How Does Pour-Over Coffee from Fazenda Verôso in Santos, Brazil Taste? How to Make Santos Pour-Over Coffee

Brazil Coffee - Minas Veracruz Red Cherry NY.2

Only 100% ripe red cherries are picked.

The estate is located in southeastern Brazil, in the heart of Minas Gerais state, one of the country's three major coffee-producing regions, and has been producing coffee since the 19th century. Minas Gerais is renowned for its professional cultivation, processing techniques, and excellent quality. On top of that, a high altitude above 1100 meters, an average temperature above 21°C, and annual rainfall of 1800-2000mm provide the superior geography and excellent climate that premium coffee requires. Because of these characteristics, the raw beans from this region have a sweet, slightly acidic flavor with a distinctive nutty aroma.

For the processing of this Brazilian bean, I chose the full natural sun-drying method to bring out the fruity notes and wine-like fermentation aroma more fully. Light roasting releases the tropical fruit tones I am after while ensuring complete caramelization - and complete caramelization brings creamy nut and almond flavors to the coffee.

This is a coffee I highly recommend for women, thanks to its beautiful name and fruity aroma. Even more precious is how strict the fruit-picking requirements are: the cherries can only be picked once 100% of them have turned red, shining like rubies. The Veracruz flavor profile is best understood as preserving its soft acidity and its nutty, barley aroma, avoiding an overly heavy mouthfeel, and keeping a friendly temperament.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameter Recommendations:

How to properly brew Brazilian coffee [Santo Veracruz Estate]?

FrontStreet Coffee hand-pour reference: weigh 15g of [Santo Veracruz Estate] coffee powder and pour it into a grinder for a medium grind. The ground particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder at setting 6A (50% standard sieve pass rate), a water temperature of 88°C, and a Kono or Kalita dripper for extraction. The recommended coffee-to-water ratio is around 1:14.

Pour the hot water from the pour-over kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the filter cup. Start timing when brewing begins. Within 15 seconds, brew the coffee to 30g, then stop pouring. When the time reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour. As before, pour in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the filter cup. The water stream should not hit the area where the coffee powder meets the filter paper, to avoid a channeling effect.

When pouring toward the outermost circle of coffee powder, leave one circle unwatered, then pour circle by circle back toward the center. At 2 minutes and 10 seconds, brew the coffee to 210g to complete the brewing process.

Japanese-style Ice Hand Pour [Santo Veracruz Estate]

FrontStreet Coffee ice hand-pour reference for [Santo Veracruz Estate]:

Brazilian coffee [Santo Veracruz Estate], medium-dark roast, BG grinder at setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate).

20g coffee powder, 150g ice cubes, 150g hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal hand-pour recommendation of 88°C. The normal grind with the small Fuji is a 3.5 setting, while the ice hand pour uses a slightly finer half-setting - small Fuji at 3. The recommended coffee-to-(water+ice) ratio is 1:15.

Bloom water amount 40g, bloom time 30 seconds.

Pour in segments: a first segment of 60g water and a second segment of 40g water. Use a relatively fine but tall water column for forceful stirring and impact, to fully tumble the coffee powder. Be careful, though, to keep the liquid level from rising too high and to avoid hitting the edge filter paper.

The entire extraction takes approximately 2.5 minutes (similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of powder).

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this Minas Veracruz Red Cherry appeals to you, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian single origins offer the same gentle, low-acid, unmistakably Brazilian character. The FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic daily bean from the famous Cerrado region, roasted medium to bring out creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut aromas with a rounded, barely sour cup and a whisper of bitterness. It is just as happy in a pour-over as it is in a moka pot, a siphon, a French press, or an espresso machine.

For a little more sweetness and finesse, try the FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate, a rare Yellow Bourbon grown in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil. Hand-poured or brewed in a moka pot or home espresso machine, it shows the clean sugarcane sweetness few other regions can match, along with fruit and chocolate notes - and it pours a beautifully thick, smooth body.