6th place: Lot 20-0020 64h Fermented FW Topázio Fazenda Recanto

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".

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.

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.

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. 

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)