What Makes Yellow Bourbon Coffee from Queen's Farm Distinct?
Yellow Bourbon is a Bourbon mutation whose recessive gene turns the ripe fruit yellow. The most recognized lot comes from Fazenda Rainha, or Queen's Farm, in the mountains between São Paulo and Minas Gerais at 1,200 to 1,400 meters. It placed second at Brazil's Cup of Excellence in 2000, bringing the variety wider attention.
Ripe cherries at the estate are picked by hand, and the pulped natural coffee process leaves some mucilage on the bean during drying, which supports the sweetness the variety is known for. The estate later won the Brazilian COE championship in 2011 and belongs to the Carvalho Dias family, whose farms have placed in the competition since 1999.
Bourbon is one of the oldest varieties in the coffee world, and Brazil is the representative country for Bourbon cultivation. Among the many Bourbon variants in Brazil, Yellow Bourbon stands out with its yellow fruit brought by a recessive gene and excellent sweetness, and among them, Fazenda Rainha is the most well-known. This estate, located in the mountainous area bordering São Paulo and Minas Gerais states, sits at an altitude of 1,200 to 1,400 meters and has won awards multiple times in the COE Cup of Excellence competition. After placing second in 2000, it brought the Yellow Bourbon variety greater international fame. This article will guide you through the history of Fazenda Rainha, the origins of the Yellow Bourbon variety, the pulped natural processing method, and Front Street Coffee's roasting analysis and pour-over extraction parameters, offering a comprehensive view of this bean's flavor charm.
Bourbon is one of the oldest varieties in the coffee family, and today Front Street wants to talk with you about the Yellow Bourbon from the famous Brazilian estate, Fazenda Rainha. This estate has won awards multiple times in the COE competition, and its strength should not be underestimated. Brazil is the main country cultivating the Bourbon variety, and the most representative among them is Yellow Bourbon. It is a Bourbon genetic mutation and, affected by a recessive gene, its fruit turns yellow when ripe, hence the name. The most famous Yellow Bourbon is from Fazenda Rainha. The estate is located in the mountainous area bordering São Paulo and Minas Gerais states in Brazil, at an altitude between 1,200 and 1,400 meters. The producing region has abundant rainfall, and with the advantage of its high terrain, all ripe coffee cherries are harvested by hand. In 2000, Fazenda Rainha won second place in Brazil's COE competition, and the Yellow Bourbon variety also gained international recognition through this.
[Estate Introduction]:
This Brazilian Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon coffee from Front Street comes from Fazenda Rainha, which covers 280 mu and is located in Vale da Grama, an ancient volcanic valley in Brazil. In 2011, the estate won the championship in Brazil's COE competition. Fazenda Rainha belongs to the renowned Carvalho Dias family. The four estates under this family have won awards every year since the first Brazilian COE competition in 1999, winning more than 12 times in seven years, and in 2004 they even took the championship, 9th place, 11th place, and many other honors. For many years, many estates large and small in Brazil have longed to be shortlisted and win awards but found it difficult to do so, while the estates under this family have won multiple awards year after year. Taking Fazenda Rainha as an example, its record is equally brilliant: second place in 2000, third place in 2001, 29th place in 2005, and so far it has won awards 3 times.
The Carvalho Dias family is also a founding member of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association, and its commitment to coffee quality and environmental protection is evident to all. On the family farm, a pollution-free hydroelectric power system has been developed using natural waterfalls, achieving self-sufficiency in electricity (another award-winning estate in the family is named after this waterfall—Cachoeira Estate). In addition, churches, classrooms, nurseries, and medical stations have been built, and they insist on maintaining native plant forests and continuous reforestation... In the case of Fazenda Rainha, environmental protection is carried out quite thoroughly. Due to the higher terrain and non-plain topography, mechanical harvesting cannot be used, and fruit picking relies entirely on manual labor. The estate grows low-yield, high-quality Bourbon, making it truly a representative estate of Brazil's finest coffee!
Fazenda Rainha's Coffee processing system:
Ripe cherries are picked by hand into cloth bags to avoid the fruit falling to the ground and touching the soil. Coffee cherries harvested on the same day must be sent that day to the estate's processing station for Pulped Natural processing. The purpose of hand-picking and surrounding the harvested coffee cherries with cloth bags is to avoid earthy flavors and improper fermentation flavors. When these coffee cherries arrive at the processing station, "washing" is carried out immediately: first the coffee cherries are washed, then sorted by bean size, and unqualified or dried fruits (bóia beans) are removed. The beans that pass screening continue to pulping (using a pulper machine). The estate has 200 mu of Yellow Bourbon coffee trees, and the rolling mountainous terrain makes large-scale mechanical harvesting impossible, so all coffee here needs to be harvested by hand.
