Paulo Afonso - Brazil

Carbon neutral coffee from Brazil

Read about this month's coffee from Santa Clara in Brazil and meet Paulo Afonso de Resende.

The engineer behind Santa Clara

Paulo Afonso de Resende runs the Santa Clara farm with his family. He actually worked as a mechanical engineer for many years, but turned to the coffee farm to continue in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was also a coffee farmer.

Paulo's engineering background shows in how he runs his farm. The farm is practically self-sufficient and his previous engineering work has given him a great understanding of the importance of water and how we really need to be frugal with such an important resource. He makes sure that the farm keeps its water consumption down and has also developed a water filter himself to keep the farm's water in good quality.

Delicate fermentation

The processing of this coffee is what Santa Clara calls aerobic fermentation – that means the "open-air" fermentation. The coffee berries are gathered in thick layers, which means that the drying process is much slower. The coffee berries are then fermented in this way for 1-2 days, until the layers reach the right temperature.

The coffee berries are then laid out in the traditional thin layers to allow them to dry completely.

The flavour profile

The special fermentation has resulted in a lovely and delicate coffee with a complex profile with notes of foam bananas and coffee flower.

Our purchase

We have paid $8.59/kg for the coffee (FOB). The market price at the time of the contract was $4.17/kg. This means we have paid 106% above the market price for this specific coffee.

• Country: Brazil
• Region: Campo das Vertentes
• Washing station: Fazenda Santa Clara
• Coffee variety: Yellow Catuaí
• Processing: Aerobic fermentation
• Cultivation height: 1100 m
• Harvest time: August 2023
• Notes: Delicate and complex with notes of banana, marshmallow and coffee blossom