Brazíl Rafael Vinhal - discovery edition

Product detailed description

Brazil Rafael Vinhal - discovery edition

Taste profile: opuntia, lychee, hazelnut, jasmine

Region: Minas Gerais

Farm: Fazenda Estrela and Fazenda Recanto

Farmer: Rafael Vinhal

Variety: 100% arabica catuai 144

Process: honey – double fermentation

Altitude: 980 – 2 500 masl

Rafael Vinhal is the eldest son of Alfonso and Marcélia and started the third generation of farmers on this family farm. He is responsible for the commercial development of the farm and the Vinhal brand. He has never exported directly before and now it is one of his main projects. Rafael is from the generation of farmers who are interested in where their coffee goes, which roasters work with the coffee and what the final product of their several months of hard work is. Brazil operates mainly on the basis of a coffee monopoly and buying cooperatives, direct trade is still a novelty here.

"The history of the Vinhal family, connected to coffee, began with my grandfather 'Seu Zico' or simply Mr. Zico in the 1970s. He was very charismatic and kind. It was he who planted the first coffee seeds with his own hands. And they could grow into today's family business Vinhal Cafés Artesanais", says Rafael. “We grow coffee on the farms Fazenda Estrela and Fazenda Recanto, two properties in Serra do Salitre in the Cerrado Mineiro region. Over the years we have obtained Rainforest Alliance, 4C and Certifica Minas certification and have adopted the best practices in accordance with the principles of sustainability and respect for people and the environment. We are a family business and everyone who works for us is totally into coffee. We are also members of the Brazilian Selection Coffee Association (BSCA).”

Rafael is a great experimenter. It combines different fermentation methods and thus achieves exclusive coffee microlots from otherwise commonly grown varieties. The flavors that these coffees offer are truly exceptional and diverse. It can be cherries in chocolate, coconut milk, or maybe cinnamon cookies. In addition, Rafael is such a pro that he can replicate these processes every year.

Rafael's coffee, catuai 144, is processed as 2 x fermented honey coffee. After mechanical collection and sorting by floating, the coffee cherries were fermented aerobically "dry" for 36 hours. That is, in whole cherries free in the air. Then, to prevent the temperature from rising too much, the coffee was sharply cooled with cold water – a so-called thermal shock took place. This was followed by peeling and the second phase of fermentation. This took place anaerobically and again dry, with maximum pulp and for a total time of 122 hours. The coffee was dried for 25 days.