The world of specialty coffee and the wider coffee community have attached a highly visible label to Brazilian coffees.

This label reads "Chocolate. Hazelnut".

While there's nothing wrong with these flavors when they're pure and unblemished, Brazilian coffee has so much more to offer. There are numerous regional differences in flavor profiles, preferred cultivars, growing practices, harvesting methods, and more. The Mantiqueira de Minas region is teeming with producers striving to create delicious and aromatic Brazilian coffee. This is the land of raised drying beds. They know that slow, even drying is key.

Let's return to the first point, the aromatic profiles. The coffees produced in this region of Mantiqueira de Minas have an extraordinarily sweet and fruity character. They exhibit very subtle notes of mango and pineapple, with more dominant aromas of red berries and dried fruit.

Paul has visited Alvaro's farm, Sitio da Torre, five or six times over the years. He is incredibly proud of the hard work he puts into producing specialty coffees of a different caliber. The farm is always clean and well-organized. He is constantly striving for excellence, whether by testing new varieties, new processing methods, or intercropping techniques.

Like many farms in the Mantiqueira de Minas region, we believe that yellow cultivars have a sweeter, more tropical fruit aroma in the cup. Even more so than their red counterparts of the same cultivar (yellow bourbon tastes better than red bourbon).

These Bourbon-type yellow fruits were carefully hand-picked and then expertly dried to a low moisture content.

This coffee has a smooth, warm aroma. It doesn't have a bright, juicy acidity, but just enough to balance the pronounced fruity aromas of red berries and dried figs. The cup is rounded out by subtle aromas of mango and pineapple, with a delicate, clean texture.

Thanks to our friend Baba (Wellington Pereira) from COCARIVE, who works tirelessly alongside producers like Alvaro to offer the world coffees as incredible as this one.

Producer: Alvaro Coli

Region: Carmo de Minas, Minas Gerais

Farm: Sitio da Torre

Species: Arabica

Varieties: Yellow bourbon

Processing: Dried as whole fruits

Drying: Elevated drying beds

Altitude: 1,200 meters

Harvesting type: Manual

Exporter: COCARIVE

Importer: Wakefield

Moisture content of green coffee at the time of purchase: 9.8 %

Sítio da Torre, located in the Mantiqueira de Minas region (DO), is internationally renowned for the quality of its coffees. With altitudes between 1,100 and 1,300 meters, an exceptional climate, and mountainous landscapes, the setting is ideal for specialty coffees.

The tradition dates back to the 19th century, when our family migrated from Italy, and we are now in the 4th generation. We cultivate Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon, Yellow Catucai, Yellow Catuai, and Acaiá, with Certifica Minas certification and affiliation with BSCA. We have won the COE award 29 times and other competitions.

We produce approximately 1,500 bags on 46 hectares, with manual harvesting, washing/hulling or natural drying, tracked and deposited at Cocarive.

In 2019, we acquired 30 hectares that belonged to our father, Paulo Coli, and in his honor, we named it Sítio Paulo Coli, expanding Sítio da Torre to 95 hectares. As fourth-generation coffee growers, we have focused on specialty coffees since 2002, maintaining our commitment to the environment for sustainable coffee farming.

Espresso
Ratio 1:2.5

18g freshly ground coffee
45g espresso in cups (2 x 22.5g)
25 seconds, according to your taste

The most important thing is to grind the coffee fresh and use soft water.

Have fun.