What are the characteristics of Brazilian coffee, the world's largest coffee-producing country? Brazil, as an American bean, has a relatively balanced taste, low acidity, and a mellow taste. It is very suitable for blending Italian beans. Therefore, Front Street’s Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) beans, Front Street Premium Blend 100% Arabica beans and Front Street Commercial Blend beans all use Brazilian beans as the base beans.Brazilian coffee is generally grown in areas with relatively flat terrain, although Arabica coffee varieties need to be grown at high altitudes to produce better-tasting coffee. But Brazil’s low altitude is destined to make it impossible to grow coffee with the flavor of Panama Geisha.In order to better produce coffee beans, Brazilian manor owners decades ago adapted to local conditions to cultivate improved Arabica coffee trees that do not require high ground or shade. They can be planted on plains or grasslands and directly exposed to the sun, unlike the traditional shade cultivation method at higher altitudes. This can speed up the maturation of coffee, but the flavor cannot be fully developed. At the same time, thanks to the characteristics of the plains, large-scale coffee gardens can be harvested directly by mechanization, saving a lot of manpower.Brazilian coffee beans came from French Guiana in 1720(a country in northern South America)To quote, Brazil was a Portuguese colony at the time, and many other South American countries were Spanish colonies. Therefore, most countries in South America spoke Spanish, while Brazil spoke Portuguese.Portuguese officers stationed in Brazil introduced coffee beans from Guyana to Brazil.(At that time, the export of coffee to other countries was strictly prohibited), captured the heart of the wife of the Governor of Guyana, and successfully brought coffee seeds to Brazil. Since then, coffee has rapidly adapted in Brazil, spreading from the north to the southeastern Sao Paulo state. By 1845, Brazilian coffee beans accounted for 45% of the world's total coffee beans, and became the main economic source of Sao Paulo state.Brazilian coffee producing areasBrazil is located in a tropical region, and coffee planting areas are dominated by two types of terrain, one is the Brazilian Plateau with an altitude of more than 500 meters, and the other is the Brazilian Plain with an altitude of less than 200 meters. Brazil has 21 states, 17 of which produce coffee, but 7 of them have the largest production, which together account for 98% of the country's total production. They are: Sao Paulo, Paraná, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rondonia, and Rio de Janeiro.Among them, the coffee beans produced in the four states of Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo, Bahia and Espírito Santo account for 90% of the country’s export volume.Although Brazil remains the world's largest coffee producer, it has never had the near-monopoly on coffee production it enjoyed in the 1920s. As coffee exports decline, other regions in Brazil(Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo)Overtaking the state of São Paulo, the Mochiana Railway Company was deeply in debt and was taken over by the government in 1952.Therefore, there are three main specialty coffee producing areas in Brazil: Mochiana, Cerado and Minas do Sul.Sul de Minas is a hilly forest land with an altitude of 700m-1200m. The foothills are undulating, the landform is rich, the dry and wet seasons are obvious, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and the rich micro-climate is suitable for cultivating bourbon and yellow bourbon with excellent flavor. It has naturally become the main production area of specialty coffee. Minas do Sul, since 1999, has the largest number of estates that have won the Brazilian Extraordinary Cup bid.
The average annual total coffee bean production in Minas Gerais is close to half of the country's, and it contains four large-scale production areas: Cerrado, Sul de Minas, Chapada de Minas, and Matas de Minas. The Cerrado production area, which has the same name as the Cerrado prairie, specifically refers to the Cerrado region in the west of Minas Gerais as a coffee production area. The flat terrain and concentrated harvest season are very suitable for large-scale management and harvesting. Many exporters have invested in building coffee farms here, almost all covering an area of more than 10 hectares. The other three production areas are mainly hand-produced by small farmers due to their undulating terrain and steep hills. The southeastern mountain forest area of Minas Gerais, with an altitude of more than 1,000 meters, also produces high-quality coffee beans. As for other regions of Minas Gerais, such as the north-central region, most beans are produced for commercial use.The representative coffee-producing areas of Minas Gerais are Cerrado and Minas do Sul, both of which are areas with higher altitudes. Cerrado is located in the west of Minas Gerais and is a flat plateau with an altitude of 750m-1200m.Cerrado region: The Cerrado is a large grassland with the most diverse species in the world. But when it comes to the coffee producing areas of the Cerrado, not all the coffee grown on the prairie is called Cerrado coffee. The only coffee that can be called Cerado coffee is the coffee grown in the 1100-1300m altitude area, because that is the essence of the Cerrado prairie. Due to the high altitude and fertile soil, Front Street believes that the coffee beans produced in this area are sweet, mellow and have no earthy smell. It is precisely because of this that Front Street chose coffee from the Cerrado region of Brazil as the representative of coffee from Brazil.
