Flavor Profile of Brazil Queen Estate Coffee - Introduction to Characteristics of Brazilian Coffee Beans with Semi-Dry Processing Method

The Exceptional Brazilian Coffee from Queen's Farm

The coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's menu come from around the world, with one variety from Brazil's Queen's Farm enjoying particularly high popularity. This semi-sun-dried processed coffee bean offers distinct sweetness, and while its acidity may not be as bright as Kenyan or Ethiopian varieties, it represents a truly characteristic Brazilian coffee.

Brazil's Unique Coffee Terroir

If you frequently enjoy FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee beans and have some understanding of Brazilian coffee history, you'll discover that Brazil's coffee terrain is primarily divided into two parts. The coffee-growing regions in Brazil mainly feature two types of terrain: the Brazilian plateau with elevations above 500 meters, and the Brazilian plain below 200 meters. Combined with lower altitudes and abundant sunshine, Catuai variety coffee trees are typically directly exposed to open air. FrontStreet Coffee believes this exposure method plays a significant role in developing Brazil's unique flavor characteristics. Generally, the specialty coffee industry defines Arabica coffee cultivation altitude as 1200 meters, which Brazilian coffee doesn't meet, so you might wonder why FrontStreet Coffee offers this particular coffee bean.

Queen's Farm: A Legacy of Excellence

This Brazilian coffee bean that FrontStreet Coffee acquired comes from Queen's Farm, whose coffee beans won first place in Brazil's Cup of Excellence competition. Queen's Farm (Fazenda Rainha) belongs to the renowned and respected Carvalho Dias coffee family. The four major estates under Carvalho Dias have won awards every year since the first Brazil Cup of Excellence competition in 1999, accumulating over 12 awards in 7 years. In 2004, they even swept the championships, taking 1st, 9th, and 11th places. Many Brazilian estates, large and small, feel honored to participate in this competition, but Queen's Farm has consistently received these awards over many years, demonstrating that Queen's Farm's quality is exceptionally high compared to typical Brazilian coffee beans.

Crafting the Perfect Roast

This is one of the reasons why FrontStreet Coffee offers this Brazilian coffee bean. Before listing this coffee bean, FrontStreet Coffee conducted corresponding cupping and brewing experiments. When FrontStreet Coffee received these green Brazilian coffee beans, they found that the beans had low moisture content and a solid texture, which gives the beans strong heat absorption capabilities. Therefore, control during roasting time must be steady and not too rushed. To optimize its flavor expression and bring out its aroma, a medium roast was adopted.

The Art of Cupping

Typically, between eight to twenty-four hours after the coffee beans are roasted, FrontStreet Coffee conducts cupping of this coffee bean. FrontStreet Coffee's barista uses a 200ml standard cupping bowl, with a grind size that achieves 70%-75% pass-through on a #20 standard sieve, using 11.3g of coffee grounds and water temperature of 94°C. First, the coffee is ground for dry aroma assessment. The semi-sun-dried Brazilian coffee beans emit nutty aromas in their dry fragrance. Then water is added to fill the bowl for wet aroma confirmation. After 4 minutes, the crust is broken and removed for flavor evaluation. After this, pour-over brewing can begin!

Mastering the Three-Stage Pour-Over Technique

FrontStreet Coffee uses a three-stage method to brew this Brazilian coffee bean. First, 30 grams of hot water are used to thoroughly saturate the coffee grounds. The second water addition can begin when the electronic scale shows 30 seconds. Starting from the center, inject a small water stream to the bottom of the grounds layer. To concentrate the water's penetration power, keep the circular movement range small, then expand outward. During this process, try to control the water flow speed, avoiding fluctuations or interruptions. Too little water can result in incomplete saturation of the coffee grounds, leading to noticeable rough astringency in the mouthfeel and a short aftertaste; too much water can cause the hot water from the initial bloom stage to not extract sufficient coffee components, resulting in coffee with monotonous flavor characteristics, while the acidity from the early extraction becomes prominent, masking other flavors. FrontStreet Coffee believes that a stable water flow with circular motion can be done from inside to outside, outside to inside, or center injection diffusion - these pour-over techniques can be adjusted according to personal preference. For the third water addition, FrontStreet Coffee suggests carefully observing the water level drop and beginning the third infusion before the coffee bed becomes exposed. Again, start from the center with circular pouring, keeping the water level below the height of the grounds layer. Stop pouring at 1 minute 50 seconds, with filtration completing at 2 minutes.

Flavor Profile and Characteristics

The flavor presents distinct sweetness accompanied by subtle lemon aromas, containing rich nutty flavors with prominent dark chocolate notes in the finish. The overall experience is well-rounded - a coffee bean that represents the overall characteristics of Brazilian coffee while demonstrating its own unique vibrancy. This is ultimately why FrontStreet Coffee offers this Brazilian coffee bean.

Brazilian Coffee Varieties

Additionally, Brazil has numerous coffee cultivation varieties, with main Brazilian coffee bean varieties including Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, Mundo Novo, and Catuai. Yellow Catuai comes from a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Catuai, originally developed by Brazil's Agricultural Research Institute. Both Yellow Catuai and Red Catuai have extremely high disease resistance and are suitable for cultivation in high-altitude areas. Both varieties feature delicate, clean acidity.

Meticulous Harvesting and Processing

Queen's Farm still utilizes complete manual harvesting for coffee cherry picking, which is why the quality of coffee beans produced by Queen's Farm is exceptionally high. This Brazilian Queen's Farm coffee bean uses semi-sun-dried processing. Because Brazil's local climate conditions are relatively dry, they innovated the locally characteristic semi-sun-dried method to process green coffee beans. Semi-sun-dried processing can control the fermentation degree of the parchment coffee with mucilage after pulp removal. The semi-sun-dried processing method lacks the "tank fermentation, clean water rinsing" process of washed processing, and without this fermentation step, the coffee bean's flavor characteristics are completely different.

Brazilian Coffee Grading System

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Brazil's coffee grading system differs from Kenya's method of classifying coffee beans by size. Of course, because Brazil's altitude is relatively low, it's also not suitable to adopt Colombia's method of grading by altitude. Brazil grades its coffee beans based on four criteria: bean size, defect rate, cupping score, and flavor.

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