Brazil
Mantiqueira de Minas
Lourdes de Fatima Sousa
Sitio Vargem Grande
Red Catuai
Fermented Natural
June–August
Dark Chocolate, Cherry, Lemon, Lime
975 meters
N/A
60 kg w/ GrainPro
EU - Hamburg, Germany - Schwarze
Lourdes de Fatima Sousa is a coffee producer living in the Vargem Grande neighborhood in Lambari, Minas Gerais, in the Mantiqueira de Minas region of Brazil. Her connection to coffee began early in life as her father worked as a coffee producer. Later, after marrying her husband Paulo Afonso, she began working with coffee herself. She explains, “Together, we did all the work that was needed on the farm. Years passed and we raised three children with the income we had from the crop. My whole family and I, including the children, work with coffee today. The eldest son (Carlos Eduardo), is a producer of specialty and fermented coffee, the middle daughter (Carla) married a producer and together they work with specialty coffee on his farm and the youngest (Thiago), studies Agronomic Engineering and works with Research on Coffee Quality and Post-Harvest Processes, at Fundação Procafé in Varginha.”
Beginning in 2016, Lourdes and her family began developing their processes for producing specialty coffee. Their work showed results quickly, as Lourdes explains, “In 2018, I was the champion of the 1st AMECAFÉ quality contest, which served to awaken our interest in specialty coffee.” Since then, the family’s love for coffee has grown and their work has already connected them with people around the world. “We are very proud to say that we are producers of specialty coffees, which have already reached customers in Europe and Oceania. Coffee is more than a source of income, but a passion for the whole family.”
This lot of Red Catuai coffee underwent Fermented Natural processing at Sitio Vargem Grande. Cherries were harvested at a very ripe level for processing. The ripe cherries were fermented for 40 hours before being dried in a box dryer for 10 days. The dried coffee was then rested for 30 days prior to being milled and packaged for shipment.
This coffee was one of the top 6 entries in the Fermented category of a competition held by AMECAFÉ Mantiqueira (The Association of Coffee Women Entrepreneurs in Serra da Mantiqueira) in 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.
