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Newsletter 1 (Pdf) COFFEE RESEARCH NEWSLETTER ZZZZZFRIZFRIIIHHHHUHUHVVHHDDUFUFKKRURUJ September 18, 2000 Volume 1, Issue 1 Brazil’s Coffee Producing Regions I am nearing the end of my determined by the quantity Sampaio, who worked with two month journey studying harvested, the difficulty of Kraft foods in New York on Coffeeresearch.org coffee throughout Brazil. My harvesting in that particular coffee and now works as a Updates On October 5th almost travels began in Sul de Minas, region, and the production coffee agronomist. He had a 300 megabytes of new con- Brazil, which translates to the estimates for the region. I refreshing sense of creativity tent will be added to cof- southern part of the state of then briefly visited the and a strong passion for cof- feeresearch.org. Almost Minas Gerais. The coffees in Ipanema estate near Alfenas, fee, which is essential to spe- every page has been updated Sul de Minas are mild and Minas Gerais. Being perched cialty coffee production. De- and numerous pages have sweet. They have a nice body on rolling hills overlooking a spite his vast knowledge of been added. Videos de- and have a relatively bright vast system of lakes and fields agronomy, he continues to scribing sample roasting, acidity for Brazilian coffees. of coffee, it was one of the look for ways to improve on cupping, classification, strip I spent nearly three weeks at most beautiful coffee farm I traditional methodologies: a harvesting, selective har- Fazenda Monte Alegre, which have visited. challenge I make to all coffee vesting, and classification is one of the largest and best My travels in Sul de Minas professionals in every sect of have been added. As I pre- coffee producers in Brazil. also took me to Exprinsul (an this industry. My trip to Sul pare for my trip to Guate- The quality control and social exportation company), de Minas culminated in a visit mala to continue studying programs were outstanding. Cooxupe (the largest coffee with Marcelo Vieira, the coffee production I will be By carefully monitoring each cooperative in the world), the President of the BSCA, whose adding a significant amount plot of land and each lot of coffee research laboratory at estate recently produced a of information making cof- coffee, they have been able to Lavras University, and Pocos coffee rated by Coffee Re- feeresearch.org the most de- relate environmental condi- de Caldas to visit the Lambari view to be one of the best in tailed coffee site on the web. tions to cup quality. An ex- estate. Although I only vis- the world. tensive software system they ited Lambari for two days, I After Sul de Minas, I ven- developed allows the wages learned an incredible amount of a coffee harvester to be of information from Eduardo Continued Page 2. Inside This Edition • Brazil’s Coffee Producing The Many Flavors of Brazil Regions. Page 1-2. • The Many Flavors of Bra- The main purpose of my With a free market and the yearlong study of coffee has American desire for estate zil. Pages 2 and 3. been to correlate microcli- specific coffees, there has • Defining Good Brazilian mate, harvesting, processing been an incentive for produc- methods, and social programs ers to produce higher quality Coffees. Page 3. to coffee quality. The many coffees. This mentality is • Super (Coffee) Tasters. flavors of Brazilian coffee are spreading, but progress is still emerging after the break- slow. The Brazilian Specialty Pages 3-4 down of the ICO quota sys- Coffee Association (www. • Tongue Maps and Impli- tem. Today, each region of bsca.com.br) has done an ex- Brazil is producing a distinc- cellent job with growing spe- cations in Cupping. Page tive enhancement to the previ- cialty coffees and promoting 4. ously featureless blended cof- fees under the quota system. Continued Page 3 Brazil’s Coffee Producing Regions Continued... Continued from page 1 the back of the tongue and into the back As my trip to Brazil nears an end I of the throat. By cupping strongly the will miss the unparalleled hospitality, the tured into the Brazilian Cerrado and vis- coffee passes into the throat and retro great varieties of coffee available, and ited both Andrade Bros. and Alto nasally where aroma and flavor are tied the wonderful Brazilian culture. In early Cafezal. Both estates produced excellent together. More details on this method October I will have extensive details natural-processed coffees having a strong and videos of Silvio cupping will be about each of the coffee growing regions body, potent sweetness, and mild acidity. available on coffeeresearch.org in early of Brazil on coffeeresearch.org including I would consider coffees of this region to October. videos of harvesting, cupping, classifica- be almost essential for an espresso blend. I will spend next week with Silvio at tion, and