Whatever the reason, coffee has become the choice of more and more people. As one of the world's three major beverages, it is consumed in enormous daily volumes — and behind that huge consumption stands a coffee giant: Brazil.
Brazil's output is enormous: it produces roughly one third of the world's coffee each year, so much that Brazilian beans appear in almost every cafe. Of Front Street's six espresso-blend coffees, four include Brazilian beans — Front Street Classic Blend, Front Street Premium Blend, Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend and Front Street Commercial Blend — which shows just how important its position is.
Front Street believes Brazilian coffee appears so often in espresso blends not only because it is abundant and cheap, but also because its quality and flavour are stable. Brazilian coffee has the typical flavour profile of American-continent beans — a balanced cacao-and-nut tonality with extremely high compatibility — and it provides the fundamental base note of a cup.
Take the value-focused Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend: Yunnan small-bean provides gentle fruit acidity and a chocolate note, while Brazilian Red Bourbon lends a rich, creamy peanut sweetness — balanced and stable whether brewed as an Americano or a latte.
Brazil's huge output comes from its geography. As the largest country in South America, Brazil has 26 states, 17 of which produce coffee, grown mainly on the flat highlands of the south-central region at around 1,000 metres. That allows large-scale cultivation, and with abundant sunshine, a suitable climate and fertile soil, the land is ideal for coffee and other farming.
Although neighbouring countries also grow coffee, nowhere matches Brazil's scale. Brazilian estates are usually far larger than the big farms of other origins and rely on mechanised work: large machines move through the coffee rows and vast irrigation systems top up the soil and trees, making Brazil arguably the world's most advanced and most mechanised coffee-producing country.
Because the altitude is low, the terrain flat and microclimates scarce, the trees have no shade and stand directly under the sun. So Brazilian beans lack the floral and fruity acidity — or spice notes — that other famous origins emphasise, and instead show what low- and mid-altitude coffee typically does: low acidity, heavy nutty flavours, a fuller body and a rather monotonous aroma overall.
Even with the world's largest output, Brazil still strives for higher quality and flavour. Many farms and industry associations take green-bean quality and research seriously — for example the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC), which focuses on the conservation, genetic research and breeding of various plants including coffee. As a result Brazil ranks among the world's leaders in genetic breeding and sustainability, and has offered valuable experience and guidance to other countries.
As the first host country of the renowned Cup of Excellence (COE), Brazil also has speciality estates, most of them in the mountains of sub-regions such as Alta Mogiana, Cerrado and Sul de Minas. These areas are generally higher in altitude, the coffee grows on slopes, and unlike Brazil's lowland regions they are not machine-harvested on a wide scale — picking is mainly done by hand.
A flagship of Brazilian speciality coffee, Front Street Fazenda Rainha comes from Alta Mogiana and has won many awards and placings in Brazilian competitions including the COE. The estate has long emphasised environmental protection and sustainability and is known for producing the fine Yellow Bourbon variety.
Alta Mogiana lies in Sao Paulo state, very close to southern Minas, with coffee growing among shrubs, grasses and other vegetation. Many growing families work this area — some running traditional large farms, others small modern operations. Modern technology blended with mountain growing culture produces Brazil's highest-quality beans.
Common Bourbon coffee ripens from green to pale yellow, orange-yellow, red and finally deep red when fully ripe — the Red Bourbon we refer to. Grown at high altitude, Red Bourbon is balanced with rich aroma and soft, mellow acidity; Front Street's Brazil everyday bean is a Red Bourbon.
The Yellow Bourbon planted at Fazenda Rainha does not turn cherry red when ripe but yellow; it was discovered in 1930. Later research at the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC) found that plants with the dominant XcXc gene pair produce red berries, while those with the recessive xcxc pair produce yellow berries — so the yellow of Yellow Bourbon is due to selective inheritance of colour.
Yellow Bourbon grown at high altitude contains a great deal of fructose, so after roasting it shows a sweet, clean flavour. It swept Brazil's Cup of Excellence two years running, taking almost all top-three places and becoming a star of the speciality coffee world!
Since high-altitude Yellow Bourbon is dense and rich in glucose, Front Street's roasting approach highlights the classic mellow aroma of Brazilian coffee while showing off Bourbon's own sweetness — so this Front Street Fazenda Rainha is medium-dark roasted.
Once brewed, it opens with fruity sweetness, flavours of sugarcane, chocolate and peanut-nut notes and a faint, clean bitterness; the body is silky and smooth. It works equally well as pour-over, moka pot, espresso machine, siphon or French press — ideal for coffee lovers who dislike acidity and want a balanced, nutty cup.
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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
