Thanks to the IWCA Italia Association (International Alliance of Women in Coffee, Italian chapter) of which we at Ernani are members, I had the incredible opportunity to visit some coffee plantations for the first time.
As our first destination, we selected Brazil, with which we have established a great relationship of mutual trust and collaboration over the years. In particular with the Cafè de Rosa project, part of the Brazilian women’s alliance, set up by Flavia and Gustavo and their coffee export company Arara coffee.
Flavia and Gustavo were also our guides for the whole week spent around the plantations. They proved to be welcoming and extraordinary people from the very first moment, with an immense heart and the most unbridled passion for this world.
Their primary mission is to make growers strong, educated and aware, to get the right recognition for their hard work.
Here they are:
The last two people pictured on the right
In the six days we spent together discovering the Minas Gerais region, known for the high quality of the coffees produced, I was able to better understand the entire production process and consequently the entire coffee chain.
To sum up: it was an experience full of strong emotions, made of scents, colours and people.
The stages
We departed from Milan to land in São Paulo, from there we immediately got into the car, heading towards Santa Rita de Cassia, Sapucai City for our first stop at the Agrorigem testing laboratory run by all the women of the second generation of farmers.
Towards evening we arrived in Santa Antonio do Amparo City to visit the Peixoto family farm.
The next morning we arrived at Divisa Farm near Olivera City, and then moved to Luiza’s Trunk Tapera Farm in the afternoon, near Boa Esperanca, a beautiful lakeside town.
On the third day, we spent wonderful hours in the company of Maria Helena, owner of Cafe Especial Brunelli, in Ingaì City.
After a day’s rest, we then left for the world’s largest cooperative in the coffee sector, to find out more about the big companies and their modus operandi. Guaxupe showed us every single step regarding the analyses carried out on the raw coffees before export and all the parameters for sorting the beans into batches, each with its own characteristics.
Finally, on the sixth day we concluded our road trip from Lais of Nossa Senora Das Gracas and Eldorado plantation to Ibiraci City.
Maria Helena e Porteiras Farm
Today I want to introduce you to the second of the incredible women who work in coffee cultivation that we met: Maria Helena Brunelli.
Maria Helena is a leading figure in the association “Mulheres que AMAM a cafeicultura” (Women who love coffee growing), one of the many subgroups in Brazil that are part of IWCAbrazil.
She is also one of the historical figures of specialty coffee in Minas Gerais, strong, independent and sunny, owner of Porteiras Farm and the roasted coffee brand Cafè Especial Brunelli.
Its plantation is located in Brazil, in the region of Minas Gerais, South Of Minas, and more precisely in the countryside of Ingai city, at 1100m altitude.
Maria Helena stands out for her inexhaustible strength and contagious smile.
She started out with her husband, building and adding plots of land, machinery and new coffee processing equipment little by little, year after year.
From the very beginning they decided to focus on the extreme quality of the beans grown. After tasting them I can guarantee that they have achieved their goal!
They lived a simple but full life, a classic country life, made of people, nature, animals and joy. Unfortunately, her husband is no longer with us today, but she never lost heart. She wants to continue to spread their brand in the world even more than before!
For her, talking about her coffee means talking about her husband and keeping him alive every day.
He calls his collaborators his family. Watching them work together transmits passion and warmth. Seeing such a united and integrated team leaves you speechless.
Finally, I appreciated many of his agricultural choices, innovative and above all sustainable. In fact, on his farm he planted many different plants, fruit trees, evergreens, spices, etc., thus promoting a very broad biodiversity, which benefits the land, the fauna and even the quality of the grains harvested!
Grown Coffee
Maria Helena produces specialty micro batches, that is, small quantities of extremely high-quality and carefully selected coffees, mostly processed using the natural method.
Consider that the annual yield is about 300 bags, which I imagine doesn’t mean anything to you, but it’s really tiny!
This shows that all his efforts are not to obtain greater quantities, but only greater quality!
It all always starts from the search for the best ripening of the grains in each portion of land.
The berries picked from the trees are then dried in his yard, for a minimum of 30 days. Only then is the peel and the now dry pulp removed, obtaining only the beans!
The most commonly treated varieties are Catuai, Arara and Mundo Novo.
The end result is intensely aromatic, flawless coffees with notes of chocolate, ripe yellow-fleshed fruit, citrus and many other nuances depending on the batch, with SCA scores always between 83-85 points!
Beyond coffee
After the first more formative moment, in which he showed us the manual and mechanical harvesting of coffee and the differences in quality obtained and after having us taste his two favorite coffees, we moved on to a moment of comparison and knowledge.
Maria Helena, together with her collaborators, prepared one of the best typical Brazilian lunches we have ever tasted, with many delicious specialties.
Once again he showed us his welcome and his love for his home, in which one can breathe the history of a true and rich life.
I can only say thank you for this adventure and for the emotions you made us feel!
Marketing, E-commerce e Social Media Manager
Coffee Lover
