About This Coffee
Sinval Domicianco grew up helping his father on their small family farm and working on coffee farms in the surrounding area of Ilicínea. When he met his wife, Graciela, they began working together to save the money to buy their own property. In 2013, they finally realised their dream and bought a small plot of land on which to start their own coffee farm.
Serra Velha sits in the town of Ilicinea in Sul de Minas. The farm is 11 hectares total. Seven hectares are used for coffee cultivation. Sinval works hard at growing the highest quality coffee he can. Eighty percent of his total production is specialty coffee. Graciela and Sinval invest a great deal of time and energy into their farm by planting more coffee trees, improving their drying patios and much more. Sinval is also studying to learn more about improving batch quality, sustainability and environmental preservation.
Cultivation
Sinval and Graciela are committed to producing the best quality coffee possible and in maintaining a productive and sustainable farm. They test the soil every year and conduct a leaf analysis three times per year. Fertiliser is applied when needed. Only 100% Yellow Catuai is planted at Serra Velha, and the farm is so new that the young trees (4-7 years old) do not yet need pruning.
Sinval notes that Mundo Novo and Topazio are often popular varietals to plant alongside Yellow Catuai because all three varietals mature at different times, spreading out harvest times and making it easier to selectively pick ripe cherry. This may be a long-term plan for the farm.
Cognisant of the potential impacts of climate change, Sinval and Graciela are investigating new varieties and planting methods that can withstand the potential changes in rainfall and other climate change-related alterations to the environment. They is also doing his part to maintain Serra Velha as sustainably as possible. Sinval plants native trees around his farm and works to preserve the springs on the land that run into larger rivers. Forty percent of the farm is under conservation, providing a rich, safe home for the native flora and fauna.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Due to the mountainous terrain peppered with rocks, using machinery for cultivation growing and harvesting is not possible. Labour costs in Brazil are high and increase the overall cost of production. However, selective hand harvesting pays off in the high quality of the coffee. Throughout the process, lots are separated by quality and day. After harvesting, cherry is spread in thin layer in the concrete patio. Cherry is turned frequently to ensure even drying. Solar drying on the farm can take up to 35 days.
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.