The state of Sao Paulo covers Brazil's most famous coffee-producing region, Mogiana. The name of this area comes from the Mogiana Railroad Company, the company that established the "Coffee Railway" in 1883. It also led to better transportation, where coffee production expanded further. The altitude of the Mogianna production area is 900-1100 meters, with an average temperature of about 20°C throughout the year. It has a hilly terrain, which gives the coffee a good sweetness and balance. Due to the terrain, the manor production is mainly artificial harvesting. The Queen's Manor coffee on the Front Street Bean List is produced from Morgiana. It is sweet, clean, well-balanced, and has a tropical fruit aroma.
There are several coffee-producing areas in the state of Sao Paulo that we are familiar with, the main representatives are Santos and Mochiana. When construction of the Mochiana Railway began in 1872, São Paulo produced less than 20% of Brazil's coffee. By 1890, thanks to the opening of the railway, coffee beans produced in Sao Paulo could be transported out, and the coffee produced at that time accounted for 50% of Brazil's total coffee. By 1920, Brazil's coffee production had reached 80% of the world's coffee production, half of which came from Sao Paulo.Mogiana This area is very close to the south of Minas. Coffee is grown among shrubs, grass and other vegetation. There are many growing families in this area, some of which operate traditional large-scale farms, while others operate small-scale modern operations. Modern technology combined with mountain coffee growing culture creates the highest quality green coffee beans. Front Street discovered through cupping that the coffee beans produced in this area are as sweet as sucrose. Front Street Coffee’s Brazilian Queen Manor coffee comes from the Morgiana production area.Brazilian coffee bean gradingAmong the many coffee-growing countries in Central and South America, Brazil has a relatively low altitude. Therefore, Brazil does not emphasize hard beans that can only grow at high altitudes like other countries such as Colombia. Instead, Brazil classifies coffee beans based on four factors: particle size, defect rate, cupping score and flavor.Due to the large production of coffee and the inconsistent quality of coffee beans, the local quality inspection agency will extract 300 grams of samples and grade them based on different standards of green bean defects, size, and cupping. This is also Brazil's unique grading system that is different from other producing countries. The green bean sacks of Brazilian coffee are generally marked with relevant grade information: country + defect grade + cupping taste + size + flavor + region, such as Brazil NY.2 SC – 17/18 FC Cerrado, which is produced in the Cerrado region of Brazil and has a size of 17 to 18 mesh. SC stands for Strictly Soft and has a very smooth taste. FC stands for Fine Cup. The cupping flavor is high quality and the defect rate grade is NY.2.
Defect grading method: NY.2 refers to the New York grading standard. According to the defect proportion, it can be divided into NY2, NY2/3, NY3, NY3/4... The smaller the number, the lower the defect rate and the higher the grade. Among them, batches with a deduction of less than 4 points belong to NY2, which is the highest grade. Since NY.1 means that there is not a single defective bean, such a selected batch will not be able to be stably supplied, so Brazil sets NY.2 as the highest grade.There will also be corresponding standard distinctions in flavor and taste. Depending on the taste of the coffee during cupping, there will be many different descriptions: Strictly Soft, Soft, Softish, Hard, Rioy. SC means Strictly Soft (very smooth) and has the best taste. Cup flavor will be divided into Fine Cup, Good cup, Fair cup, Poor cup, Bad cup, and Fine Cup has the best flavor and highest quality, followed by Good cup.Brazilian coffee bean varietiesThe types of coffee beans grown in Brazil include Arabica coffee beans and Robusta coffee beans. Arabica specialty coffee beans are mainly grown in the states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. Robusta coffee beans are mainly distributed in Espírito Santo, Bahia, Rondonia and other states.There are many varieties of coffee in Brazil, with Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, New World and Carduai as the main varieties. Bourbon is the oldest local variety. The bourbon variety has short, round fruits and a high density of coffee beans. Bourbon grown at high altitudes has a high sweetness and bright sourness. Bourbon is an ancient and fine variety like Tiepica. Bourbon has better resistance to rust leaf disease than Tiepica, and its flavor is not inferior to Tipica. The biggest thing in common between Bourbon and Typica is that there must be shade trees to block the sun. This is conducive to growth and flavor development, so there are certain requirements for the growing environment.