The estate uses a semi-washed processing method, after which the beans are dried on drying racks and in dryers. After mechanical screening, manual screening is also added, and a large amount of work requires farm employees to live on the farm year-round. All employees and their families can enjoy benefits in housing, health care, and education here. The estate is a member of a medium-scale farm organization in the local Grama Valley and mainly exports specialty coffee of the Bourbon variety. The organization's office is located in nearby Pocos de Caldas, and it also has a national-level cupping laboratory equipped with a large warehouse. The organization also cooperates with local universities and other institutions on research, including Lavras University—the famous Dr. Flavio Borem comes from that university's agricultural research center.
Fazenda Rainha Award Record:
2014 COE Cup of Excellence 13th place
2013 COE Cup of Excellence 02nd place
2012 COE Cup of Excellence 08th place
2011 COE Cup of Excellence Champion
2010 COE Cup of Excellence 20th place
2009 COE Cup of Excellence 06th place
2008 COE Cup of Excellence 14th place
Variety
This bean from Front Street's Brazilian Fazenda Rainha is 100% Yellow Bourbon, and its origin can be traced back to the birthplace of the Bourbon variety—Reunion Island in Madagascar. In the 18th century, French explorers first brought coffee there, so this variety also has another name: French Missionary. In the 20th century, it was introduced to the African continent and later to Brazil, and its derived varieties are now found throughout Africa and the Americas. Bourbon grown in Brazil, due to the influence of a recessive gene, has yellow fruit.
This bean uses the Cerezadescascado method invented in Brazil (pulping method). This natural processing method, similar to honey processing, makes the coffee flavor more rounded, with an effect between washed processing and full natural processing. During processing, a small amount of water is first used to remove the pulp and skin, and then the coffee is directly placed on drying racks for drying, during which it is constantly turned to ensure all coffee is exposed to sunlight. After several days of drying, mechanical drying is then carried out to reach the appropriate moisture content.
The processed coffee beans are relatively stable in nature and can be stored for a long time. They have low moisture content, and the beans are also relatively large. 98% of the beans can reach above 16 mesh, and half can reach 18 mesh.
[FrontStreet Coffee Fazenda Rainha Roasting Analysis, bean input 550g]
The green beans are solid in texture and perform well in flavor, with a slight orange peel and spice aroma. This bean's moisture content is also relatively low, at 9.9%, which gives the bean a very strong heat absorption capacity, so the roasting plan is to charge at 200°C, then use high heat and a small airflow to speed up dehydration. After the dehydration stage ends, open medium airflow and use medium heat for the Maillard reaction. Do not make the time too rushed; drop the beans near the end of first crack.
After trying four roasts in total, the final choice was 1 minute 45 seconds to 2 minutes after the end of first crack as the best. The taste has obvious sweetness, but it is not that dull kind of sweetness. In the background there is a faint lemon aroma, and this aroma is more prominent in the wet aroma stage. In the latter part there is an obvious dark chocolate flavor. The overall impression is relatively rounded, and while it reflects the overall characteristics of Front Street's Brazilian coffee, it also retains liveliness.
[FrontStreet Coffee Fazenda Rainha Cupping Record]
Dry aroma: Roasted hazelnut, cinnamon notes
Wet aroma: Slight tropical fruit aroma, cream, cane sugar
On the palate, it is a delicate nutty flavor, fruity flavor, creamy peanut
FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon
[Country] Brazil Region: São Paulo state near São Sebastião da Grama
[Estate Name] Fazenda Rainha
[Owner] Regina Helena Mello de Carvalho Dias, belonging to the Carvalho Dias family
[Variety] Yellow Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon
[Processing Method] Hand-picked, then pulped natural processing
[Origin] Fazenda Rainha, Brazil (Mogiana) region.
[Variety] Yellow Bourbon
[Altitude] 1400 — 1950m
[Processing Method] Pulped natural\Natural
[Flavor] The bean is sweet and clean. Using pulped natural will make its acidity slightly brighter but also pair excellently with sweetness; some even have tropical fruit aromas.
[FrontStreet Coffee Pour-Over Coffee Preparation]:
Pour-over coffee preparation parameters: 15g coffee, medium grind (Fuji ghost burr 4 grind), V60 dripper, 88-89°C water temperature, first pour 30g water, bloom for 27 seconds, pour to 105g water and pause, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again, pour slowly until 225g water, discard the final part, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00
[Pour-Over Coffee Characteristic Flavor Description] The bean is sweet and clean. Using pulped natural will make its acidity slightly brighter but also pair excellently with sweetness; some even have tropical fruit aromas, and the aroma spilling out during brewing is especially delightful. The fresh sweetness of sugarcane juice, black tea, and a soft, smooth fruit sweetness, obvious nutty flavor, balanced and gentle acidity, weak and clean bitterness, containing rich chocolate aroma and nutty flavor, with a bright and refreshing mouthfeel and a smooth, delicate texture.
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