processing. I am already look- The high altitude and dry climate causes Lavras University to cup almost 1,000 ing forward to the day I return to Brazil coffee to mature slowly and dry evenly. samples from all over Brazil to help de- as the idea of specialty coffee is growing The soil is poor and rainfall is scarce in termine Brazils best coffee for the Gour- and as new regions are being explored as this region of Brazil, however the land is met cupping competition. After several coffee producing areas. The coffee in- flat, fertilizers are readily available, and cuppers from Brazil narrow the selection dustry in Brazil is changing rapidly for irrigation systems are easy to implement. down to 150 samples, renowned cuppers the better and is well worth another look After Cerrado I spent a week learning from throughout the world will make the if you have dismissed it as a country that about the coffees of Bahia through the final selections. The top ten coffees will produces coffees suitable only for blend- eyes of Silvio Leite, one of Brazil’s best then be auctioned on the Internet and are ing. cuppers, at Agribahia estate in Brejões, bound to fetch premium prices. Bahia. The conditions in Brejões are similar to that of Central America. Spo- radic rains lead to multiple flowerings and the humidity is high throughout the year. Therefore, all of the coffees must be selectively harvested (up to ten times per year) and must be dried immediately in mechanical dryers. The result, al- though expensive to produce, is superb. The coffees I cupped were extraordinar- ily sweet, soft, and had a very nice body. Silvio Leite is renowned for his cupping skills in Brazil. Kenneth Davids com- mented after his filming of A Passionate Harvest that if a blind man were in the room while Silvio was cupping he would think a plane was landing. Silvio cups strongly which aspirates the coffee onto Defining Good Brazilian Coffee The more I travel and the more cof- with good body and sweetness. Al- I would like to see a trend towards fees I cup, I realize that defining the though often true, this definition is remi- defining the characteristics of particular characteristics of a coffee producing niscent of a time when most regions were regions within a country and a reversal of country is dangerous and should be done blended together to hide more potent the innate desire in humanity to try to so with reservation. The coffees within a characteristics. Strong characteristics, define a country’s coffee and then seek coffee will differ depending on their re- even acidity, should be considered OK in particular estates that embody this lim- spective microclimates, and by defining any coffee. The importation and exporta- ited definition. the good attributes of a country you are tion should not necessarily be based upon minimizing the regional distinctions. our evaluation of how near a certain cup In Brazil I find the definition of a is to our preconceived notion, but rather good coffee to be balanced and smooth upon its true value. 3DJH &RIIHH 5HVHDUFK ,QVWLWXWH The Many Flavors of Brazil Continued... Continued from Page 1 natural dry-processed coffees. The proc- every roaster would stamp the country essing method is chosen to exploit the name on the bag rather than stamping a the specialty coffee concept to other natural characteristics of the coffee. growers and consumers. nebulous name such as “Brazil”. Until Since each regions coffee has a different we differentiate the many flavors of Bra- I have visited estates in Sul de Minas, flavor profile and the processing method Cerrado, and Bahia. Estates in Sul de zil, we lack the education necessary to augments this profile, there are a rich maximize our creative potential. Since Minas produce natural, pulped natural, variety of coffees available in Brazil. and washed coffees. In Cerrado the ma- the majority of Brazilian coffee is used Unfortunately, most of the Brazilian for espresso, it is essential to understand jority of coffees are naturally processed, coffees taste similar in the United States. whereas in Bahia the high-quality coffees the particular characteristics of each re- The main reason is that we roast our cof- gion and decide if blending is necessary are washed. Processing decisions are not fees too darkly. Brazilian coffees are arbitrary, nor subjective. Fermentation is and if so in what proportions. relatively mild compared to many of the By October 5th a discussion of flavor the enemy. The processing method is coffees in the world and must be roasted profiles related to processing and micro- therefore chosen to combat fermentation lightly. Secondly, if we continue to buy during the drying process and promote cheap coffees from Brazil, the exporter climates will be provided on coffeere- the natural flavors of the region.
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