The Bourbon coffee variety is a subspecies resulting from a mutation of the Typica coffee variety. Generally speaking, when talking about bourbon coffee varieties, the red bourbon coffee variety will be defaulted, so named because of its mature color of red. Yellow bourbon does not refer to the immature state of red bourbon, but is a cross between the bourbon species and the Typica variety that bears yellow fruits. When mature, the fruits are yellow. Because of its low yield and relatively intolerant to wind and rain, it is not widely planted.As the common bourbon matures from flowering to fruiting, its color gradually changes from green to yellowish, red, and finally to fully mature deep red, so it is called red bourbon. There are also bourbon varieties that do not turn red when mature, but instead turn into the rarer yellow or pink colors, namely yellow bourbon and pink bourbon. The yellow bourbon produced at high altitude has a delicate flavor and has won the top ranking in the Brazilian CoE Cup of Excellence competition. The Queen's Manor coffee on Front Street is made from yellow bourbon coffee.Carduai is a hybrid of yellow Picatura and New World coffee from Brazil in 1950. It is a dwarf coffee tree that can adapt well to a variety of altitudes. When planted above 800m, the flavor will be more outstanding. There are two types: red and yellow.New World is a natural hybrid of Bourbon and Sumatran species discovered in Brazil and began to be cultivated in Brazil around 1950. It has strong environmental adaptability and resistance to pests and diseases. Although it is a high-yielding variety, its growth rate is slow and the bean particles are relatively large. The disadvantage of the tree is that it is more than 3 meters tall(This height exceeds the reach of the harvester, so it is not suitable for mechanized harvesting.) The top branches and leaves of the coffee trees must be pruned every year. New World has a good balance of sour and bitter flavors.Brazilian coffee bean processing methodThe Brazilian semi-sun drying method is also called peeling and sun-drying. Different from traditional sun-drying, semi-sun drying removes the skin and pulp of the coffee berries, which can control the fermentation degree of the pectin-containing coffee beans after peeling and fleshing. Traditional sun-drying involves sun-drying the peel and pulp, so the degree of fermentation of the pectin cannot be seen. The semi-sun drying method is a method between sun drying and water washing, but it does not have the "pool fermentation and clean water rinsing" process of the water washing treatment, but is directly exposed to the sun. Although the methods seem to be similar, without the fermentation step, the flavor of the coffee beans is completely different.
High-quality Brazilian coffee beans have the characteristics of low acidity and high alcohol. After roasting, they present nuts, cocoa, chocolate, and toast, with a smooth, balanced and clean taste. Therefore, it is often used in the recipe of Italian blended beans to support and neutralize the effect. There are 4 types of Italian coffee beans on the Front Street Bean List, three of which are based on Brazilian coffee.(Front Street Premium Blend 100% Arabica Coffee, Front Street Black Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) Coffee, Front Street Commercial Blend Coffee), giving the extracted espresso a rich golden oil and rich aroma of roasted hazelnuts. The Americano is rich and mellow, and the latte blended with milk is creamy and smooth.Front Street brewing Brazilian coffee parameters: In order to bring out the balanced and mellow flavor characteristics of Brazilian coffee, Front Street Coffee recommends that you use drip extraction (Pour over(V60) coffee). Product parameters of Front Street store: Use Kono filter cup Water temperature: 88℃ Powder amount: 15 grams Powder to water ratio: 1:15 Powder to water ratio Grinding degree: Medium to fine grinding (Chinese standard No. 20 screen pass rate 75%)Front Street Brazilian Cerato Coffee flavor characteristics: nuts, caramel, peanuts, smooth, low acidity, chocolate flavor.The flavor characteristics of Front Street Brazilian Queen Coffee: rich nutty flavor, obvious dark chocolate flavor in the back section, the overall feeling is relatively mellow, and cleaner than Brazilian Cerato Coffee.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
