Brazil Premium Espirito Santo – Fazenda Corrego Capivara – Yellow Catucai Natural

Description

Pedro Pin is a third generation coffee producer following the path set initially by his grandfather, Onório Pin, who emigrated from Italy and began work on the family’s farm around 1950. Onório left the farm to his son Augustim, and today this land is where Pedro carries on the family’s legacy and hopes to pass the tradition on to his daughter someday.

As Pedro grew up working on the family’s coffee farms, his nephew Jeverson Pin was always at his side. In 2002, Pedro and Jeverson resolved to form a partnership and focus on improving their production. Today, the coffee at Fazenda Córrego Capivara is selectively harvested for only ripe cherries, and is depulped by hand for Pulped Natural processing. 21 of the property’s 27 hectares are planted with coffee, yielding 700 bags annually.

This lot of Yellow 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.

Tasting Notes:A wonderful new Brazilian arrival! Good from light to dark, clean and rich with a nutty and chocolaty profile. Lighter roasts will show hints of lemony acidity and soft fruit, floral aromatics with a semi-sweet chocolaty undertone, a little dry but complex and clean. Medium roasts build a little more body and chop out the acidity, a more neutral cup that is very easy to drink all day. Darker roasts shine as well, touching 2nd crack develops a sweeter edge to the cup and creates a wonderful mix of stronger chocolaty tones with a little smoke in the aftertaste. As the cup cools one can detect little hints of that soft fruit tone that pops out at the light roasts but would not consider it a fruity coffee. A fun single origin coffee or snazzy blend base for your house espresso.

Roasting Notes: Good from light to dark. If looking for a drip/pour-over keep it light-medium. Keeps those exotic fruity highlights and is smooth and defined. If using it for a jazzy single origin espresso or blend base, medium-dark is the way to go, much more neutral chocolaty with some nutty/oaky accents.  Higher chaff and even roasting for a slow dry natural. A very fun coffee to play with. Setup is important, will come off a bit more nutty if drank too soon, with 3-4 day wait it will smooth out and bring forth a lot more complexity.

Montanhas do Espirito Santo

The Montanhas do Espírito Santo region is dominated by small-scale coffee-growers and is characterized by the presence of farmers who are actively engaged in the entire chain of the production process. Growers in Espírito Santo work with family members and build off of traditional knowledge to innovate and improve their quality of life and coffee.

Located in the southern area of the Espírito Santo state, where mild temperatures (73ºF) and steep highlands (between 700 and 1,000 meters) favor growing Arabica coffees, this region produces a superb quality coffee with a round body, nice acidity, and fine sweetness. While the most common process for the region is Natural, Pulped Naturals are increasing in popularity due to a program of quality launched in the 1980’s that included improvements in equipment necessary for this newer style of processing.

The state of Espírito Santo has its capital in the city of Vitoria, and the coastal location of Espírito Santo to the south of Bahia, east of Minas Gerais, and North of Rio de Janeiro makes it a popular destination for its beaches. Inland, Espirito Santo is home to natural parks and preserves that protect the rich diversity of flora and fauna. Many communities in the mountains of Espírito Santo were settled at the beginning of the twentieth century by European immigrants from Italy and the Pomeranian region along the Baltic Sea coast, straddling the border between what are now Germany and Poland.