Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer shipping over a third of the world's coffee! To understand how Brazil became the modern-day colossus of coffee, we start with a character referred to in coffee literature as "The Don Juan of Coffee Propagation", Fransicso de Mello Palhetathe. In about 1727, the emperor of Brazil sent Fransicso to the French to obtain seeds. Suave and charming as he reportedly was, his charm had little impact on French coffee officials who weren'tointeresting in sharing. It did work, however, on the French governor's wife with whom he had developed a "relationship" and who sent him, buried deep within a romantic - and aromatic - bouquet of flowers, all the seeds and coffee shoots he needed to initiate what has become a billion dollar industry.
Most of the coffee in Brazil is grown to be "commercial" grade coffee where high production takes precedence over peak flavor. Because of Brazil's lack of altitude, much of the coffee is grown in lower grassland areas of non-volcanic soil. These conditions and the automated picking practices they support are less than ideal for production of high quality specialty coffees. There are some prime growing regions in Brazil, however, and in recent years there has been more focus on specialty coffees resulting in some really good Brazilian cavailable. This month's special from Coffee Express Co. is one of them.
A high quality coffee like our Cerrado Minas Gerais, named for the prime growing regions where it was produced, has a soft but full-bodied nutty flavor and is low in acid. While always a great blending coffee that can add a lot to espresso and other blended coffees, this Brazlian can stand on its own as a good straight cup.
