Espírito Santo, Brazil: Fashionably Late to the Party?

Posted on July 3rd, 2018

Have you ever shown up for a birthday party a week late (or a week early)? Of course it’s a little embarrassing at first, but it can also be an opportunity to, you know, just have an extra party, right? Some of the origins we work in are a little bit like that party bonus, except it’s not that they arrive at the wrong time—they just party on a slightly different schedule.

The southeastern region of Espírito Santo in Brazil is one area that keeps the party perpetual, at least in a way. Unlike its western neighbor, the famous state of Minas Gerais (which contains Carmo de Minas), whose coffees ripen from April through September, “these are what are called the March-flowering coffees,” says Luis Arocha. “They are harvested more in October through November, that’s why they come in late in the season, compared to the other Brazils.”

Luis is Cafe Imports’ primary green-coffee buyer in Brazil, and over the years he’s not only been traveling to this country to source top lots from specialty growers in Carmo de Minas, but also making trips to this smaller, lesser-known coffee area, with which he has fallen in love. In fact, everyone at Cafe Imports who has tasted coffee from Espírito Santo has fallen in love with the region: Lots from this area routinely score in the upper 80s and even well into the 90s on the cupping table, much to the tasters’ surprise when the origin is revealed.

If you were blind cupping them, you would never guess they were Brazil—you would say Central America, other areas in America because of the acidity,” Luis says. “Very high fruitiness, very complex coffees. Imagine that!”

Brazil skeptics, listen up: There is undoubtedly something different about these coffees, and it’s not just hype. They taste floral, tropically fruity, and sweet, with crisp acidity akin to an apple or pineapple, rich caramel flavor, with grapey characteristics and articulate flavors. “Some of the scores we’ve had so far was 90, 92 points. Some of the best coffees I have tasted in Brazil,” Luis says. “Actually, one time I cupped there and I scored one coffee 94 points. You know what we call ‘the origin effect,’ where you’re happy to be at origin so you score a coffee a little high? I thought that, so we sent it to the lab—and it scored 94 in the lab!”

In part, that quality is probably due to the somewhat unique climate conditions here: “Espírito Santo is misty, and it’s higher in altitude: You can see farms at 1,100 or 1,200 meters, which is pretty high for Brazil. It’s constantly a little rainy, misty, and humid.” This long wet season prolongs cherry development, making sweeter, more intensely aromatic floral notes.

Luis thinks that in addition to the unusual climate, the processing has a lot to do with the exceptional quality of these lots. Where most of the rest of Brazil’s offerings are Natural or Pulped Natural, Espírito Santo’s coffees are typically Washed, which help makes sense of the fact that they taste like coffees from somewhere else. Also contrasted with other regions in-country, Espírito Santo is more generally peppered with smaller farms, 20 hectares or, often, fewer—practically minuscule compared to the 100- or 200-hectare farms found in Carmo de Minas.

Because of the smaller size and scale, as well as the altitude and local traditions, “the producers are doing a more selective picking,” Luis continues. “There is still a lot of mechanical harvesting, but instead of the huge stripping machines they use the little ones that shake the tree. And they do hand-sorting of cherries, and take care during fermentation, experimenting with different fermentation times. