It is a well-known fact that most coffee comes from Brazil, but beyond that, very few people are aware of all of the intricacies of Brazilian coffee. Today we’ll discuss a specific type of Brazilian coffee in a little bit more detail: Brazilian Santos Coffee.
Specific coffee names in reference to a country generally refer to a specific coffee plant variety, but the Brazilian Santos coffee is a little bit different in that regard. Santos is the name of a port in Brazil that is located not too far from Sao Paulo. When Brazil first started becoming big in coffee production and coffee exportation, “Brazilian Santos” coffee was coffee that came specifically from this port, and was regarded as much higher quality than other Brazilian coffees. And, this was a big deal at the time because Brazil in general was becoming well known because their coffees were generally of higher quality than other countries. So, you can think of the Brazilian Santos coffee as being thought of coming from the best of the best.
Due to Brazilian Santos coffee becoming known for its high quality, over time the term became more entwined with high-grade coffee rather than the type of coffee or its exact coffee farm geography. Due to the popularity of this coffee, the small port town of Santos grew from only 30,000 people in 1850, to about 250,000 by the year 1900. The popularity of this coffee and international pressure to expand the coffee economy led to lots of immigrants and job seekers to flock to this particular area.
Although Brazilian Santos coffee did morph into more of a “grading” than a specific variety of coffee plant, it does tend to be Arabica coffee of the bourbon variety. Bourbon coffee plants started in Ethiopia and Yemen, before being spread across mainland Africa, and in more recent centuries finally finding itself in Latin America. The term bourbon does not refer to the alcohol or the flavor as you might find yourself wondering. It is a reference to Ile Bourbon where it was being produced, and the French then took it and spread it elsewhere.
Match Made Coffee‘s Brazilian Santos tends to have a lighter flavor naturally, not having the bite that some people love/hate about a plain black coffee. Since it is lighter in flavor, we do a darker roast to add in that extra kick of flavor. The combination of the natural flavors and the darker roast give it a chocolate, cinnamon, and nutty flavor to it. These combinations go perfectly with our PB Overload Cookie, meshing the cinnamon and nutty flavors with the sweet peanut butter flavor, with that nice and light chocolate after taste that people have come to appreciate from a good, dark coffee.
Sources: SCA, Brazilian coffee production wiki, bourbon coffee origination info, coffee variety blurbs.
