This lot comes from sector 3 of Fazenda Recanto, located in Serra do Salitre town near Patrocínio, in the Cerrado Mineiro region. It is one of our two farms - the other one is called Estrela -, both Rainforest Alliance, 4C (Common Code of the Coffee Community) and Certifica Minas certified. We are also proud members of the BSCA (Brazil Specialty Coffee Association) whose mission is to "increase recognition of Brazilian specialty coffees both inside Brazil and around the world for their high quality and diversity, offering consumers a unique experience".
Sunrise at Estrela Farm
Vinhal's history started with my grandfather "Seu Zico" or Mr Zico. A charismatic figure and very kind to everyone, he was the one who sewed, with his own hands, the first coffee seeds on the soil of what today is Vinhal Cafés Artesanais back in the 80s. My father Afonso, "THE" man at the farm, took over when Seu Zico passed away, alongside my mother Marcélia. My father is in charge of the most arduous side of the business, the management of the farms. As we say it in Brazil, he is "carrying the piano". My mother is in charge of one of the most delicate sides of the business, the post-harvest of the most selected micro-lots.
I, Rafael, am Afonso and Marcélia's eldest son, in charge of the commercial development of the farm and our brand. We have never exported directly before and this is my main project at the moment. So much that you'll find my best and most exclusive lots, like this Fermented Topázio, on offer at Algrano this year. I am all for direct trade and fiercely against certain groups and cooperatives holding the monopoly of the coffee trade. I want to sell to roasters and know my final buyer. I also have multiple friends in coffee and hope to be able to help them in the coming years too.
My father Afonso and I doing physical analysis of our samples at the lab
Fermented Fully Washed is one of our many post-harvest processes or recipes developed in-house through many years of trial and error. Of the 300 trials we did to find the right recipe, 299 went wrong and this worked out. Do you know the recent boom in fermenting with fruits and yeasts? Been there, done that. 6 years ago or more... And don't like it to be quite frank. I think that what works best is a combination of methods and multiple fermentations using nothing but the coffee itself.
Our quality control room
Vinhal is also part of a very exciting project in partnership with EMATER and the Cerrado Federation. They have selected 10 farms in Minas to trial growing 5 new exotic varieties which are not yet available anywhere else. The experiment is about to enter the “field phase” and we will plant a thousand trees of each variety, monitoring them and seeing what the coffees taste like. I tell you, Gesha will soon be a thing of the past…
*This coffee was scrutinized by 4 certified Q-Graders in 2 countries for the competition process with rigorous sensorial and physical analysis. Differences in cupping scores and notes are due to the use of different roast machines and lab setups. As the selection of the lots and the rankings happened in Brazil, the jury's score was kept as the main quality evaluation on the lot information page. Read the information below for more detail.
Algrano's QC Q-Grader: Veronika Kečkéšová Location: Zurich, Switzerland Roaster: IKAWA Total roasting time: 6'50" to 7' First crack: Around 5¨45", 194 to 196 degrees Celsius DTR: 65" to 70" Score: 88.5. Primary notes of Strawberry, Coconut, Candied fruit. Secondary notes: Blueberry, Spice, Kiwi. Kiwi-like finish, tropical fruit-like, juicy acidity and sirupy body.
"Extraordinary in flavours profile, tasted like fruit cocktail. Topped with juicy acidity reminding of tropical fruits and syrupy body, long lasting kiwi aftertaste. - Veronika
Jury’s QC Q-Grader: Jack Robson, Francisco Lentini Neto and William Batista Mariano Location: Varginha, Minas Gerais, Brazil Roaster: Speciatto, Carmomaq Total roasting time: 8' to 9' Drying phase: 4' to 5' Maillard phase: 3' DTR: 50" to 70" Other comments: Agtron 63-65 Screen size: 16/18 (2% below)
The process
At Vinhal, we have been trialling multiple processes for years. We find that combining different processes results in great cup profiles! This lot is what we call a fermented fully washed. We started picking the cherries with a mechanical harvester. And no, mechanical harvesting doesn't mean that the quality will be less because we work our farm to ensure an even flowering season and even maturation and then we always separate the greens and the floaters on the first wash.
