Your coffee is fully insured during transport
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Shipping
During the transport from the origin to the warehouse and when stored at the warehouse, your coffee is fully insured by Algrano. In case anything happens, we will take care of the issue.
For the road transport to your roastery, you can choose 2 delivery options:
Doorstep delivery (DDP): we will take care of the road transport to your doorstep. We will compare prices and organise the pick-up details. Transport insurance and transport claims are fully covered by Algrano. You have nothing to worry about!
Warehouse pick-up (FCA): you will have to organise the transport yourself, and you would need to instruct your carrier accordingly. You will need to organise the insurance, and in case of transport damage, you will need to raise the claim to your carrier.
For buyers in the EU, Switzerland and the UK the coffee will be provided customs cleared. In case of an intra-community delivery, you will need to report the purchase according to your local VAT regulations.
For buyers in Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein, we can provide transport to your roastery, but we are not able to import. In this case you would need to register the import.
For buyers in the USA, we will provide customs clearance.
Financing costs apply until the coffee is released.
The coffee story
The terroir Canta Galo is my family's farm and it's located in Campos Altos, in the West of Minas Gerais. Campos Altos is not yet a certified coffee region like the Cerrado, but it has a very particular terroir and micro-climates. My farm sits in the fringes of the Atlantic forest, right where it meets the Cerrado Mineiro, near Serra da Canastra (known for its amazing cheese and soon to be known for its coffee too). We call it "the gates of Cerrado". The average altitude here is of 1200m and we are protected from the winds by a big stone wall. Here, maturation of the cherries and drying is slow and the farm receives direct sunlight only until 3:30 pm during harvest time, prolonging the drying period.
Satellite view of my farm near Campos Altos town in the West of Minas Gerais, near Serra da Canastra
Family union I grew up around coffee and always enjoyed it, but I only became a full-time farmer a few years ago when my father passed away. Before that, I was a PE teacher. It was a radical change, amplified by my father's sudden death. I had to take control of stuff quickly or, as we say it in Minas, had to "grab the ox by the horn". All my 3 siblings also had other jobs and didn't really believe in coffee. As Canta Galo was too small to split, they wanted to sell it. I insisted that we kept the farm and started investing heavily in it. And it seems like it's paying off!
Since I took over, I started improving our post-harvest protocols by making our patios better for drying. I like to do "intermittent drying", for example, and let my coffees rest in bags for 15 to 20 days when they reach 18 to 16% humidity. Then I bring the cherries back to the patio to finish drying. This process has proven really good for my conditions. So much that, when we competed last year for the first time we got 3rd place on the EMATER's (Institute of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension of Minas Gerais) contest!
When I won 3rd place at EMATER's competition last year
Winning a competition was a great honour for my family. It got my siblings more excited to work with coffee and now my brother, who is an accountant, is looking after the farm's finances and one of my sisters is learning to taste. This union is key to keep up going strong. It is also key to allow me some spare time to dedicate to my other passion: mountain biking and radical sports. I take part in Downhill competitions since 2011! And now that the harvest season is at the end I can go back riding!
Me (left), my siblings and my mother (in the middle)
The competition
The competition jury in Brazil: Jack (right), William (centre) and Francisco (left)
*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" Quality comments: Score: 88.25. Primary notes of Dark chocolate, Banana, Greek yogurt. Secondary notes of Cocoa nibs and Funky. Lingering ands sweet finish with lactic, medium acidity and a big, round and smooth body.
"Lactic acidity, round big body and funky flavour profile- full and intense." - 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: 8-9 minutes Drying phase: 4-5 minutes Maillard phase: 3 minutes DTR: 50 to 70 seconds Other comments: Agtron 63-65 Screen size: 16/18 (1% below)
The process
This coffee comes from a sector in Canta Galo farm called Caixa D'Água (Water Tank). This is because it is the highest part of the farm where our main water tank is. Picking was mechanical. Because the maturation was so good (well, almost passing the optimum stage with the cherries starting to dry still on the coffee plant) and so uniform I didn't need to wash the cherries to sort them. I took them straight to a barrel to ferment for 90h. It was then washed and taken to the patio to dry. I usually dry my best coffees in 2 stages, which I call intermittent drying. It stays on the patio to lose some of the moisture (up to 16%). Then I put it in bags to rest for around 15 days. This helps to stabilize the humidity. Finally, I bring it back to the patio to finish drying for another 10 days or so. In total, it takes from 25 to 30 days.
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