Brazil
Mantiqueira de Minas
Claudia Maria Carneiro Bustamante
Fazenda Pedra Preta
Yellow Catuai
Natural
July–August
Toffee, Mandarin, Silky
1180 meters
N/A
60 kg w/ GrainPro
EU - Hamburg, Germany - Schwarze
Fourth generation coffee producer Claudia Maria Carneiro Bustamante works on her family’s farm, Fazenda Pedra Preta, in the Mantiqueira de Minas region of Brazil. The family’s history began more than 150 years ago when Claudia’s great-grandfather planted his first coffee crops in Pedralva, Minas Gerais. From then on, the love for coffee has passed through the generations.
Claudia began learning about coffee production from a young age, but life led her down others paths before she chose to take on coffee as a career. She lived for 16 years in Sinop, Mato Grosso, handling other family businesses and practicing law. In 2017, she returned to Minas Gerais to help her father and sister manage Fazenda Pedra Preta, dedicating herself to the family legacy in coffee and discovering an even greater passion for the crop.
Fazenda Pedra Preta was purchased by family patriarch Mr. Antonio Fortes Bustamante and his sons in 2016, seeing potential for quality coffee and good business on the property. The farm is located on the border of Jesuânia and Carmo de Minas municipalities, enjoying good natural conditions for specialty coffee production and a topography that allows for the use of mechanized tools across 70% of the fields. The farm had earned a good reputation under its former owner, but many of the plots of coffee trees had become too old and required renovation. Since taking over, Claudia and her family have succeeded in reestablishing the reputation of the farm, placing well in several regional and national competitions.
This lot of Yellow Catuai underwent Natural processing.
This coffee was one of the top 6 entries in the Natural and Pulped Natural 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.
