How Is Brazilian Coffee Green Bean Quality Graded?
Brazil grows coffee across 14 states and supplies about one-third of global output, so a single standard cannot hold quality steady. Inspectors pull a 300-gram sample of green bean and grade it three ways: defect count, screen size, and cupping flavor. Grade marks on burlap sacks follow a set order of country, defect, cup, screen, flavor, and region.
A label such as NY.2 SC 17/18 FC Cerrado reads as origin, defect grade, cup quality, screen size, flavor, and region. Two examples show the range: Brazil Cerrado everyday beans, a semi-washed Red Bourbon with nut, chocolate, and caramel notes, and Queen Estate yellow bourbon coffee from the same country.
Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, accounting for about one-third of global output. Because production is spread across 14 states, Brazil uses a three-dimensional grading system based on defect rate, screen size, and cupping flavor to ensure consistent quality. This article will explain in detail the three grading methods for Brazilian coffee beans, decipher the meaning of the grade markings on burlap sacks of green beans, and introduce two products recommended by Front Street Coffee: the Brazil Cerrado everyday coffee beans and the Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon, helping coffee lovers gain a deeper understanding of the unique charm of Brazilian coffee.
Front Street Coffee Brazil Cerrado Everyday Coffee Beans
Region: Cerrado, Brazil
Altitude: 1000m
Variety: Red Bourbon
Processing Method: Semi-washed (Pulped Natural)
Flavor: Nuts, Chocolate, Butter, Peanut, Caramel
When buying coffee beans, you often see various grade labels on the packaging, such as SHB, G1, AA, and so on. Each coffee-producing country has its own set of grading rules and standards. Today, Front Street Coffee will introduce the three grading methods used by Brazil.
Brazil is located in the tropics, and its main cash crops include coffee, sugarcane, and citrus, all of which rank first in the world in production. Annual coffee output accounts for about one-third of the global total. According to 2021 statistics, Brazil continued to hold the top position in the coffee industry with 37.4% of global production. With such a massive scale of production and coffee cultivation spread across 14 states, quality would easily vary if only a single standard were used for classification, so grading must be carried out from multiple perspectives.
Local quality inspection agencies draw a 300-gram sample of green beans and evaluate them based on three criteria: the number of defective beans, screen size, and the flavor and mouthfeel after roasting and cupping. This is also the unique grading system that distinguishes Brazil from other coffee-producing countries.
The burlap sacks of Brazilian coffee green beans usually marked with relevant grade information: country + defect grade + cup quality + screen size + flavor + region. For example, Brazil NY.2 SC – 17/18 FC Cerrado means it comes from the Cerrado region of Brazil, the screen size is 17–18, SC stands for Strictly Soft, meaning the mouthfeel is very smooth, FC stands for Fine Cup, meaning 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, which classifies coffee according to the number of defective beans into NY2, NY2/3, NY3, NY3/4, and so on. The smaller the number, the lower the defect rate and the higher the grade. Among these, lots with a deduction of fewer than 4 points are classified as NY2, which is the highest grade. Because NY.1 requires that there be not even one defective bean, such specially selected lots are difficult to supply consistently, so Brazil sets NY.2 as the highest grade.
Screen Grading
Screen grading classifies coffee by the size of the green beans. The beans are passed through screens with uniform hole sizes to determine their grade. The unit for screen hole size is 1/64 inch (less than 0.4 mm), so a given screen number represents that many 1/64 inches. For example, a 17 screen is 17/64 inch, about 6.75 mm, so the larger the screen number, the larger the green coffee beans. Generally, most Brazilian green beans for export are 17–18 screen.
Cupping Grading
Cupping involves roasting green coffee beans, grinding them into powder, steeping them in hot water, and evaluating aspects such as aroma and taste. Before launching any coffee bean, Front Street Coffee conducts at least one cupping session to evaluate the coffee's characteristics more objectively.
Most Brazilian coffee is cultivated in low-altitude flatlands using the sun-dried method. The lack of sufficient microclimatic conditions, combined with bulk harvesting and processing, creates a coffee profile that is low in acidity, full-bodied, and marked by nutty and chocolate flavors. Therefore, Brazil does not emphasize the richness of coffee's fruit acidity, but instead distinguishes whether the coffee is smooth, using flavor and mouthfeel as the main evaluation criteria.
In terms of mouthfeel, there are six different descriptions. The first three grades can be collectively called mild, with balanced acidity and sweetness and a gentle mouthfeel. The latter three are somewhat less good in mouthfeel, with the last two being the worst. The reason an iodine flavor appears is that the soil near Rio de Janeiro has a strong iodine taste, and when coffee is harvested and falls onto the ground, it absorbs the off-flavor from the soil.
Flavor is also divided into six grades. Among them, the best is Fine Cup, which has the best flavor and the highest quality, followed by Good Cup. Coffee lots of higher quality will also include more traceability information about the beans, such as processing method, estate, altitude, and so on.
So, Brazil NY.2 SC – 17/18 FC Cerrado means: country Brazil, defect rate grade 2, green bean screen size 17–18, high-quality cup profile, from the Cerrado region. This is also the Brazilian component bean among Front Street Coffee's three espresso coffee beans.
Recommended Brazilian Specialty Coffee Beans
Front Street Coffee Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans
This single-origin Brazilian coffee from Front Street Coffee uses the rare Yellow Bourbon variety. After roasting, Yellow Bourbon coffee presents buttery and peanut aromas, along with the fresh sweetness of sugarcane. Common Bourbon cherries are bright red when ripe, while Yellow Bourbon is yellow at maturity. The "yellow" of Yellow Bourbon comes from a hereditary color selection. Yellow Bourbon grown at high altitudes contains a large amount of fructose and can display a sweet, juicy flavor. It once swept Brazil's Cup of Excellence competition for two consecutive years, taking almost all of the top three awards, and became a sensation in the specialty coffee world!
Region: Mogiana Region, Brazil
Estate: Queen Estate
Altitude: 1400–1950m
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Processing Method: Natural
Flavor: Dark Chocolate, Butter, Peanut, Sugarcane, Nuts
Front Street Coffee Brazil Cerrado Everyday Coffee Beans
The original intention behind Front Street Coffee's Everyday Coffee series was to help friends who want to learn about specialty coffee more quickly understand the flavors of classic producing regions. In order to present the unique flavor characteristics of each producing region for everyone to taste, Front Street Coffee selected several representative regions, covering multiple coffee varieties, and used appropriate roast levels to express their regional flavors, such as the chocolatey richness of Brazilian Bourbon coffee, the jasmine fragrance of Ethiopian washed Yirgacheffe, the herbal spice notes of Indonesian Mandheling... You can place orders at Front Street Coffee's Taobao store or Front Street Coffee's Tmall flagship store.
In addition, Front Street Coffee hopes everyone will have a better brewing experience and be able to taste the characteristics mentioned above, so Front Street Coffee ensures that only coffee beans freshly roasted within 5 days are shipped, ensuring they are still within their optimal flavor period when received.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
