Peet's Coffee & Tea
BRAZIL

The best natural Brazil coffees exude a flavor like just-roasted hazelnuts. Minas is for Minas Gerais, the biggest—and we think best—producing state located in the south-center of Brazil. Naturais is Brazilian Portuguese for natural, the bean preparation method we most prefer in this part of the world. It takes plenty of sun to dry all the way through the skin and sweet pulp of the coffee fruit to the seeds inside. This is done on well-tended patios, where whole cherries are raked continuously, and also on the trees, where a portion of the pickings are left to dry on the branch. All of our favorite farms also produce coffees by the “pulped natural” method, which involves removing the skin and some of the fruit pulp from the outset, and the “washed” method, which fully removes it, as is the standard in countries like Costa Rica. In Brazil, with lower altitudes and less acidity, we find the typical washed coffee to be somewhat bland. Brazil Minas Naturais is anything but, making maximal effect of slow sun drying for a thoroughly sweet cup with mild fruit and caramel notes and smooth, full body.