Brazil produces enormous quantities of coffee using a daunting variety of processing methods and botanical varieties. It is probably safe to divide Brazil's coffees into three very broad categories.

The first category would be commercial coffees, which inlcude cheap, mass produced arabica coffees that are strip-picked and dried on vast patios, plus the smaller quantities of robusta species coffee grown in Brazil. Home roasters can feel safe in dismissing these coffees from their collections.

The second category are the best Santos-style commercially traded coffees. These coffees, usually described in the trade as Santos 2/3, good to fine cup, which have been picked and dry processed with more care than the previously mentioned lower grades and which are extremely usefull in blending, particularly for espresso. These are usually medium to full -bodied, sweet, round but heartier than similar wet-processed coffees from other coffee origins.

Finally, the true Brazilian Specialty coffees, our last category, which are sold by estate name and by processing method, which can range from wet-processed or washed that are light, bright and gentle, to dry-processed or natural coffees that are rounder and fuller, to the often extraordinary semi-dry-processed or pulped cherry coffees, which may glisten with subtle fruit and floral notes riding a delicate sweetness. As elsewhere in Latin America, trees of the traditional Bourbon variety produce the most sought after and usually complex lots of coffee, but other selected varieties like Mundo Novo and Catuai also produce outstanding cup quality.

There are fine selections of coffee that come from the Caribbean (Jamaica, Puerto Rico , Dominican Republic and even coastal Venezuela). Most of these are powerful yet lower-toned, and with an acidity which holds in the deep, sweet and long finish. The most well known of these is obvioucly the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, which is intense and rounded, a big coffee with a richly balanced acidity. The unfortunate part is that small production areas have led to many cases of diluting higher grown, better quality product with lower grown ordinary varieties, thus making this well known origin a rather ordinary Caribbean coffee, usually not worth the price which is triple or quadruple what you would pay for other fine origins. Just be cautious about your supply line and steer clear of anything claiming to be "Blue Mountain Style" or "Blue Mountain Blend".

Other gentler classics would be Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and Mexico. All of which tend to be lively more than overpowering in acidity and rounded in flavour. These are coffees with abundant natural sweetness which will come through in lighter roasts and get enhanced in the darker profiles. Their gentler acidity makes them very attractive to the black coffee drinker who abstain from using sweeteners. In terms of body, these range from well rounded coffees such as Peru, to fuller bodied coffee from Nicaragua, or light and sweet varieties such as El Salvador. You also have some origins which display fruitier and floral tones like Mexico or Panama when they are not over roasted.

The last of the classics is Brazil, which deserves a post all on its own, being the largest coffee producer in the world with an ample variety within one origin.

The Classics tend to manifest full body, bright acidity and clean and straightforward cup presence. These are the coffees that provide what North Americans tend to consider normal within their cup of coffee.

The most beloved of these types of coffee are balanced, yet powerful. This means they are strong in all respects. They present a vibrant acidity as well as a full body and complex flavor. As a norm they are all grown at high altitude, even though many factors such as latitude, cloud cover, moisture and such can create coffees which will mimic what comes natural to the classic high mountain grown. When coffee is grown at lower altitude, it tends to show by way of a softer and sweeter taste, with a lighter and brisker acidity and lesser body.

The classics taste is based in part on its brightness and clarity of flavor which is achieved during the wet processsing of the coffee cherry. Most of all the latin american coffees are wet processed, with the exception being the dry and semi dry processed coffees of Brazil.

Generally speaking, the bigger classics of Latin America are the finer Costa Ricans, Guatemalans and Colombians, all full bodied and with a rich acidity content. The best of the Guatemalans are generally a bit more intriguing and complex than the Costa Ricans, which are most famous for the clarity they present. It is generally believed that the difference stems from the varietals or cultivars which are planted in each country, whereas in Costa Rica growers plant alot of the newer Caturra arabica and in Guatemala they tend more towards the older Typica and Bourbon arabica cultivars. In Colombia, coffee is remarkably consistent, mostly owing to the Coffee Federation and its standards. They also concentrate on growing Bourbon and Typica, but with the work of the federation, have created strains of these which are more resistance to pests, provide more yield and carry a magnificient quality of taste, owing much to the valid fame of their cup quality.