About This Coffee
Edson da Silva was born and raised on his grandparent’s fazenda in Cristina and inherited their passion for coffee production. Today, he operates Fazenda Sertaozinho in the same community and works tirelessly to produce high-quality specialty coffee.
Cultivation
Edson’s farm is small, about 5 hectares, so he focuses on producing high quality coffee to garner a premium for his lots. On small farms like Edson’s, most of the work is done by hand by the family. Some families hire additional labor during the harvest to ensure cherry is picked at peak ripeness.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
To ensure the highest quality lots, Edson and his family selectively handpick ripe, red cherry. Once picked, they lay cherry on a patio in their backyard to slowly sundry. They rake cherry frequently to ensure even drying.
Once dry, Edson oversees the coffee as it’s packed into trucks. Then, he accompanies the truck on his motorcycle as an ‘escort’ to ensure his microlots arrive safely and remain differentiated.
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.