Brazil
Mantiqueira de Minas
Lucia Satie Hamanaka
Fazenda Candeias
Arara
Natural
May–July
Nougat, Grape, Silky
949 meters
N/A
60 kg w/ GrainPro
EU - Hamburg, Germany - Schwarze
Lucia Satie Hamanaka began her coffee career with her husband after retiring from her career as a nurse. “After retiring, I felt that the ‘Art of Caring’ needed to extend to something greater. Together with my husband, we planned and left São Paulo’s capital to pursue a dream of cultivating high-quality coffee,” she tells us.
“Our grandparents immigrated from Japan to Brazil in the 1930s in search of work and dedicated themselves to coffee farming in the northwest of São Paulo. Thanks to coffee, they established themselves in this welcoming and wonderful country. Since 2018, [my husband and I] have been dedicated to coffee cultivation in Cambuquira, in the state of Minas Gerais, on the Candeias farm, a region with the Mantiqueira de Minas Designation of Origin. It has a unique climate, altitude, and soil – a perfect terroir for obtaining excellent quality coffee beans.”
When Lucia took over operation of Fazenda Candeias, the farm was already planted with two plots of Catucaí Amarelo. In the few years since taking ownership however, she and her husband have planted other plots with Arara, Red Catuaí, Yellow Catucaí, and Red Acauã varieties.
“We are dedicated to improving sustainable cultivation processes, harvest management, and post-harvest under the guidance of an agronomist specialist in specialty coffees. We are investing in the installation of a rotary dryer, a coffee processing machine, and the construction of a larger concrete patio since we currently have two small asphalt patios.
“We currently produce coffee using the natural drying process on the patio, with temperature and humidity control, separating lots, and ensuring traceability. During this journey, I became acquainted with AMECAFÉ (Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Mantiqueira de Minas Coffee), where I am the coordinator of the Cambuquira nucleus. I draw inspiration from these incredible and dedicated female coffee producers, gaining opportunities for improvement and business.”
This lot of Arara coffee underwent Natural processing.
This coffee was one of the top 6 entries in the Natural Coffee category of a competition held by AMECAFÉ Mantiqueira (The Association of Coffee Women Entrepreneurs in Serra da Mantiqueira) in October 2023. The association was founded in 2017 and now includes 130 producers, providing professional development and other events for women producers in the region.
Located on the northern side of the Serra da Mantiqueira mountain range in the southern part of the state of Minas Gerais, the Mantiqueira de Minas region is a demarcated area of 25 municipalities. It is officially recognized as an Indication of Origin for its tradition and worldwide reputation of producing coffees with unique sensory profiles.
Most producers in the region are smallholders who operate family farms. The region is differentiated by the unique terrain and the resulting characteristics that the terroir leads to in the cup. Coffees from Mantiqueira de Minas reflect both the place itself and the committed work of its producers. Mantiqueira includes more than 8,200 producers, 82% of whom are smallholders, and 56,000 hectares of mountain land planted with coffee. Most harvesting is still completed manually, and this and other practices keep the regional cultural heritage of coffee farming alive while at the same time pursuing new flavors.
