Intelligentsia Coffee has a habit of sourcing some of the worlds finest coffees, and one of the perks of working there is the ability to taste some of them for free. In particular, right now I’m sipping on a French Pressed Brazil, Fazenda Pedra Preta, the third place finisher in the Cup of Excellence competition in 2006, which retailed for $32.99 per 1/2 lb., or $7.00 for a 12oz. cup on the Clover Brew Bar. In the competition, the coffee scored an impressive 92.24 on a scale judging flavor, acidity, mouthfeel, finish, body, sweetness, etc.

Geoff Watts breaking the surface tension in a cup of coffee, releasing the coffee’s brewed aroma

Cup of Excellence (COE) competitions take place in most major Latin American coffee growing nations, and are an excellent way for superior coffees to gain exposure and guarantee a fair price to the farmers. While much coffee in the world is sold green at astronomically low prices (most specialty grade coffee leaves the farmers hands at somewhere around $1-1.50 green), COE finalists are able to sell their coffee at auction to retailers who are willing to pay far more. Guilherme Dias De Castro, Fazenda Pedra Preta’s owner, was guaranteed $13.10 per pound of green beens. In Panama, coffee from the Hacienda La Esmeralda, Jaramilla Especial has set a record for two years running in the Best of Panama competition (as Panama has no COE), with this year’s lot selling at over $130/lb. green and cupping at an astounding 95.26.

At those prices, consumers often expect a depth, richness, and complexity to their coffee, in addition to the bragging rights that come along with paying premium prices for their carefully selected cup o’ joe. When serving the Fazenda Pedra Preta at the cafe, I have noticed a number of our customers who have become baffled by the flavor of their coffees. One customer mentioned to me it tasted “roasty” and others have mentioned that the “sublty” was lost on them, preferring a heavier bodied coffee.

To understand the issue, it’s important to realize that different countries produce extremely different coffees for a number of reasons. Similarly to wine and its differing grape varietals, there are a number of varietals of coffee as well. Specialty grade coffee is generally comprised of Arabica or Robusta species, but these species are fairly inexact distinctions, as each contains a number of sub-species. The coffee in question, Fazenda Pedra Preta, is comprised of the yellow bourbon varietal, a common Brazilian strand that originated on the island of Bourbon, where it was first cultivated.

Yellow Bourbon coffee cherries ripening

While Brazil is among the highest yield coffee producing nations, much of its coffee is grown at remarkably lower altitude (often between 800-1200 meters) than is expected for specialty grade (typically around 1300+). As a result, much Brazilian coffee is roasted too dark (i.e., Starbucks) or blended into mediocrity (aka Folgers, Maxwell House, etc.). Often Brazilian coffees are used as a base for espresso blends, as their lower acidic qualities and softness endure through a slightly darker roast to produce a deep creamy body which can then be accented by other coffees (often Central American beans) which have more pronounced flavors.

Characteristically, Brazils tend to be nutty in flavor and the beans “soft” as a result of the lower altitude (higher altitude farms produce denser beans with greater intensity and acidity in brewed flavor). As such, the drinker of a fine Brazilian coffee should not expect intense brightness in their cup, nor will they find a mouthful of flavor notes that are eccentric and intense. Rather, good Brazilian coffees like the Fazenda Pedra Preta lot will be smooth, subtle and refined. In particular, the Fazenda Pedra Preta has a pleasant sweetness to it, round body with a touch of acidity on its edges, hints of floral notes and very light fruits, and a lingering nutty, buttery cocoa flavor in the finish. Smooth and satisfying…