Introduction:As a classic variety of Arabica, Red Bourbon has spread from the Indian Ocean’s Bourbon Island all the way to Minas Gerais in southern Brazil, giving it a distinctive profile with pronounced sweetness and gentle acidity. This article delves into the regional characteristics, processing methods, and roasting profiles of this Brazilian semi-washed Red Bourbon, while also providing practical parameters for pour over, French press, and AeroPress brewing, helping you find your optimal extraction method.
Red Bourbon (Red Bourbon) is one of the most representative varieties within the Arabica species. Originating from Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean (now Réunion Island), it was later introduced to various parts of Central and South America and Africa by missionaries and traders. This Red Bourbon from Brazil’s Minas Gerais region, processed via the semi-washed method, showcases distinct sweetness and a rich body, making it suitable for everyday drinking and a common base choice for many blended beans.
Located in Brazil’s hilly regions at elevations between 700 and 1200 meters, Minas Gerais is one of the country’s earliest developed coffee-growing areas. With rising labor costs, more and more farms in the region have switched to mechanical harvesting, improving efficiency while also turning the area into a major source of Brazil’s commercial-grade beans. Compared to Bahia, known for its washed beans, or Espírito Santo, which focuses on Robusta exports, Minas Gerais stands out for its stable production capacity and commercial-grade quality.
Brazil’s coffee cultivation can be broadly divided into two types: highland and plains. In highland areas above 500 meters in elevation—such as Minas Gerais—the common processing methods are natural sun-dried or semi-washed, often yielding coffees with low acidity, nutty, and chocolatey notes. Among the Bourbon family, Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and flat bean Santos are commonly seen varieties. With its stable flavor profile and balanced taste, Red Bourbon plays a foundational role in espresso blends and is also used by many brands to emulate the flavor characteristics of Blue Mountain coffee.
The Bourbon variety was originally referred to as le Bourbon before 1789, a mutation of Typica, with both being among the oldest surviving coffee varieties. When ripe, the fruit of Red Bourbon undergoes a gradual color change from green → light yellow → light orange → bright red → dark red, hence its name. Compared to other Bourbon variants such as Yellow Bourbon or Orange Bourbon, Red Bourbon can often exhibit richer aroma layers at appropriate altitudes, even carrying delicate wine-like aftertastes.
The global spread of the Bourbon variety carries significant historical meaning. Introduced to Brazil in 1727, Typica suffered from low yields and weak disease resistance, prompting the introduction of Bourbon around 1860 from the Campinas region in southern Brazil. It quickly expanded to various countries in Central and South America. To this day, the Bourbon variety can still be found in places like El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Peru. In Africa, French missionaries (Spiritan) played a crucial role in promoting the Bourbon variety, bringing it from Réunion Island via Zanzibar, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Kenya, and finally introducing it to the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania around 1900, laying the foundation for the local coffee varieties.
Brazil employs diverse coffee processing methods, but sun-dried and semi-washed are the mainstream. The subject of this article—Red Bourbon from the Minas Gerais region—is processed using the semi-washed method: unripe and defective cherries are first removed via water tanks, followed by the removal of the outer skin and some pulp, then the mucilage layer is cleared using a demucilager. This step not only shortens the drying time but also helps reduce fermentation risks, making it especially suitable for humid climates or regions with unstable rainfall. It is also a common processing method for Brazilian commercial beans.
Brazil’s coffee grading system is relatively unique, taking into account multiple indicators such as defect rate, bean size, flavor, and taste. For example, in the common designation ‘Brasil Santos, NY 2 SC17/18 SS FC’, NY2 represents the defect ratio, where higher numbers indicate more defects; SC17/18 refers to bean size grading; SS FC distinguishes flavor and taste grades such as Strictly Soft and Soft, where Fine Cup and Good Cup signify high quality. Overall, Brazilian coffee is known for its pronounced sweetness, clean taste, low acidity, and rich balance, making it suitable for all types of consumers and a foundational component in many blend recipes.
In terms of roasting, Brazilian Red Bourbon, typically grown at elevations between 1000 and 1300 meters, features softer bean texture, lower density, and moderate moisture content, making it unsuitable for high-temperature, fast roasting, which can easily result in burnt and bitter flavors. It is recommended to use medium heat for stable bean input, maintain consistent firepower during the drying phase, and make slight temperature adjustments after the first crack begins to promote caramelization. This semi-washed bean requires a slower temperature rise after the first crack, and can be dropped just before the second crack to preserve its sweetness and smooth texture.
Practical roasting reference parameters (using a Yangjia 600g semi-direct-fire machine as an example): Preheat to 200°C before loading, set the air vent to 3. After 30 seconds, ignite and adjust the firepower to 160, keeping the air vent unchanged. The turning point occurs around 1 minute and 30 seconds, continue at 160 firepower until 5 minutes when the yellowing phase begins and grassy notes fade, entering the drying stage. At this point, reduce the firepower to 130 and open the air vent to 4. When the temperature reaches 168°C, lower the firepower to 100. Around 8 minutes in, drying is complete, with wrinkles and black spots appearing on the bean surface, marking the prelude to the first crack—closely monitor the first crack sounds. The first crack begins at 8 minutes and 50 seconds, fully open the air vent to 5. The development phase after the first crack lasts about 3 minutes and 10 seconds. When the temperature approaches 190°C, gradually reduce the firepower to 50, then to 30, and finally drop the beans at around 200°C.
For brewing, this well-balanced Red Bourbon suits various extraction methods. For pour over, it is recommended to use a V60 dripper, with 15 grams of coffee, water temperature at 89–91°C, grind size around 3.5 (equivalent to Japanese Fuji R440 #4), and a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15. Begin with a 30-second bloom using 30 grams of water, then proceed with pulsed pouring: pour up to 120ml, pause, then slowly pour up to 225ml, with total brew time around 2 minutes. For French press, a grind size of 3.5–4 and water temperature at 90°C is suggested. For AeroPress, a 2.5 grind size at the same 90°C water temperature is recommended to highlight its sweetness and nutty character.
For espresso, a double basket setting is recommended: use about 20.5 grams of coffee, maintain a grind size of around 2.0, and extract 42 grams of espresso in 28 seconds at a 1:2 coffee-to-water ratio, balancing sweetness and body. Regardless of the method chosen, appropriate adjustments to grind size and water temperature will allow this Red Bourbon from southern Minas Gerais, Brazil, to showcase its unique charm.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
