About This Coffee
The Barbosa family has been cultivating coffee since the 1900s, when current owner Danilo Barbosa’s great-grandfather, Elias Barbosa, purchased the farm. Three generations later, Danilo and his family remain deeply committed to producing high-quality coffee. This Yellow Catucai Natural is a perfect example of their expertise and dedication.
Cultivation
Most Brazilian coffee is grown on large farms designed for maximum productivity. In regions like Cerrado, the relatively flat terrain combined with high labor costs has led many producers to adopt mechanical harvesting as the standard. While full strip-picking used to be the norm, newer machines are much more selective. These harvesters can now target only ripe cherries in each pass, which has opened the door for more specialty-driven practices.
On sloped or uneven terrain, some farms use a manual-mechanized method with a derricadeira—a vibrating rake-like tool that shakes ripe cherries from the trees. Tarps are stretched between the rows to catch the falling fruit. This hybrid method allows producers to manage quality while maintaining efficiency.
The unique microclimate and terroir play a significant role in developing the coffee’s exceptional flavor profile. Their specialty quality is the result of all these carefully managed steps working in harmony.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
After harvest, cherry is brought to the farm’s central processing center. Fermentation for this natural lot takes place in big bags and tanks. The process lasts between 48 to 72 hours with close tracking of Brix, temperature and pH to guide flavor development. Once fermentation is complete, cherry is transferred to patios and suspended beds for slow, controlled drying. The team turns the cherry frequently to ensure even drying and to preserve the full expression of the Yellow Catucai variety.
About Catucai
Catucaí is a naturally occurring cross between Icatu and Catuaí. Since the first selection of Catucaí in 1988 by breeders at Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC), plant breeders have continued crossing Catucaí offspring and breeding them to select for preferred traits, releasing new varieties frequently. With both red and yellow Catuaí varieties, Catucaí’s cherry color comes from the Catuaí parent. Yellow Catucaí is cultivar of Yellow Catuaí and Icatu, and Red Catucaí is a cultivar of Red Catuaí and Icatu.
Catucai is prized for its high productivity and resilience. Catucai is resistant to Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) but has exacting needs for fertilization and water. Trees have more uniform maturation that other varieties, making it easier to harvest ripe cherry.
Coffee in Brazil
Just under 40% of all coffee in the world is produced in Brazil - around 3.7 million metric tons annually. With so much coffee produced, it’s no wonder that the country produces a wide range of qualities. Brazil produces everything from natural Robusta, to the neutral and mild Santos screen 17/18, to the distinctive Rio Minas 17/18. In recent years, Brazilian producers have also begun investing more heavily in specialty coffee production. Through our in-country partners in Brazil, including our sister company, we are able to provide a wide range of Brazilian coffees to our clients: from macrolot to microlot.
Today, the most prolific coffee growing regions of Brazil are Espirito Santo, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Bahia. Most Brazilian coffee is grown on large farms that are built and equipped for maximizing production output through mechanical harvesting and processing. The relatively flat landscape across many of Brazil’s coffee regions combined with high minimum wages has led most farms to opt for this type of mechanical harvesting over selective hand-picking.
In the past, mechanization meant that strip-picking was the norm; however, today’s mechanical harvesters are increasingly sensitive, meaning that farms can harvest only fully ripe cherries at each pass, which is good news for specialty-oriented producers.
In many cases and on less level sections of farms, a mixed form of ‘manual mechanized’ harvesting may be used, where ripe coffee is picked using a derriçadeira – a sort of mechanized rake that uses vibration to harvest ripe cherry. A tarp is spanned between coffee trees to capture the cherry as it falls.
With the aid of these newer, more selective technologies, there’s a growing number of farms who are increasingly concerned with – and able to deliver - cup quality.