The selected varietal was the Topázio, a cross of Mundo Novo and Catuaí, which is of yellow colour. After picking we washed the coffee to separate the mature cherries and put them in a big bag for fermenting. It stayed there for 64 hours, always monitoring the temperature and the pH. Then we moved the cherries to a depulper and removed the skin and mucilage. The coffee was then fermented again for 36 hours in a tank with water to develop acidity. The objective of this second fermentation is to drop the pH even further, just under 4, to bring the acidity forward.
After that, we washed it one last time and centrifugate the beans. This helps to stop the fermentation, removes all potential residue of mucilage and helps to speed the drying process. We dried this coffee on raised beds with constant moving of the beans under the partial shade of Coqueiros and Palmeiras Imperiais (photo). It took 7 days, a shorter period than you normally see out there, due to the centrifugation.
BR-328-202007
Past harvest
6th place: Lot 20-0020 64h Fermented FW Topázio Fazenda Recanto
$12.30 USD / kg FOBConventional (no certification)
"Passion, quality and uniqueness are the most suitable words to describe Vinhal Cafes.
They produce fantastic coffees, successfully experiment with processing and bring huge value to roasters with beans that have unique tasting profiles so different from anywhere else in Brazil.
Last but not least, Rafael is very communicative, knowledgeable, easy to reach. It's pleasure to work with them!"
Trusted by
Awarded family estate crazy about experiments
Since 1988 we have been producing very high-quality coffees in the heart of Minas Gerais state, in Cerrado Mineiro Region - Brazil and throughout this trajectory, we have improved our work and adopted the best sustainability practices and respect for people and the environment. We are a family run business and everyone on duty is absolutely passionate about coffee. Our properties are certified by Rainforest Alliance, 4C (Common Code for the Coffee Community) and Certifica Minas and we are also members of BSCA (Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association). With great care and reliance on innovative craft production, we do our best to ensure that our coffees stand out both in the domestic and foreign markets and we are very proud of all the awards we have already won in some of the main quality contests in Brazil. We are sure that our product really stands out for its extremely different aromas and flavours. So, with great pride, we invite you to try and testify the quality of our coffee!
This lot comes from sector 3 of Fazenda Recanto, located in Serra do Salitre town near Patrocínio, in the Cerrado Mineiro region. It is one of our two farms - the other one is called Estrela -, both Rainforest Alliance, 4C (Common Code of the Coffee Community) and Certifica Minas certified. We are also proud members of the BSCA (Brazil Specialty Coffee Association) whose mission is to "increase recognition of Brazilian specialty coffees both inside Brazil and around the world for their high quality and diversity, offering consumers a unique experience".
Sunrise at Estrela Farm
Vinhal's history started with my grandfather "Seu Zico" or Mr Zico. A charismatic figure and very kind to everyone, he was the one who sewed, with his own hands, the first coffee seeds on the soil of what today is Vinhal Cafés Artesanais back in the 80s. My father Afonso, "THE" man at the farm, took over when Seu Zico passed away, alongside my mother Marcélia. My father is in charge of the most arduous side of the business, the management of the farms. As we say it in Brazil, he is "carrying the piano". My mother is in charge of one of the most delicate sides of the business, the post-harvest of the most selected micro-lots.
I, Rafael, am Afonso and Marcélia's eldest son, in charge of the commercial development of the farm and our brand. We have never exported directly before and this is my main project at the moment. So much that you'll find my best and most exclusive lots, like this Fermented Topázio, on offer at Algrano this year. I am all for direct trade and fiercely against certain groups and cooperatives holding the monopoly of the coffee trade. I want to sell to roasters and know my final buyer. I also have multiple friends in coffee and hope to be able to help them in the coming years too.
My father Afonso and I doing physical analysis of our samples at the lab
Fermented Fully Washed is one of our many post-harvest processes or recipes developed in-house through many years of trial and error. Of the 300 trials we did to find the right recipe, 299 went wrong and this worked out. Do you know the recent boom in fermenting with fruits and yeasts? Been there, done that. 6 years ago or more... And don't like it to be quite frank. I think that what works best is a combination of methods and multiple fermentations using nothing but the coffee itself.
Our quality control room
Vinhal is also part of a very exciting project in partnership with EMATER and the Cerrado Federation. They have selected 10 farms in Minas to trial growing 5 new exotic varieties which are not yet available anywhere else. The experiment is about to enter the “field phase” and we will plant a thousand trees of each variety, monitoring them and seeing what the coffees taste like. I tell you, Gesha will soon be a thing of the past…
*This coffee was scrutinized by 4 certified Q-Graders in 2 countries for the competition process with rigorous sensorial and physical analysis. Differences in cupping scores and notes are due to the use of different roast machines and lab setups. As the selection of the lots and the rankings happened in Brazil, the jury's score was kept as the main quality evaluation on the lot information page. Read the information below for more detail.
Algrano's QC Q-Grader: Veronika Kečkéšová Location: Zurich, Switzerland Roaster: IKAWA Total roasting time: 6'50" to 7' First crack: Around 5¨45", 194 to 196 degrees Celsius DTR: 65" to 70" Score: 88.5. Primary notes of Strawberry, Coconut, Candied fruit. Secondary notes: Blueberry, Spice, Kiwi. Kiwi-like finish, tropical fruit-like, juicy acidity and sirupy body.
"Extraordinary in flavours profile, tasted like fruit cocktail. Topped with juicy acidity reminding of tropical fruits and syrupy body, long lasting kiwi aftertaste. - Veronika
Jury’s QC Q-Grader: Jack Robson, Francisco Lentini Neto and William Batista Mariano Location: Varginha, Minas Gerais, Brazil Roaster: Speciatto, Carmomaq Total roasting time: 8' to 9' Drying phase: 4' to 5' Maillard phase: 3' DTR: 50" to 70" Other comments: Agtron 63-65 Screen size: 16/18 (2% below)
The process
At Vinhal, we have been trialling multiple processes for years. We find that combining different processes results in great cup profiles! This lot is what we call a fermented fully washed. We started picking the cherries with a mechanical harvester. And no, mechanical harvesting doesn't mean that the quality will be less because we work our farm to ensure an even flowering season and even maturation and then we always separate the greens and the floaters on the first wash.
The selected varietal was the Topázio, a cross of Mundo Novo and Catuaí, which is of yellow colour. After picking we washed the coffee to separate the mature cherries and put them in a big bag for fermenting. It stayed there for 64 hours, always monitoring the temperature and the pH. Then we moved the cherries to a depulper and removed the skin and mucilage. The coffee was then fermented again for 36 hours in a tank with water to develop acidity. The objective of this second fermentation is to drop the pH even further, just under 4, to bring the acidity forward.
After that, we washed it one last time and centrifugate the beans. This helps to stop the fermentation, removes all potential residue of mucilage and helps to speed the drying process. We dried this coffee on raised beds with constant moving of the beans under the partial shade of Coqueiros and Palmeiras Imperiais (photo). It took 7 days, a shorter period than you normally see out there, due to the centrifugation.
Extraordinary in flavours profile, tasted like fruit cocktail. Topped with juicy acidity reminding of tropical fruits and syrupy body, long lasting kiwi aftertaste.
Jack Robson (Seller)
This coffee was processed in the same way of our Cocada (Coconut Sweet) micro-lot, one of the farm's highlights, but it ended up developing a very interesting alcoholic character. In both cases, the note of coconut is very intense. But whilst Cocada presents notes of spices (like cinnamon, clove etc), this lot leans more towards red fruits and booze.
Shipping
Once the ordering period ends we will consolidate all coffees in a shared container. During transport, your coffee is fully insured. We will keep you informed about the shipment status.
Upon arrival of the coffee at the warehouse, you can choose between 2 delivery modes:
Doorstep delivery: We will take care of transport to your roastery. We will provide your coffee fully insured until it is ready for unloading from the truck at your roastery.
EXW (ex. warehouse) means that we will provide the coffee ready for pick-up at the terminal of the warehouse. You are responsible for organising transport and insurance from the warehouse to your roastery.
Currently, we can deliver coffee anywhere in Europe, except Hungary. For all European buyers, the coffee will be provided custom cleared in any case. Roasters in Switzerland choosing EXW will be responsible for customs clearance.
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