What Are the Characteristics of São Paulo State Coffee? What Are Brazil's Renowned Coffee Estates?

Brazilian Coffee: The World's Coffee Powerhouse

Brazilian coffee beans are known for their full-bodied beans, mild aroma, and moderate, smooth flavors, representing neutral coffee that can be enjoyed as single-origin coffee extracted through pour-over methods, or blended with other coffee beans to make espresso. As a major coffee-producing country, approximately 45% of the world's raw coffee beans come from Brazil, holding a pivotal position in the entire coffee market. Any factors affecting Brazil's coffee production will have corresponding impacts on global coffee prices. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss this coffee powerhouse and explore what specialty coffee regions it has to offer.

South America: Ideal Coffee Growing Conditions

South America is the fourth largest continent by land area, possessing rich natural resources. The western part of South America features the Andes Mountains, while the eastern part mainly consists of plains and plateaus, with an average elevation of 600 meters across the continent. These mountains bring numerous volcanoes and rivers, and most of the continent has a tropical rainforest climate and tropical savanna climate—warm, humid, with abundant rainfall, with most areas receiving over 1000 millimeters of annual precipitation.

It is precisely due to these geographical features that this region has fertile volcanic soil and water resources, suitable climate, and abundant rainfall, making agriculture highly developed, especially the coffee industry. This has given rise to coffee powerhouses like Colombia, Brazil, and Costa Rica, with Brazil being the representative with the highest annual production.

Brazil's Coffee Growing Regions

Thanks to the country's geographical environment and climate, Brazil's coffee exports account for one-third of the global market. As the largest country in South America, Brazil is vast and rich in resources, with this land mainly divided into two parts: one part is the plateau region in the central-south, and the other part is the Amazon River basin in the north and west.

Coffee cultivation is mainly concentrated in the southwestern part of the country, where elevations mostly range from 600-800 meters. The eastern part of the plateau has high ridged mountains with an average elevation of 1000 meters, with some peaks exceeding 2000 meters. Additionally, this area has abundant land and water resources, with a mainly subtropical monsoon climate—mild, humid, with ample sunshine and abundant rainfall, making it more suitable for coffee growth.

Brazil is vast, divided into 26 states, with 17 states producing coffee, including both Arabica and Robusta coffee varieties. According to data, the four states of Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo account for 80% of the total production.

Minas Gerais: Brazil's Premier Coffee Region

Among them, Minas Gerais is one of Brazil's most famous coffee-producing regions. The state has abundant agricultural resources and currently accounts for 30% of Brazil's coffee production, with sub-regions including Cerrado and Sul de Minas under its jurisdiction.

FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series also includes this famous region. This entry-level selected Cerrado Red Bourbon coffee bean uses the Bourbon variety mainly grown in Brazil, processed with the semi-dry method. After brewing, it presents nut, peanut, and cocoa chocolate flavors, with low acidity and moderate body.

São Paulo: Home to Alta Mogiana

Additionally, São Paulo is also one of Brazil's famous coffee-producing regions. São Paulo has diverse terrain, with many rivers in coastal areas and mostly plateaus and basins inland. Due to the high elevation, the climate belongs to the tropical plateau climate, with mild weather and significant temperature differences between day and night, making agriculture and animal husbandry well-developed. São Paulo has the famous sub-region Alta Mogiana, which is one of Brazil's highest altitude coffee-growing areas, with cultivation elevations between 900-1100 meters, and the land here is rich in minerals, making it very suitable for cultivation.

Fazenda Rainha: The Queen Farm

Speaking of Alta Mogiana, one must mention the renowned Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm) in this region, owned by the representative local Brazilian coffee family Carvalho Dias family, known for growing premium Bourbon variety coffee. The farm places great emphasis on environmental protection, utilizing natural waterfalls for pollution-free hydroelectric power, maintaining original forests of native flora and fauna, and continuous reforestation. Due to the high altitude and non-plain terrain, coffee cherries are basically harvested by hand.

FrontStreet Coffee selects Yellow Bourbon coffee beans from São Paulo's Fazenda Rainha, processed with the natural method. During cupping, it presents the sweetness of mature fruits, with sugarcane, black tea, chocolate, and peanut nut flavors, a slight and clean bitterness, and a smooth and delicate mouthfeel. Due to the higher density and glucose content of Yellow Bourbon coffee beans grown at high altitudes, FrontStreet Coffee's roasting approach aims to highlight the classic rich aroma of Brazilian coffee, thus deciding to use medium-dark roasting, allowing everyone to experience the elegant character of Yellow Bourbon.

Coffee Details and Brewing Guide

FrontStreet Coffee: Brazilian Queen Farm Coffee Beans

Region: Brazil, Mogiana Region

Farm: Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm)

Altitude: 1400-1950 meters

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing: Natural

Flavor: Chocolate, nuts, cream, peanuts, caramel

Below, FrontStreet Coffee will brew this coffee. If you want to understand the taste of Brazilian coffee, you can refer to FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over approach.

Medium-roasted coffee significantly changes the internal structure of the beans, making them porous, and when ground into coffee powder, they have stronger water absorption. If brewing parameters are not adjusted properly, the coffee will easily be over-extracted and become bitter. To have enough aroma without over-extraction, it's necessary to reduce the extraction rate. FrontStreet Coffee will use lower water temperature and coarser grinding degree to reduce the release of bitter macromolecules in coffee. Combined with using a KONO filter for extraction, it enhances the coffee's body and roundness.

Pour-over parameters: 87-88°C water temperature, medium grind (70% pass-through rate with China standard #20 sieve), coffee powder: 15g, powder-to-water ratio 1:15, three-stage water injection.

Use twice the amount of coffee powder in water to wet the powder bed, forming a dome for 30 seconds of blooming, then use a small water stream to pour water from inside to outside in circles until 125g, then segment. Wait for the powder bed to drop to half the filter cup's position, then continue with the same fine water stream to inject the third stage to 225g, until all coffee liquid is filtered, then remove the filter cup. The time is about 2 minutes. Finally, shake the coffee liquid in the pot evenly to begin enjoying～

The pour-over Brazilian Queen Farm Yellow Bourbon coffee presents aromas of dark chocolate, cream, peanuts, and nuts. The entry is as refreshingly sweet as sugarcane, with balanced mouthfeel, bright flavors, and a long-lasting aftertaste in the mouth.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473