As a joint venture of five outstanding coffee farms situated in one of Brazil’s most privileged locations for the cultivation of coffee. The Santa Rita, Monte Verde, Santa Helena, C.R. and Floresta estates are located in the district of Carmo de Minas, in Minas Gerais, Brazil’s foremost coffee producing state. This district has gained international recognition for producing top quality coffee as a result of its high rankings in the Cup of Excellence quality contest, Brazil’s most important specialty coffee competition. In recent years, coffee produced in Carmo do Minas has been consistently placed among the top ten finalists of this nationwide event.

These results are due to a combination of ideal ecological conditions – such as soil, temperature and altitude – and the personal dedication of the growers, who are committed to the sustainable production of fine coffee.

The Brazilian coffee sector is increasingly conscious of the need for production systems that are compatible with environmental preservation and social responsibility. This concern is also a key factor in the administration of the Santa Rita, Monte Verde, Santa Helena, C.R. and Floresta estates.

All five farms have set aside areas for the preservation of the native vegetation with a full range of bio diversity. Special attention is paid to the abundant springs and streams by the establishment of buffer areas that assure the purity of the water.

By products of coffee processing, such as water used in processing tanks and wet pulp removed from the beans, are carefully treated before being returned to the soil as a biological fertilizer.

Brazilian Coffee History

Coffee was introduced in Brazil by Francisco de Mello Palheta in 1727 from Cayenne, French Guiana. Today, Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and is becoming a significant player in the specialty coffee industry. Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, and Mundo Novo coffee cultivars are grown in the states of Paraná, Espirito Santos, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Bahia.

When the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and the Brazilian Institute do Café (IBC) set quotas for importing and exporting coffees, it protected a few producers in Brazil while deteriorating specialty coffee sector. Since quotas were set, volume was expected. Unfortunately, the focus was on price and quantity not quality. The producers would mix together higher-quality coffees with low-quality Brazilian coffees to meet the demands of the quota system. The producers would then rename the coffees as Santos 1, Santos 2, etc. where Santos was the port where coffee was exported. In the early 90's the new government in Brazil broke the quota and protection laws for both the coffee and sugar industry. Subsequently, both the IBC and the IAA (sugar) were closed. This brought about a revolution in how coffee was exported in Brazil, thereby bringing about a reform in how coffee was grown, processed, and treated. Slowly the amazing variety of coffee available in Brazil became evident as consumers exercised their new right to purchase estate specific specialty coffees.

Today, Brazilian coffees have become more than just blenders. Now that they are not pre-blended for us we can roast them properly to amplify their diverse characteristics. Then, if desired, we can blend the roasted coffees together to achieve a richer, bolder, and smoother espresso blend. Since the breakdown of the IBC and the quota system internal consumption in Brazil has increased. Exportation to the United States has also increased. Specialty coffee is on the rise and Brazil should no longer be viewed as a country suitable only for blending.

Size

The vast majority of farms in Brazil are less than ten hectares in size. According to the Diagnóstico da Cafeicultura em Minas Gerais, 71% of farms are less than 10 hectares, 25% of farms had less than 50 hectares, and only 4% of farms were larger than 50 hectares.

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and produces around 25% of the world's supply of coffee. Eighty percent of this is Arabica.

Processing

Brazil processes its coffee by the wet (washed), dry (natural), and semi-washed (pulped natural) methods. The vast majority of coffees are still processed via the dry method since Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that has the appropriate weather to do so successfully. Due to Brazil's distinct dry and wet seasons, the flowering and cherry maturation is homogeneous. This allows Brazilians to harvest coffee via the strip picking method and/or mechanically. Although under-ripe and overripe cherries are also harvested, careful processing will easily remove these cherries. In my experience, I have found Brazil to have one of the most advanced and well-cared-for processing systems in the industry.

Dry-Process: Dry-processed (Naturally processed) coffees are dried while they are still in the cherry. Prior to drying only cherries that float will be removed. Since the coffees are dried in contact with the sweet mucilage, the coffee will be heavy in body, sweet, smooth, and complex. This coffee is also one of the most complex to deal with do to the long drying times and possibility of fermentation. However, since dry-processed coffees are more difficult, Brazil has invested significant time and money to developing new drying systems and drying practices to prevent fermentation.

Wet-Process: Wet-processing coffees is a relatively new method of removing the four layers surrounding the coffee bean. This process results in a coffee that is cleaner, brighter, and fruitier. Wet processing is done in a relatively small proportion to dry-processing in Brazil, but offers another cleaner and brighter dimension to Brazilian coffees.

Pulped Natural: The pulped natural method consists of pulping a coffee, but emitting the fermentation stage to remove the silverskin. This results in a beverage that has characteristics of both a dry- and wet-processed coffee. It is often sweeter than wet-processed coffees, has some of the body of a dry-processed coffee, but also retains some of the acidity of a wet-processed coffee. This type of processing can only occur in countries where the humidity is low and the coffee covered in the sweet mucilage can be dried rapidly without fermenting. Brazil has made this method famous and produces some of the best pulped-natural coffees in the world. All twenty winners of the Gourmet Cup competition in Brazil in 2000 processed their coffees using the pulped natural method.

Re-passed: There is another type of coffee that has emerged on the market called re-passed or raisins. These coffees are floaters and are usually discarded with the rest of the floaters. However, they have a flavor profile that some of the world's best experts find to be much sweeter than traditional pulped coffees. The cherries float because they have dried too long on the tree before being collected. This, however, allows the bean to interact with the mucilage for a longer amount of time before the start of fermentation. The beans are removed from the rest of the floaters using a barrel system developed by Eduardo Sampio in Brazil. The coffees are then re-passed and pulped. They can then be washed or used as pulped naturals. The availability of the curiously sweet re-passed coffees is very limited since it is mainly experimental at this time. Ask your Brazilian supplier if they separate out this type of coffee and what flavor characteristics this coffee possesses. It may be another option for espresso blending and is likely to become the fourth category of coffee processing.

As in other countries the most significant player in flavor profile is the processing method. After this more subtle nuances due to regional characteristics can take over. There are several distinct regions in Brazil, each large enough to be their own country and distinct enough to be considered so.