Brazil Cerrado Natural 17/18 2024

Brazil Cerrado Natural Green Coffee Beans

As the biggest coffee-producing country in the world, Brazil has had a long history of success in optimizing best practices in the industry. While Cerrado is a relatively newer region to join the ranks of Brazil’s success, it’s pillars of well-defined seasons, abundant sunlight, advanced farming, and entrepreneurial spirit forged a foundation for coffee to thrive.

Cerrado is located northwest of Minas Gerais state and is one of the most biodiverse and complex regions that is home to roughly 5% of all species on Earth. The topography is relatively flat to slightly wavy, with altitudes varying from 900 to 1250masl. Across 55 municipalities, medium-to-large-sized farms dot the area and can span anywhere between a few hundred acres to massive estates.

Brazil Coffee Grading Standards

Brazil was the first to establish a formal grading system for classifying coffee beans. Today, a commonly used quality indicator is screen size, where 17/18 means the beans have passed through a sifter with holes that are 17/64-18/64 of an inch wide. Larger-sized beans are often correlated with higher quality, although screen size is not the only indicator of quality.

Natural Process Green Coffee in Brazil

It’s always sunny in Cerrado. With all its ample sunlight, Brazil is able to take a different approach to the natural process by allowing cherries to dry while they’re still on the tree.

While most origins pick cherries at their peak ripeness and dry the fruits on raised beds, the natural process in Brazil means using as little intervention as possible. The cherries are only harvested when they’re thoroughly dried on the tree, and the extra time allows sugars and flavors to concentrate with minimal fermentation, which results in an intensely rich, sweet cup and medium body.

Brazilian Coffee

It’s hard to summarize a coffee origin like Brazil. The USDA forecasts Brazilian coffee production to be ~66.4 million 60-kg bags for the 23/24 coffee crop year. This staggering volume ensures that 1 in 3 cups of coffee are from Brazil.

Since the 1800s, Brazil coffee has dominated the coffee trade. Brazil has been a top producer of both Arabica and Robusta coffee, with an immense range of flavor profiles and processing methods. Read more in the Brazil Green Coffee Origin Report.