Brazil - Mantiqueira

José Wagner Ribeiro Junqueira farms with his his wife Margarida Maria de Castro Junqueira and their three sons; Kleber, Ralph and Herbert. The family's farm is spread over six properties, withthe renowned Serra das Três Barras at the centre - all the coffees produced are processed and prepared here.

Because of the topography of the farm all cherry is hand-picked for quality; this is unusual for Brazil, where picking is normally mechanised. Cherries are then taken to the drying patios the same day for processing afterwards they are rested for 30 to 60 days in wooden lined silos. The dry milling is done at the Cocarive co-operative nearby, where beans are colour sorted, graded, and bagged for shipping.

Alvaro Antônio Pereira Coli and his family are fourth generation coffee farmers, who have been growing speciality coffee at Sitio Da Torre since 2002; Alvaro’s farm is located just outside the spa town of Sao Lourenco.

Yellow Bourbon is a predominant variety on the farm, and one that this area is famous for growing; uch is the reputation it has built, Alvaro has started offering a farm stay experience and tours of the ‘circuito das aguas’, a route taking in many of the springs that the area is also famous for.

Alvaro has won Cup of Excellence status no less than 29 times, and constantly evaluates his processing methods and quality procedures

The Serra de Mantiqueira stretch across the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. Located in the Minas Gerais state, the Mantiqueira de Minas area was the first to get a geographical indication in the Brazilian coffee industry. This fresh approach, akin to ‘terroir’ in the wine industry, began to redefine how people viewed specialty coffee from Brazil. 

Brazil is the biggest producer of arabica coffee in the world; with 25 counties and in the region and 7,800 producers - 89% of which are smallholders. 

Mantiqueira comprises 69,500 hectares and altitude ranges from 900 to 1,500 masl, with a predominance of yellow varieties over the more typical red. All coffees are minimum 84 SCA points as part of the denomination and many enter the late harvest Cup of Excellence in Brazil.

The lower altitudes are often grazed by cattle and the steeper slopes (compared to other parts of the state) mean that the near ubiquitous mechanisation of the coffee industry in Brazil is much less commonly seen here, where hand picking is more prevalent. 

Once the coffee is picked, it is processed on the farm, and then brought to the Cocarive warehouse just outside São Lourenço. It is then rigorously cupped under the guidance of ex Brazilian cupping Champion Wellington Pereira.