Yellow Bourbon vs Red Bourbon Coffee Beans: Flavor Profile Differences and Brazilian Coffee Origin Stories

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

Although many people say that Brazilian beans have massive production but very ordinary quality, suitable only for canned beans and as a base for commercial coffee blends, in recent years Brazilians have increasingly focused on cultivating specialty beans, and high-quality yellow Bourbon has emerged as a result. In recent cupping competitions, yellow Bourbon has consistently achieved impressive results.

In summary, if you are a coffee enthusiast who has a special preference for bold-flavored coffee, then Brazilian yellow Bourbon coffee will be an excellent choice for you.

The Brazilian yellow Bourbon coffee from FrontStreet Coffee in Guangzhou brought such irresistible joy and curiosity to taste that we couldn't wait despite it being past 8 PM, so we conducted what seemed like a rather "formal" cupping session. Using 80°C water temperature, 15g of coffee ground to French press fineness, and 150ml of water, the flavor is renowned for its sweetness, making it very suitable for use in espresso blends to enhance the coffee's sweetness and aftertaste.

Bourbon is actually a coffee variety, a type of Arabica coffee bean. The name "Bourbon" comes from a place name - a French overseas department, an island in the Indian Ocean, which is how Bourbon coffee got its name. Today, this island is no longer called "Bourbon" but has been renamed Réunion Island, yet the coffee name continues to be used to this day.

Yellow Bourbon, as its name suggests, has golden-colored coffee cherries that look very appealing, making it an important variety of Brazilian specialty coffee.

Brazilian Yellow Bourbon Coffee

Country: Brazil

Grade: COE

Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Estate: Fazenda Rainha (Queen's Farm)

Flavor: Lemon, sugarcane, black tea, smooth and delicate

This estate-level yellow Bourbon from Brazil's Fazenda Rainha offers full, mature sweetness with rich fruity notes and a persistent aftertaste that leaves everyone singing its praises. Whether brewed in an American coffee maker or used as the main sweet component in espresso blends, it satisfies professional experts and is considered a must-have on their purchasing list!

Yellow Bourbon beans are naturally sweet and clean. Using the pulped natural processing method (or semi-washed) brings out a slightly brighter acidity while maintaining tropical fruit aromas. The pervasive aroma during brewing is particularly captivating.

Fazenda Rainha - The 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, with over 12 awards in 7 years. In 2004, they even swept the championship, 9th place, 11th place, and more. Many Brazilian estates, large and small, have yearned to qualify for awards over the years but found it difficult to achieve, yet this family's estates have won multiple awards year after year. Fazenda Rainha, for example, also boasts an impressive record: 2nd place in 2000, 3rd place in 2001, 29th place in 2005, and to date, Fazenda Rainha has won awards three times.

The Carvalho Dias family is also a founding member of the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association, and their commitment to coffee quality and environmental protection is evident to all. Within their family farms, they utilize natural waterfalls to develop pollution-free hydroelectric power, becoming self-sufficient in electricity needs (another award-winning estate in the family is named after this waterfall - Cascata Farm). They have built churches, classrooms, nurseries, medical stations, and insist on maintaining original native forests and continuous reforestation. Taking Fazenda Rainha as an example, environmental protection is quite thorough. Due to the higher terrain and non-flat topography, machines cannot be used for harvesting - all fruits are picked entirely by hand. They also cultivate low-yield, high-quality Bourbon varieties, making it a representative estate of premium Brazilian coffee!

Fazenda Rainha's Coffee Processing System

Ripe cherries are hand-picked into cloth bags to avoid falling and touching the ground. Coffee cherries harvested on the same day must be sent to the estate's processing facility for pulped natural processing on the same day. Using hand-picking and cloth bags for post-harvest collection prevents earthy flavors and any improper fermentation. When these harvested coffee cherries arrive at the processing facility, they immediately undergo "washing": the coffee cherries are cleaned, and unqualified or dried fruits (bóia beans) are filtered out based on bean size. The qualified beans that pass screening continue to the depulping process (using a pulper machine).

After depulping, the coffee beans still have some mucilage attached to the parchment skin. At this point, these coffee beans with mucilage are placed on patios to dry until the moisture content drops to about 20%. This stage allows the coffee beans to absorb their own starch components while avoiding the disadvantages of fully natural processing where drying process flavors cannot be controlled. These residual mucilage starch components provide a special sweetness without becoming uncontrolled off-fruit flavors or musty tastes.

Afterward, they are sent to drying machines for final drying, reducing moisture content to 11% before being transported to storage for resting. Before export, they are hulled and graded. This segmented pulped natural processing method is one of the main reasons for Fazenda Rainha's consistent flavor profile. Of course, insisting on using Bourbon varieties is another reason why their flavor enjoys such high reputation!

FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Fazenda Rainha

Country: Brazil | Region: Mogiana (Fazenda Rainha)

Estate Name: Fazenda Rainha (Queen's Farm)

Owner: Regina Helena Mello de Carvalho Dias, belonging to the Carvalho Dias family

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Altitude: 1400-1950m

Processing Method: Pulped Natural

Flavor: The beans are naturally sweet and clean. Using pulped natural processing brings out slightly brighter acidity that harmonizes beautifully with sweetness, with some exhibiting tropical fruit aromas. The pervasive aroma during brewing is particularly captivating. Delicate lemon acidity, fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice, black tea notes, and a smooth, delicate mouthfeel.

Related Knowledge

The Cup of Excellence (COE) program and trademark are currently owned and managed by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), a non-profit organization based in the United States. Each year, ACE collaborates with COE competition host countries to complete specialty coffee cupping selection and online auctions, while also recommending and promoting anything related to coffee quality improvement. The goal is to select exemplary specialty coffees in host countries and exchange experiences for industry learning.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Parameters for Brazilian Yellow Bourbon Coffee

Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-over

Grind Size: 4 (Fuji R440)

Water Temperature: 86-88°C

Dripper: V60/KONO

Dry Aroma: Roasted hazelnut, spices

Flavor: Slight fruit acidity, nuts, creamy peanuts, chocolate sweetness, full body

FrontStreet Coffee compared Brazilian yellow Bourbon coffee brewed with both V60 and KONO drippers and found that the V60 produced a slightly lighter body with soft fruit acidity and an overall cleaner profile, while the KONO produced a fuller body with heavier sweetness.

END

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473