Brazil Peaberry

PROCESS: Natural
VARIETY: Peaberry (Common Brazilian Varieties)
ELEVATION: 950-1,150 meters
ROAST: Light/Medium
BODY: Average
NOTES: Almond with mild amaretto and fruit flavors. A smooth mouthfeel and mellow winey acidity.

A peaberry is a relatively common mutation that naturally occurs in 5–12% of all coffee grown, in which a small, round, single seed forms inside a coffee cherry—as opposed to the more typical seeds that have a flat and a rounded side.

Sao Paulo is just south of the Minas Gerais region and is very important to Brazil's economy contributing to nearly a third of the country's GDP and in the top three of coffee-producing regions. The two main areas of production, Mogiana and Centro-Oeste de São Paulo, are hilly, humid, semi-dry, subtropical areas

Fazenda Cachoeira de Grama is owned by the Carvalho family. The farm is located in Vale de Grama, which is home to some of Brazil's most "elite" coffee farms, and is an incredibly beautiful region, with rolling hills surrounding the coffee land. It's is a 411-hectare plot with about 100 hectares planted in coffee; they also grow eucalyptus nearby. There are 27 full-time and about 40 seasonal employees tending to the Catuai and Yellow Bourbon trees planted here, the oldest of which dates back to 1956! The farm has an on-site school for all employees' families to use, and there are about 300 children who take advantage of the services. The school is jointly funded by the Brazilian government and the farmers in the area.

Brazil's post-harvest processing is also somewhat unique, and has been adopted largely in response to a combination of productivity, climate, and desired profile: Pulped Natural and Natural processing still dominates the industry here. Pulped Natural coffees are depulped and allowed to dry with their mucilage still intact; while Naturals are typically either dried on the trees before harvesting (called Boya) or picked and laid out on patios in order to finish drying before being hulled. Both processes tend to lend the coffees a nutty creaminess that has a more tempered fruit tone than the bright and acidic Washed or even Honey coffees we see elsewhere from Mesoamerica.