African Coffee Prices Surge Significantly

African Coffee Prices Surge on Tight Global Supply

Adverse weather in Brazil, the world's largest coffee-producing country, has cut its output and created a supply shortage on the international market. On February 5, the auction price for 50 kg bags of coffee at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange in Kenya climbed to $208, a 19.5% jump from $174 the previous week. The move reversed the downward trend in coffee auction prices that had been running since last year.

Kenya currently produces approximately 50,000 tons of coffee a year, and 90% of that is exported to generate foreign exchange. Because so much of the crop is sold abroad, Kenya's auction floor is closely watched as a signal of how the wider market is absorbing a shortfall from Brazil, and the sharp week-on-week gain shows how quickly tight supply can be priced in at origin.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

When supply from Brazil tightens, the effect is felt everywhere, because Brazil is not only the largest producer but also the backbone of most espresso recipes, and that is exactly the role Brazilian beans play at FrontStreet Coffee. Brazilian coffee carries moderate acidity and a fine balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body, which is why it works so well at a medium roast, where the nutty aroma comes forward and the cup stays smooth with a light acidity and a mild bitter note. It can be served as a single origin or used in a blend.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is the classic Brazilian single origin. Cerrado is a well-known region for high-quality coffee, and this lot is a Red Bourbon, the common South American variety, processed as a pulped natural, or half-washed, coffee. At a medium roast it shows cream, peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut aromas, with a rounded body that is not sour and carries a slight bitterness; it works as pour-over, in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon, or in a French press, which makes it a genuinely versatile bag. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate is the step up: it comes from Mogiana, near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries take up abundant nutrients and develop a full aroma, and the estate grows the rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon that gives a cleaner fruit character. Through pour-over, a moka pot, or a home espresso machine, the Queen Estate shows a sugarcane sweetness that other regions do not have, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

Brazilian beans are also the foundation of FrontStreet Coffee's espresso lineup. Their low acidity, balanced profile, and friendly price make them the first choice in many specialty espresso recipes, and Brazilian coffee appears in the Classic Blend with its rich crema, the nut-forward Specialty Blend, the balanced Dark Cocoa Blend, and FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend built for cafés opening their doors. Adding Brazilian beans supplies chocolate and cream aroma and a soft sweet-sour-bitter balance, and that even keel is what keeps extraction stable from one shot to the next.