Capadocia / Brazil
Espresso flavor profile:
Nectarine, Caramel, Roasted walnuts, Creamy mouthfeel.
Nectarine fruitiness, caramel and roasted walnut flavors, and a creamy mouthfeel.
Filter coffee flavor profile:
Plum, Tropical fruits, Juicy, Brown sugar, Almond.
Juicy fruitiness of plum and tropical fruit, sweetness of brown sugar, and a lingering aftertaste of almond.
Country of Origin: Brazil
Producer: Augusto Borges Ferreira
Farm: Capadocia
Origin: Sul de Minas > Sao Goncalo do Sapucai
Variety: Catuai
Refining method: Natural
Elevation: 1650m
Harvest time: 2023
Brazil is known as the world's largest coffee producing country, and maintains a stable balance between quality and price. When many people hear Brazilian coffee, they imagine a calm flavor reminiscent of milk chocolate and nuts. However, young producer Augusto is challenging this general image.
Augusto is a fourth-generation coffee farmer, and his wife, Patricia Fernanda Silveira, also comes from a long line of coffee farmers. They share a strong commitment to quality and are committed to producing specialty grade coffee at their Cappadocia farm in the Sul de Minas region of southern Minas Gerais.
With fertile soil and ideal climatic conditions, Minas Gerais produces approximately 30% of Brazil's coffee.
The cost of producing coffee in Brazil is high compared to the market price, and producers must manage production to minimize costs. Since labor costs account for a large portion of production costs, large-scale mechanical harvesting is generally used on Brazilian plantations.
On the other hand, Augusto's farm does not use conventional machine harvesting, but carefully selects and harvests all cherries by hand, which costs three times as much as machine harvesting, but the difference in quality is clear.
Their coffee does not have a strong fruity flavor, but you can feel a high-quality fruit flavor that far exceeds the average quality of Brazilian coffee. It has a beautiful texture and a gentle, solid sweetness like dissolved cane sugar.
The typical Brazilian coffee profile does not command high prices in today's market.
As a result, Brazilian coffee is often traded at relatively low prices, making it difficult for producers to obtain the funds to invest in quality improvements and new initiatives.
This means that producers cannot invest in quality unless they can secure a market for higher-priced coffee.
Given the circumstances, I am very impressed with their attitude of doing the best they can despite their small size and seriously working to improve the quality of their coffee.
Their efforts and passion are clearly reflected in the coffee beans that they produce, and they point to new possibilities for Brazilian coffee. Augusto and Patricia's challenge may be a step towards opening up the future of Brazilian coffee.
