improvement and innovation. The farm sits in the privileged microclimate of southern Minas Gerais at an altitude above 1,200 meters, where the average annual temperature does not exceed 21°C and daily temperature swings exceed 10 degrees between morning and evening - conditions that make specialty coffee possible here.

Fazenda Samambaia also enjoys a remarkable geographic advantage: it lies in an area regulated by two major rivers, in the watershed between the Great River (locally "Big River") flowing south and the San Francisco River flowing northeast. The microclimate these two rivers create often wraps the coffee in mist as it grows, but the mist lifts during the dry winter, letting cherries build sweetness and maturity with more sunlight. Sun-drying needs sunlight too, so the local climate is not only superb for growing fine coffee but also provides ideal post-harvest conditions. As a result, the region has developed three or even four processing methods - natural, pulped natural, washed, and semi-washed - a rarity in other countries!

Excellent geography and climate, combined with a diligent, united human effort, have nurtured a growth-oriented coffee culture. According to the estate's General Manager Henrique Dias Cambraia, even during his nearly year-long study abroad in the United States, the estate team kept progressing, achieving remarkable quality and excellent environmental stewardship. He attributes the estate's success - beyond superior geography - to three specific points:

(1) The Dias Cambraia family retained IBC technical expert Dr. Figueiredo as a consultant for over 10 years, with the goal of rooting technical improvement across cultivation, processing, quality improvement, and staff education. Dr. Figueiredo - Agronomist Josué Pereira de Figueiredo, Ph.D. - is himself a coffee agronomy expert whose own farm ranked in the top 10 of the second CoE! He also serves as Technical Coordination Specialist for the Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC).

An active participant in the Association of Coffee Producers of Southern Minas Gerais (Sulminas-Café), Henrique Dias Cambraia freely shared his estate management experience and techniques with the association - and was later elected its president. He and the 20 coffee producers under this association hold significant positions in Brazil's specialty coffee industry!

Most large Brazilian farms harvest by machine, but this refined estate picks mature cherries by hand and carries them in woven containers. After picking, nets are used to manually remove impurities - the very scene depicted in those decorative Brazilian copper pieces showing women sorting coffee cherries!

Cherries harvested on any given day go to the processing plant that same day for pulped natural processing. Hand-picking and woven containers prevent earthy flavors and any improper fermentation. On arrival, the cherries undergo receiving and cleaning - washed clean, with unqualified or dried fruits (bóia beans) filtered out - before passing to the pulper machine.

After the pulp is removed, a mucilage layer still clings to the parchment. The mucilage-coated beans are then laid out on terraces for sun-drying to reduce moisture. In this stage the beans absorb their own starch components but avoid the uncontrolled off-flavors that full natural processing can produce: the residual mucilage lends special sweetness without slipping into fermented or moldy notes. Once moisture approaches the set target, the beans move into specially designed wooden containers for 60 days of storage to stabilize slowly and mature!

Sammy Boy's unique high altitude and wide daily temperature swings create an aroma profile quite unlike other Yellow Bourbon plantations. When the cupping results were revealed, many experts were surprised - some even took it for a milder volcanic bean from Africa or Central America!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If one variety has rewritten the modern coffee story, it is Geisha - translated from the English "Geisha," one of the most beloved Arabica varieties, prized for its unique florals and superb sweet-sour acidity, and priced accordingly: low yields, weak disease resistance, and demanding cultivation keep it scarce. FrontStreet Coffee carries the full spectrum. From Panama's famous Esmeralda Estate, whose Geisha stunned BOP judges in 2003 with an average cupping score of 94.6 - breaking the competition's record - the Red Label "Esmeralda Special" grows at 1600-1800 m and must score above 90 points per batch, with each batch from a single micro-lot (FrontStreet Coffee's Red Label comes from the Jaramillo plot); the Green Label "Private Collection" blends batches across plots at a friendlier price without losing the estate's signature high-altitude character. For a first taste of classic Panama Geisha - orange-blossom honey, oolong-tea texture, delicate fruit acidity - the entry-level FrontStreet Coffee Boquete Geisha is the budget-friendly pick.

Ethiopia, Geisha's birthplace, offers its own versions. The 475-hectare Gesha Village Estate, founded just 12 miles from the Gori Gesha forest, grows three varieties (Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, Illubabor Forest) under a strict grading system: the Gold Label (Gesha 1931, 10% of production, refined natural) sits at the top; the Red Label (Gori Gesha, 15% of production, SCA 88+ single-terroir with full traceability) follows; the entry-level FrontStreet Coffee Genlana Gesha - natural-dried 14-20 days on raised beds at a processing station established in 2014 by Israel Degefa, roasted medium-light - shows bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger-flower aroma, and ripe-fruit sweetness.

For brewing Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a medium-light roast, a coarse grind (78% pass-through on a China #20 sieve, about fine-sugar texture), 91°C water, and a 1:16 ratio in three pours on a small Hario V60: 30g bloom for 30 seconds, then to 125g, then to 225g, finishing in roughly 2:10-2:20. Geisha also shines as SOE: the medium-roast Genlana Gesha SOE pulls at 20g in, 1:2, 25 seconds for 40g - apricot, caramel, and nuts in the shot, with orange, nuts, and blueberry when diluted 1:5 into a 200g Americano, or creamy cookie smoothness with 200g of milk as a latte. And for everyday value, the FrontStreet Coffee "Strawberry Candy" blend pairs Costa Rica honey-processed coffee with Panama Geisha character - delicate florals and sweet fruit for pour-over, moka pot, espresso, or even cold brew (30g coffee at a 1:12 ratio with 360g water, steeped 8 hours refrigerated, then matured 3 more hours; grape juice, rose, sweet orange, and fruit-wine flavors).