Brazil
Sul de Minas
José Alberto de Carvalho
Fazenda Catiguá
Mundo Novo, Catucai, Yellow Bourbon, Catuai
Natural
June-July
Clean, Dried Fruit
1000 meters
N/A
59kg with liner
SOLD OUT
Fazenda Catiguá began its activities in 1966 when the owner, José Alberto de Carvalho, in partnership with his two brothers, purchased the farm. José Alberto married in the same year and later, with the help of his mother, bought out his brothers’ shares. In 1974, following the advice of a friend, he decided to plant coffee. That was the same year that electricity arrived to the farm and his only daughter was born.
The challenges in those early days were finding manual labor and the overall lack of technology to assist with farm management. Currently, the farm has machinery, a cement drying patio, and most importantly the support of José Alberto’s daughter, who became a Q-Grader and works with her father to add value to Fazenda Catiguá’s coffee through improvements in quality.
60 of the farm’s 700 hectares are planted with coffee. Fazenda Catiguá is located in the city of Cambuquira, in the Mantiqueira de Minas coffee region of the south of Minas Gerais state. José Alberto’s greatest satisfaction is to see coffee cultivation rooted in the family being passed between generations, transmitting dignity and knowledge to his grandchildren who accompany the steps of father and daughter.
Southern Minas Gerais is one of Brazil’s most productive coffee producing areas. This region has grown Arabica coffee since the 1850s and is characterized by rolling hills, a mild climate averaging 23° C, and high elevations. While some of the largest coffee producing properties in Brazil are located in Sul de Minas, more than half of the region’s producers are small to medium-sized farms. Sul de Minas accounts for, on average, 30% of Brazil’s coffee production.
The mountainous terrain, reaching up to 1400 meters above sea level, is ideally suited for growing coffee and Sul de Minas has increased production quality through investments in infrastructure and sustainability measures. The most commonly cultivated varieties are Yellow Catuai and Novo Mundo, with some farms also growing Icatu, Obatã and Red Catuai. Most of the coffee produced is processed as Natural and the final cup profiles are full bodied, with low acidity and fruity aromas.
