How Is Semi-Washed Bourbon From a Brazil Coffee Farm Brewed?

For a semi-washed Brazil Bourbon, use 15 grams of coffee at a medium grind on a V60 dripper, with water at 88 to 89 degrees Celsius. Bloom with 30 grams of water for 27 seconds, pour to 105 grams and pause until the bed drops by half, then continue slowly to 225 grams. Discard the final drips. The ratio is 1 to 15 and total extraction runs about two minutes.

Brazil is one of the most important coffee-producing countries, and the Bourbon and Catuai varieties grown in South Minas are widely used in specialty roasting. Bourbon is an original variety from Bourbon Island that grows well above 800 meters, with wide short leaves and weak resistance to pests and disease. Low yield per plant often goes together with strong cup performance, which is why many coffee farms in Brazil keep planting it alongside Catuai.

Brazil is one of the world's most important coffee-producing countries, and the Bourbon and Catuai varieties grown in the South Minas region are especially prized by the specialty coffee community. This article takes a practical approach, providing a pour-over recipe for Front Street Coffee's Brazil semi-washed Bourbon, including key parameters such as grind size, water temperature, pouring rhythm, and coffee-to-water ratio. It also covers the varietal characteristics of Bourbon, the hybrid background of Catuai, and the terroir differences among Brazil's three major specialty coffee regions. The article also includes the complete specifications and flavor description of Front Street Coffee's product, making it a useful reference for enthusiasts who want to deepen their understanding of Brazilian coffee and optimize their brewing techniques.

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This time, I'm using Front Street Coffee's Brazil semi-washed Bourbon for a pour-over. The specific parameters are: 15 grams of coffee, medium grind (4 on the Fuji Royal ghost tooth burr), paired with a V60 dripper, water temperature at 88 to 89 degrees Celsius. First pour: 30 grams of water, bloom for 27 seconds; then pour until 105 grams and pause, waiting for the water level in the coffee bed to drop by half before continuing to pour, maintaining a slow flow until the total water reaches 225 grams. Discard the final drips; the coffee-to-water ratio is 1:15, with a total extraction time of about 2 minutes.

Variety: Bourbon-related: Original variety Place of origin: Bourbon Island Grows best at: 800 meters and above Type: Original variety Commonly found in: Coffee-growing regions worldwide Main colors: Red, yellow, and orange, but mainly red Fruit size: Normal Leaf characteristics: Wide, short Special note:

The Bourbon variety originally came from Bourbon Island or Ethiopia, and has relatively weak resistance to pests and diseases, with low yields per unit. Some sources indicate that Yellow Bourbon may have higher productivity than Red Bourbon and Orange Bourbon, but in terms of popularity, Red Bourbon still dominates. Bourbon is closely related to SL28, Typica, and Caturra. Because it produces low yields in suitable environments, it often achieves quite outstanding cup performance—there is evidence that lower yields tend to improve quality, as the plant can more fully absorb soil nutrients.

A typical Bourbon performs in the cup with low body, overall balance, and clear sweetness, making it very suitable as a base bean for espresso blends.

Catuai, on the other hand, is a variety obtained from artificial hybridization of Caturra and Mondu Novo. It performs well in resisting natural disasters, especially showing outstanding resistance to wind and rain.

The Catuai tree is shorter, and compared to other coffee trees, its fruit grows more firmly and is less likely to fall off during picking. The fruit color can be either red or yellow. As far as is currently known, yellow fruit does not have better flavor than red fruit; on the contrary, some cupping results show that although coffee processed from some yellow fruit may have acceptable acidity, its cleanliness in the mouth is inferior to red fruit.

Catuai was developed in Brazil, and is now also widely cultivated in Central America.

Factory name: Dazhen Coffee Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Factory address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City Factory contact: 020-38364473 Shelf life: 30 Net content: 227g Packaging method: Bulk Taste: Sweet Coffee bean roast level: Roasted coffee beans Contains sugar: No sugar Origin: Brazil Coffee type: Bourbon Coffee roast level: Medium roast

Product name: Front Street Coffee Brazil Semi-Washed Bourbon

Country: Brazil

Grade: SC14/SC16

Region: South Minas

Roast level: Medium roast

Processing method: Pulped natural

Variety: Bourbon, Catuai

Altitude: 1000–1200 meters

Flavor: Roasted sunflower seeds, full and rich body, dark chocolate, sweet lingering finish.

However, the Cerrado plateau in western Minas and South Minas mostly sit above 1,100 meters, with diverse terrain, distinct dry and rainy seasons, large day-night temperature differences, and rich microclimates, making them very suitable for growing elegant Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon, and thus naturally making them the core regions of Brazil's specialty coffee. In addition, Mogiana in the northeast of São Paulo state is also dominated by shade-grown Bourbon, and together with Cerrado and South Minas, is regarded as one of Brazil's three major specialty coffee regions.

Brazil's terrain is gentle, and coffee farms are usually located at altitudes between 600 and 1,000 meters. The land is flat with little variation, lacking microclimates, and locals traditionally do not plant shade trees. This has given rise to Brazil's distinctive soft-bean flavor—low acidity, prominent nutty notes, good chocolate sweetness and body, but with slight woody and earthy notes, while floral and citrus aromas are not obvious enough.

Minas Gerais state is located in the hinterland of the Brazilian Highlands in the southeastern corner of South America, and more than half of Brazil's high-quality Arabica coffee is produced here.

The Santo Antônio do Amparo area, which just won the 2016 Brazil Cup of Excellence award, is located in the core region of South Minas near the headquarters of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA).

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.