About This Coffee
Monica Borges and her husband manage the over 100-year old farm, Fazenda Vila Boa in Campos das Vertentes, Sul de Minas. The farm has always been focused on its social and environmental impacts. In addition to supporting nearly 450 people in the surrounding community with jobs and social projects, Fazenda Vila Boa is certified carbon neutral. Certified by GRÖN, the carbon neutral certification demonstrates that the farm sequesters more carbon (through plant life) than it emits (through harvest & processing).
Cultivation
Campo das Vertentes is located in the heart of Minas Gerais state. The region gained its name, meaning literally “watershed fields,” due to its location between two important water basins in Brazil. Because of the fertile soils and the abundance of water, agriculture arrived early in the region, following the first settlers who came in search of precious metals.
Coffee adapted perfectly to this area and production can be traced back to 1860. More recently, the rich coffee tradition of Campo das Vertentes, as well as the unique landscape and microclimate of the region, are being recognized by a new geographical indication.
The region is characterized by high plateaus with an average altitude of 1,030 meters above sea level. Soft slopes allowing for efficient mechanization. The region has regular rainfall and mild temperatures throughout the year. The harvest season has dry weather, favoring post-harvest procedures, with a broad temperature range during the harvest season, offering good conditions for the maturation cycle.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Coffee is selectively harvested and placed inside a plastic barrel to ferment anaerobically (without oxygen). Cherry ferments in the barrel for over 100 hours. Following fermentation, cherry is laid on patios to sun dry. Cherry is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 15 days for cherry to dry.
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.