Characteristics and Aroma Description of Brazilian Cerrado Coffee Beans: Who Introduced Brazilian Coffee Seeds and From Where?

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Recently, there have been frequent news reports about coffee market prices, and the vast majority of these reports often mention one producing country—Brazil. Brazil's coffee production has ranked first in the world since 1960. When FrontStreet Coffee was compiling information on coffee production from various countries, it found that the Brazilian government's food supply and statistics agency, Conab, announced that Brazil's total coffee bean production in 2021 was 46.88 million bags (60 kg per bag). This data comes after Brazil experienced a once-in-a-century drought and severe frost in coffee-producing regions, which led to a significant decline in production.

The History of Brazilian Coffee

When FrontStreet Coffee was reviewing the history of coffee spread, it discovered that although Brazil now consistently ranks first in world coffee production, nearly 300 years ago, there wasn't a single coffee plant on this land. Brazil's significant contribution to the coffee industry today is attributed to a Portuguese officer named Francisco de Melo Palheta. This Portuguese officer, while on a diplomatic mission to French Guiana, became acquainted with the local governor's wife, and the two actually fell in love. When the Portuguese officer was about to return to Brazil, the governor's wife gave him a bouquet of flowers with coffee seeds hidden inside. After returning to Brazil, the Portuguese officer planted the coffee seeds. Due to Brazil's favorable climate for coffee plant growth, coffee trees were able to adapt to the Brazilian environment in a very short time and spread southward.

By the 1830s, Brazil's coffee bean production reached 30% of global coffee production; by the 1840s, it reached 40% of global coffee production. By the 1920s, Brazil's coffee production already accounted for 80% of global coffee production. At that time, Brazil's main coffee export destination was the United States to the north. With the onset of the Great Depression in America, Brazil's coffee prices depreciated by nearly 90%. Since Americans at that time lacked the economic capacity to import Brazilian coffee, coffee inventories in Brazilian warehouses surged, and prices fell repeatedly. To rectify the coffee price market, Brazilian authorities decided to burn billions of pounds of coffee beans.

Brazilian Coffee Bean Grades

On the market, we often see designations like Kenya AA, Yirgacheffe G1, Blue Mountain No. 1, etc. FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned in many articles related to origins that these are the producing countries' expressions for green coffee bean grades. However, why haven't we seen designations like Brazil AA? This is because Brazil's coffee bean grading system is different from those mentioned above. Friends who visit FrontStreet Coffee's stores can easily notice the identity card of Brazilian green coffee beans.

On Brazilian green coffee bean sacks, you can often see expressions like 'Brazil NY.2 SC – 17/18 FC'. To interpret this information, it needs to be broken down into three parts. They respectively represent the defect rate, particle size, and cupping quality of the green beans.

Defect Rate

The defect rate is divided into 8 levels.

Particle Size

Green beans are screened using sieves based on 1/64 inch, with sieve sizes typically ranging from 14 to 20 mesh.

Cupping Quality

Fine Cup, Fine, Good Cup, Fair Cup, Poor Cup, Bad Cup. Typically, Fine Cup (FC) and Good Cup (GC) are more common.

Brazilian Coffee Regions

Most of Brazil's coffee-growing areas are in plain regions. These plains have vast areas and are located in temperate climate zones with suitable temperatures. Coffee-producing regions are mainly distributed in: Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Espírito Santo, and Paraná.

Bahia

The Bahia region began growing coffee as early as the 1970s. Unlike Colombia's good mountains and waters, relying on high-tech agricultural techniques and excellent coffee varieties, coffee produced in the Bahia region has gained increasing attention.

Minas Gerais

This region is by far the most important coffee-producing region in Brazil, with nearly half of Brazil's coffee coming from the Minas Gerais region. Here, fertile soil and higher altitudes make it a perfect growing region for Brazilian specialty coffee. The Cerrado region within this state is a classic Brazilian coffee-producing region. The characteristics of Brazilian Cerrado coffee beans also represent the classic taste of Brazilian coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series includes a bean from Cerrado to represent Brazil's main flavor. Due to its rich coffee aroma, it's suitable for various brewing methods, such as moka pot, pour-over, American coffee machine, espresso machine, etc. Everyone can purchase it from FrontStreet Coffee's Tmall flagship store.

To help coffee beginners quickly find their favorite regions, FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series selects representative beans from various characteristic regions. To better experience the most basic terroir of each region, FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans are all washed processed, except for Brazil, which uses pulped natural. This is because pulped natural processing is the traditional processing method for Brazilian coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Brazilian Red Bourbon Coffee Beans

Region: Brazilian Cerrado Region

Altitude: 1000m

Variety: Red Bourbon

Processing Method: Pulped Natural

São Paulo

São Paulo state is probably more famous for its export port, Santos Port, but São Paulo is also a place where coffee is grown. The Mogiana region in this state also has the capacity to produce high-quality specialty coffee. Here, there are fertile soils, perfect altitude (900 to 1100 meters), complex terrain, and suitable temperatures.

Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul

This region has low coffee production. Due to high terrain but an average altitude of around 600 meters and flat terrain, it cannot meet the 1200-meter altitude requirement for Arabica cultivation and is more suitable for animal husbandry.

Espírito Santo

The Espírito Santo region is the second highest coffee-producing region in Brazil. Nearly 80% of coffee plants here belong to the Robusta species. Coffee from this region has rich fruit flavors and high acidity.

Paraná

The Paraná region is the world's southernmost coffee-producing region. Paraná accounts for only 2.5% of Brazil's land area but produces 25% of Brazil's crops. Here, the altitude is lower, and the climate tends to be cool.

How to Brew Brazilian Coffee?

The Brazilian coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's menu are medium-dark roasted, highlighting aroma while maintaining a certain body. When brewing Brazilian coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use a KONO dripper because of its slow flow rate, which allows full contact between coffee grounds and water.

Dripper: KONO Dripper

Dose: 15 grams

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Water temperature: 88°C

Grind size: EK43s #10.5 (China standard 20 sieve screen passing rate 75%)

FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use a three-stage pouring method for water injection, resulting in a richer layered final product.

First, inject 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom. Since FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian coffee beans are medium-dark roasted and freshly roasted within 5 days, you can see a very beautiful bloom "hamburger". Then inject the second stage of water to 125 grams for segmentation. Wait for the water level to drop to just before exposing the coffee bed, then inject the third stage of water to 225 grams and stop the water injection. Wait for all water in the dripper to finish dripping, then remove the dripper. Total extraction time is 2'00".

It's worth noting during the third stage water injection that if the water level is higher than the coffee bed along the dripper wall, some water will flow down along the edge of the dripper, resulting in a "watery" taste in the final product. If the water level is too low, some coffee ground particles will not participate in the extraction process, resulting in a weaker-tasting final product.

This Red Bourbon from FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado region has the classic Brazilian coffee flavor. Due to Brazil's sun-exposed coffee cultivation, coffee cherries mature quickly, resulting in a soft bean flavor. When brewing, you can smell peanut and nutty aromas. It's very smooth and comfortable on the palate, with low acidity, caramel sweetness, and a dark chocolate aftertaste.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473