Brazilian Coffee Beans: Why Are They Inexpensive? A Flavor Profile Introduction

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Brazilian Coffee

Brazil's annual coffee production accounts for about one-third of the global total, making it the world's largest coffee producer and exporter to this day. In 2015 Brazil produced a total of 36.89 million bags of coffee, at 60 kg per bag. Imagine how many cups that could make.

The country's output and market trends directly affect international coffee prices. Put another way, a drought in Brazil pushes global coffee prices up. Such enormous production has led many coffee lovers to assume that Brazil focuses only on quantity rather than quality, which makes it hard for Brazilian producers to promote their beans.

Many businesses buy Brazilian commercial beans for espresso blends, and that is perfectly reasonable. What is worth knowing, though, is that Brazil also produces many specialty beans continuously. Brazilian single-origin coffees are not only abundant but high in quality and distinctive in flavor. Typically, Brazilian coffee shows rich caramel and chocolate flavors, with noticeable sweetness and low acidity. That low acidity sometimes makes people underestimate it. Taste carefully, though, and you will be pleasantly surprised by how good it is.

Most Brazilian coffee is processed naturally (the dry method) or semi-washed. Natural processing means drying the cherries directly, skins and pulp intact, after harvest. This method enhances the body, sweetness, smoothness and flavor diversity of the beans. Brazil's low rainfall and long sunshine hours make it well suited to natural processing.

In Brief

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research specialty store that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation, simply to help more friends fall in love with coffee. We also hold three high-discount coffee events every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants more people to enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price. This has been our mission for the past six years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want a gentle first step into Brazilian flavor, FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic single-origin pick. Semi-washed and medium-roasted, it brings creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut aromas, a round body, low acidity and a light bitter note. It is just as easy in a pour-over as it is in a moka pot, an espresso SOE, a siphon or a French press.

For a more unusual Brazil, FrontStreet Coffee's Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana, near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries develop a full aroma. A rare yellow Bourbon mutated from Red Bourbon, it shows a cleaner fruit quality and, whether you brew it as a pour-over, in a moka pot or on a home espresso machine, brings a sugarcane sweetness along with fruit and chocolate notes that other origins rarely offer.

Brazil is also the backbone of many FrontStreet Coffee espresso recipes. Its low acidity, balanced body and approachable price make it a first choice for classic blends, and the chocolate and cream aromas plus the soft sweet-bitter taste it contributes help keep extraction stable. The Classic Blend, the Specialty Blend and FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend all include Brazilian beans.