Evandro Cisconetti was born and raised in the community of Caxixe in the Montanhas do Espírito Santo in the south of Espírito Santo state. Here, he grew up on his family’s farm, Sítio Irmãos Cisconetti. The property has been in his family since 1913 when his great-grandfather emigrated from Italy and acquired the land. Evandro’s grandfather was the first to plant coffee on the property, and today Evandro is the third generation of his family to work in coffee production.
Evandro is the sixth of twelve brothers and was able to learn from and work with his father, Zandino Cisconetti. At the time, the farm was producing coffee using traditional methods. It wasn’t until 2002, through a government program designed to improve coffee quality in the region, that Evandro took the opportunity to learn new techniques and begin producing specialty coffee. These changes included selective harvesting of only ripe cherries, Pulped Natural post-harvest processing, and drying coffee in a covered terrace while stirring the coffee hourly for uniform drying.
Today, the farm is focused on specialty coffee production and Evandro is dedicated to continuing the process of improving with each harvest. His motivation comes from seeing the rewards of his labor, in both quality and added value to his crop. He looks forward now to passing his knowledge and dedication on to his son, Enzo.
This lot of Red Catucai underwent Pulped Natural processing. Catucai was developed as a cross between Icatu and Catuai. The first selection was made in 1988 by researchers at the then Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC) in a population of the Red Icatu cultivar. After generations of breeding and selection in both Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, the program gave rise to cultivars with red fruits and yellow fruits, then named Catucai.