How to Savor Daterra Estate's Sweet Collection Pour-Over Coffee: A Guide to Brewing Brazilian Pour-Over Coffee

The Journey of Daterra Estate Coffee from Brazil

Daterra Estate lies in the Cerrado region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, at an average altitude of 1,150 meters. A stable climate of 25 degrees Celsius and shade-grown cultivation under rainforest conditions make it possible to produce high-quality Arabica beans.

Founded in 1974, Daterra is one of Brazil's largest coffee producers, covering 6,500 hectares. It is not a single estate but five major areas, each further divided into 88 small plots, covering more than 6,000 hectares, with over 2,500 hectares set aside for protection.

Although Brazil produces large quantities of commercial coffee, Daterra is split into more than 200 mini-estates at an altitude of 1,100 meters, further subdivided into over 2,800 blocks. Each is classified and managed individually, and a sophisticated system combines specially developed software and equipment to monitor rainfall, temperature, harvest data, and more via satellite positioning. That work earned the estate ISO14001 certification. From planting to harvesting, sorting, and transport, every step is methodically carried out to select high-quality premium coffee.

With an annual output of up to 14,000 tons and roughly 15 million coffee trees, the estate also preserves 150,000 native trees. Beyond its excellent growing conditions, its emphasis on rainforest, water resources, ecological protection, and labor rights has earned its coffee certification from four international organizations:

ISO14001 - Environmental Management System certification; IBD Organic certification; UTZ Kapeh Good Coffee certification; Rainforest Alliance - Sustainable Agriculture Network Seal certification.

Bean Processing

Cultivation

Contrary to what many people assume, the production area is not large. In fact, the coffee growing area is a series of small farms: more precisely, Daterra's coffee area is divided into 216 small farms of only 5 to 15 hectares each. Every one is tracked in a GPS-based system, so all the history and information about each small area is known as if it were a single-plantation plot in a farmer's backyard.

Harvesting

Each cherry is harvested individually according to its optimal maturity. That timing is determined by cupping the coffee repeatedly as needed before harvest, until the coffee reaches its optimal ripeness point.

Separation

These fine cherries must be separated and sorted to produce the best beans. They are selected by natural ripeness stage using a new and unique technology that directs each cherry individually to the maturity group it belongs to. This was a process of 10 years of design, development, and construction.

Drying

The beans are precisely dried to the appropriate moisture level, then brought to wooden silos to rest for more than 40 days, softening the flavor and highlighting all the positive characteristics that will later be found in the cup.

Sorting

All minor defects are removed through a complex sorting process, from screen size and modern density separation to a set of 5 electronic sorters. These classifiers use different, complementary optical sorting systems to minimize defects to the lowest possible level. The result is a very clean, pure batch containing only the most perfect beans, produced with great care.

Packaging

PunaPACK is an excellent green coffee package. It consists of a cardboard box containing two plastic bags, filled under vacuum with inert gas. Each bag weighs 12.10kg / 26 pounds, and the total box weight is 24.2kg / 53.25 pounds. It is easy to handle and has proven capable of preserving, and in some cases even improving, coffee quality for more than 3 years of storage. PunaPACK, developed by DeDela, is internationally patented.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameter Recommendations:

How to Brew Brazilian Coffee [Daterra Estate Sweet Collection] Well?

FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over reference: weigh 15g of [Daterra Estate Sweet Collection] coffee powder and grind medium. The particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use BG grinder setting 6A (50% standard sieve pass rate), water temperature 88°C, and a Kono or Kalita dripper, with a recommended coffee-to-water ratio of about 1:14.

Pour hot water from the kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Start timing when brewing begins. Within 15 seconds, brew the coffee to 30g, then stop pouring. At 1 minute, pour a second time. The second pour follows the same pattern, clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper, avoiding the area where the coffee powder meets the filter paper to prevent channeling.

Leave one circle at the outermost edge of the coffee powder, then brew circle by circle toward the center. By 2 minutes and 10 seconds, the coffee should be brewed to 210g, completing the brew.

Japanese-style Iced Pour-over [Daterra Estate Sweet Collection]

FrontStreet Coffee's iced pour-over [Daterra Estate Sweet Collection] reference:

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

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

Bloom water amount 40g, bloom time 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: first segment 60g water, second segment 40g water. Use a relatively fine but high pouring column and a forceful stir to make the coffee powder roll fully, but be careful not to let the liquid level get too high or pour on the edge filter paper.

The entire extraction time is approximately 2.5 minutes, similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of powder.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a taste of Brazil in the same easygoing style as Daterra, FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a solid choice. This classic single origin from the renowned Cerrado region is a Red Bourbon roasted medium, with creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut aromas, a round body, low acidity, and a mild bitterness. Beyond pour-over, it works in a Moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon, or in a French press.

For a sweeter, rarer cup, FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon grows in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil. The uncommon Yellow Bourbon variety gives a cleaner fruit character and a sugarcane-like sweetness that few other regions can match, alongside fruit and chocolate notes. It performs well as pour-over, Moka pot, or home espresso.

Both coffees take milk gracefully, so they suit a latte just as well as a black cup.