Brazil - Santa Lucia (2023)

Santa Lúcia is another lovely farm belonging to the Pereira family, our long-running relationship in Carmo de Minas, Brazil. We have partnered with CarmoCoffees for nearly all of our sourcing in Brazil from core blend components to smaller seasonal lots like this.

This coffee (returning to our menu for its second year!) is delightful—expect lower acidity and heavier body in a sweet, comforting cup. We taste cocoa and hazelnut, brown sugar, apricot, date, milk chocolate, and peanut butter. 

Hélcio Carneiro Pinto began producing coffee at 15, assisting on his mother's coffee farm. In 1976, he took responsibility for managing Fazenda Santa Lúcia following his marriage to Glycia, the daughter of Jose Isidro Pereira and Nazareth Dias Pereira.

With 740 hectares, Santa Lúcia is more than double the size of Central Park. Most of the farm is dedicated to bananas, corn, and cattle, but the smaller fraction that is planted with coffee grows mundo novo, yellow catuaí, acaiá, and yellow bourbon. Elevations on the farm range from 900 to 1,250 meters above sea level—quite high for -22º latitude, providing the ideal temperatures for the slow and complete maturation of coffee fruits.

Like many farms in the area, Santa Lúcia follows a sort of alternate-side pruning process called safra zero or "zero harvest" method. Each year, half of the farm's coffee is pruned and the other is not. The half which is pruned "rests" for the following season, producing nothing. The half that is allowed to remain productive yields 80-90 bags per hectare, about three times more than would be expected with no pruning regimen—all while reducing costs and improving quality. 

This specific lot consists of 100% yellow bourbon, a variety we've grown to prefer in Brazil. After it was harvested and dried, it was brought to the CarmoCoffees warehouse in the nearby city of Três Corações where it underwent state-of-the-art dry-milling using custom-fabricated Pinhalense equipment.

In partnership with Cafe Imports, a portion of our purchasing supports CriaCarmo, a project supporting education and recreation for youth in Carmo de Minas. With activities such as swimming, dance, karate, chess, soccer, and English lessons, the vision of CriaCarmo is to provide children with the language, team building, and critical thinking skills to succeed in the professional world.