Brazil – Minas Gerais

This coffee comes to us from the region of Matheus Pereira. His farm, Santa Izabel, is located in Alfenas, which is in the southern part of the state of Minas Geraís. Matheus started planting coffee at Santa Izabel in 2010. The farm is just 16 hectares, which is a manageable size for one family. Brazil is unique in that most harvesting is performed with machinery, which makes it possible for 1 or 2 people to harvest an entire farm, rather than 20+ if it were harvested by hand. The farm sits at 820 meters above sea level, and Matheus has chosen to stick with mostly Mundo Novo and Catuaí varieties.

There’s a strong showing of bittersweetness that pairs well with thick body, and milder acidity. The ground coffee had a scent of molasses drizzled on roasted nuts, with a moderate level of sweetness backing bittering roast notes. The cup flavors carried prominent bittersweetness, though mild on the actual “bitter” side. That is to say, the sweetness came through quite well in our cup tests, and brought to mind notes of milder dark chocolate, like 70% cacao bar, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I picked up on a ripe hint of fruit, but the cup profile was mostly cocoa-tinged profiles, like dark chocolate syrup, and fudgey brownies with walnuts and almonds. Should make a knockout espresso!