What Makes Yellow Bourbon Coffee From Mogiana Distinct?

Fazenda Rainha sits in the Mogiana region of São Paulo State, where higher altitude and terrain that blocks machine harvesting force fully manual picking. The estate, owned by the Carvalho Dias family, grows the lower-yielding Yellow Bourbon variety and has collected awards since Brazil's first Cup of Excellence competition in 1999.

Brazil is the largest coffee producer and exporter, supplying about one-third of global coffee exports, which often hides its specialty output. Front Street Coffee's Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon is processed semi-washed and shows sugarcane, black tea, nuts, and chocolate, with a smooth, delicate mouthfeel. Brazilian Arabica accounts for about 80% of national production.

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and exporter, accounting for about one-third of global exports. Although outsiders often assume that Brazilian coffee wins on volume alone, the country also produces a large amount of high-quality specialty coffee. The Mogiana region in São Paulo State is at a relatively high altitude and is one of the important sources of specialty coffee, and Fazenda Rainha is located there. The estate belongs to the Carvalho Dias family and has won numerous awards since the first Brazil Cup of Excellence competition in 1999. Due to terrain limitations, the estate cannot harvest by machine and relies entirely on manual picking, and it grows the lower-yielding but outstanding Yellow Bourbon variety. Front Street Coffee's Brazil Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon coffee beans are processed using the semi-washed method and present flavors of sugarcane, black tea, nuts, and chocolate, with a smooth and delicate mouthfeel.

Brazilian coffee occupies a pivotal position in the global coffee market because Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and exporter, with its coffee exports accounting for about one-third of total global coffee exports. However, many people mistakenly believe that Brazilian coffee values quantity over quality; in fact, Brazil also has a considerable amount of high-quality specialty coffee.

Brazilian Coffee Cultivation

Brazil is the largest country in South America, bordering ten countries including Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. Brazil's ability to become the largest coffee producer benefits from its superior geographical conditions and climate. Brazil is mainly tropical in climate, with a tropical rainforest climate in the north, a tropical savanna climate in the center, and a humid subtropical monsoon climate in the south. Three main types of soil are distributed across Brazil: sedimentary volcanic rock debris soil, red-yellow soil, and brown clay soil. These soils are rich in organic matter and minerals and have good drainage. There are many rivers and a suitable climate, making the country very suitable for coffee cultivation.

Mogiana Alta Mogiana Region

Brazil has 26 states in total, 17 of which produce coffee. Among them, Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo account for 90% of total production. Brazilian Arabica accounts for 80% of total production, while the remaining 20% is Robusta. The main varieties grown include Bourbon, Catuai, Typica, and Mundo Novo, and the harvest period is from May to September.

There are many well-known subregions in these states, such as the Cerrado region in Minas Gerais. Front Street Coffee has a semi-washed Cerrado coffee, which serves as an entry-level representative with chocolate flavor and nutty aroma, and a balanced mouthfeel. Mogiana is a well-known region in São Paulo State and is one of the higher-altitude areas, producing many specialty coffee beans. There are many growing families here, and modern technology combined with the mixed mountain coffee-growing culture has created high-quality green coffee beans.

Fazenda Rainha

Fazenda Rainha (Queen Farm) is located in the Mogiana region of São Paulo State, in the northern part of São Paulo State, in Vale da Grama, an ancient volcanic valley in Brazil. This estate is very well known in Brazil and is owned by the Carvalho Dias family. The Carvalho Dias family owns four major estates, and since the first Brazil Cup of Excellence ( Cup of Excellence, also called the Cup of Excellence) competition in 1999, it has won awards every year, winning more than 12 awards over 7 years.

In addition, the family is also a founding member of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association and attaches great importance to coffee quality and environmental protection. There are many environmental facilities on the family's farm, and it insists on preserving primary forest and reforestation. Furthermore, because Fazenda Rainha is at a relatively high altitude and does not have flat terrain, machine harvesting is impossible, so the fruit is entirely hand-picked, and the lower-yielding but high-quality Yellow Bourbon variety is grown.

Yellow Bourbon

Bourbon and Typica are both among the oldest existing coffee varieties. Bourbon has obvious characteristics on the coffee tree: the leaf nodes of Bourbon are relatively close together, the coffee cherries are rounder and shorter than those of Typica, and the color of ripe cherries can be yellow or orange (pink) depending on the mutation. Bourbon almost always has round green beans. Compared with Typica, Bourbon beans are slightly smaller and ripen relatively later, but Bourbon has higher yields than Typica. Bourbon green beans grown at high altitude have higher density, better sweetness, and bright acidity, and Bourbon has better resistance to leaf rust than Typica.

For common Bourbon fruit, from flowering to ripe fruit, the color gradually changes from green to slightly yellow, then red, and finally fully ripe dark red. This changing coffee cherry is what we commonly call Red Bourbon. Yellow Bourbon, however, is a Bourbon mutation unique to São Paulo State in Brazil. It is mainly named "Yellow Bourbon" because the fruit does not turn red when ripe, but instead appears orange-yellow. However, its yield is extremely low and it is not resistant to wind and rain, so it is difficult to plant widely. Yellow Bourbon grown at high altitude contains a large amount of fructose, so it can present a sweet and juicy coffee flavor.

Front Street Coffee Brazil Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans Region: Mogiana region Estate/Processing Plant: Fazenda Rainha Altitude: 1,400-1,950 meters Variety: Yellow Bourbon Processing Method: Semi-washed Flavor: Sugarcane, Black Tea, Nuts, Chocolate

This Front Street Coffee Brazil Fazenda Rainha Yellow Bourbon coffee comes from the Mogiana region of São Paulo State. Front Street uses a KONO dripper, a 1:15 ratio, and 90℃ for brewing. On the palate, there is fruity sweetness, with flavors of sugarcane, black tea, chocolate, and nuts, a faint clean bitterness, and a smooth and delicate mouthfeel.

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