Brazil Mogiana

This Brazilian Mogiana is warm, nutty, and sweet. The complex aroma of toasted nuts and jasmine blends well with the lingering honey finish. It's a crowd-pleaser too. After a dinner party we brew it for 3.5 minutes in a French press to satisfy a variety of palates. It's always flavorful and never bitter or burnt.

THE FARM

One of the most alluring aspects of this coffee is the story behind the farm, and the remarkable attention to quality that has been handed down through the generations. The farm, named Fazenda Cachoeira (or "waterfall farm"), has been a family-run operation since 1890.

Gabriel Carvalho Dias manages the farm for his father, Lindalpho with meticulous attention to quality. The farm workers are happy and healthy, the coffee is delicious, and the farm is like a small ecosphere, almost completely self-sufficient.

LOCATION

The farm is located about 8 hours west from Rio de Janeiro and 4 hours north of Sao Paolo, in the region of Mogiana. The farm sits in a verdant valley near an ancient volcano.

The altitude is between 3,500 and 4,000 feet, and the farm gets 70-78 inches of rain per year with an average temperature of 66 degrees F, which are ideal conditions for coffee plants.

QUALITY

Everything is done manually on this farm, from planting and pruning to harvest and de-pulping. The coffee cherries are harvested on cloth to keep them from touching the ground. The farm workers process the coffee beans quickly to avoid any chance of fermentation. The beans are then washed to separate the beans before being sent to the terrace to dry.

The pulped coffee is dried naturally by the sun on the terrace until the beans reach 20% humidity, then in dryers to bring the humidity down to 11%.

At all stages, quality is at the forefront. The final product is treated with care to protect the award winning flavor all the way into the roaster.

Coffee from Fazenda Cachoeira is the only competitor from Brazil to claim a top ten position in the esteemed Cup of Excellence competition for several years in a row.

GENUINE SUSTAINABILITY

It is always important to find out how the coffee workers are treated on the plantation. Happy, healthy coffee workers are a crucial component of a sustainable, reputable farming operation.

The Dias family treats all of their workers with the utmost respect and care. White houses with blue trim are provided for the coffee workers and their families for free. The farm is almost like a little village, with a school, church, social club, health clinic, and a soccer field.

The farm typifies environmental conservation in the oldest sense of the term. They are not pursuing a trendy marketing concept. The entire farm displays thoughtful methods of preserving energy, protecting the land, air, and water. The farm generates its own electricity from a turbine connected to the waterfall that gave the Fazenda Cachoeira its name. The dried coffee husks are set aside and used to generate power for some of the processing equipment. Extra husks are used as fertilizer and mulch. Eucalyptus trees are grown on the farm for paper production, lumber, and building supplies.

Fazenda Cachoeira is a sustainable operation for the people, the environment, and the end consumer

NOTES

• Net weight: 12 ounces
• Whole bean only.
• For best results, grind immediately before brewing and use within 7-10 days of opening
• You can keep the coffee in an airtight, opaque container to maximize freshness. No need to freeze it!
• Confused about coffee terminology? Check out our Coffee Definitions Page.