Brazilian Coffee
Coming from the largest coffee producing country in the world you know that a cup of Brazil coffee is going to hit the spot. It comes in a range from cheap mass produced coffee to the best espresso brewed coffee bean.
Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, amounting to about 25% of the world's coffee volume.
When producing Brazilian coffee the fruit is removed from the coffee bean. This is accomplished by three different methods (wet, dry, and semi-washed) and it is not uncommon for all of the methods to be used the same farm. It is also common for all methods to be used during the same harvest of the coffee as well.
Dry processing is also called natural processing and the beans are dried while still n the cherry. Brazil coffee farms are moving towards using modern equipment to make this process more reliable. Dry processing is the most commonly used process in Brazil.
Wet processing is another method to remove the bean from the cherry. It results in a cleaner and fruitier coffee than the dry method and adds another dimension to Brazil's coffee selection.
Pulp method: The coffee cherries are pulped, much like wine, but the fermentation process is skipped. Brazili does this better than anyone and it's pulp processed coffees are award winners.
Coffee Raisons: This is where the beans are overripe and do some drying while on the tree. This tends to result in a sweeter coffee.
These beans are grown at a lower altitude than other coffee beans of the world that are grown in places with higher altitudes such as Central America, Columbia, and East Africa. These other coffee producing areas grow their coffee at around 5,000 feet in altitude while Brazil coffee is grown at around 2000 feet.
The growth of Brazil coffee in lower altitudes brings about a low acidity of the coffee bean as the beans of the Brazil variety are round, sweet, and well nuanced while the others produced at higher altitudes have beans that are big and bright.
Two of the more traditional coffees of Brazil are Santos Brazils and Estate Brazils. These types of Brazil coffee are the types that you will most likely find in a specialty coffee store. They have been dried inside the fruit. Therefore the sweet nature of the fruit is transferred to inside the cup of coffee.
It usually is derived from the coffee trees of the traditional variety of Arabica, which is called bourbon. The finest types of Brazil coffee are traded as Santos 2.
If the coffee bean comes only from the bourbon coffee bean trees the coffee is called Bourbon Santos 2. The name Santos is derived from the port in which the coffee beans are generally shipped from. The 2 on the name of Santos 2, or any type of coffee, is the grade as 2 is the highest grade of Brazil coffee. The 2 is usually not present when the coffee is presented on menus of specialty coffee stores so the beverage will only be shown as Brazil Bourbon Santos or Brazil Santos.
In order to make the coffee bean light the beans grown in Brazil are wet-processed. Sometimes the coffee is dried without the skins on them but the pulp from the fruit that is still stuck on the beans absorbs the sweetness from the pulp. This makes the Brazil coffee full and sweet much like if the beans were to be drying processed. Dry processing is the process this premium coffee undergoes when being shipped to the United States. Dry processed coffee is also called “natural” coffee.
Here's an article from EzineArticles.com on the subject of Brazilian Coffee:
Adultery, deceit and politics, all the makings of a modern-day best-seller, yet this story is over 250 years old and what ultimately led to brazilian coffee. In 1727 a Brazilian official named Francisco de Melho Palheta was invited to mediate a heated border dispute between French and Dutch Guiana. Both governments were actively growing coffee in Guiana and closely guarded their financial interests by not allowing the exportation of viable coffee seeds.
Palheta quickly accepted the invitation with hopes of somehow obtaining some seeds for planting coffee in Brazil. While in Guiana Palheta became romantically involved with the French Governors wife. Upon his departure, after successfully mediating a solution to the border issue, the Governors wife presented him with a bouquet of flowers in which she had disguised several coffee seedlings.
The Brazilians quickly learned the rudiments of growing coffee with emphasis on quantity over quality, which is still the prevalent philosophy when it comes to growing coffee in Brazil. Brazil is by far the largest producer of coffee in the world with over forty percent of all coffee coming from this country. However, the vast majority is of marginal quality and what the major commercial processors such as Folgers, Maxwell House etc… rely on as the base product for their blends. By adding small amounts of higher quality coffee they are able to enhance flavor, body and aroma and provide a product that is acceptable to the masses at a reasonable price.
The production of coffee in Brazil had a dark side. As the cultivation of coffee in Brazil grew, so did slavery. Without enough local labor to handle the ever increasing demand for coffee, the Brazilian Government imported slaves by the tens of thousands. By 1828 well over a million slaves, nearly a third of the population, labored on the coffee plantations.
In response to pressure from the British Government, who had outlawed slavery and were boycotting Brazilian slave-grown coffee, Brazil half-heartedly outlawed slavery. Though importation of slaves declined, it did not cease and the two-million or so slaves that were already in the country remained in bondage. It would be another fifty years before slavery was truly abolished.
As production of coffee in Brazil modernized, modern being a relative term for a third-world country. A few growers established a reputation for providing high-quality coffee and edged their way into the American specialty market.
The best coffee in Brazil comes from the region around San Paulo and is named for the port through which it is exported, Santos. Santos is known for its smooth flavor, medium body and moderate acidity. While Santos is the best coffee in Brazil, it is still far from extraordinary when compared to other gourmet coffees of the world.
Even with the reputation of providing low-grade coffee to the masses, the impact Brazil has had on the world coffee trade is undeniable. Without Brazilian coffee to stabilize the market, coffee prices could be three to four times what they are. Imagine paying $15-20 for a one pound can of Folgers. I, for one, am grateful to Brazil for providing the world with cheap coffee.
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