About This Coffee
Fazenda Nossa Senhora Aparecida has been in the family for over 60 years. Siblings Cínthia, Ticiana, Cláudia & Roney Dias Villela are 4th-generation coffee producers and their experience and skill is easily evident in their coffees. Fazenda Nossa Senhora Aparecida placed highly in the 2013 Cup of Excellence Late Harvest competition with the highest average score (92.22) ever given in the Late Harvest competitions.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Cherry harvested and processed on the farm. Ripe cherry is laid on a patio to sundry. Their long-time employee, Ivanil, oversees quality processing for the farm and his knowledge and care helps preserves the delightful flavors in this Yellow Catuai lot. Cherry is raked frequently to ensure even drying.
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.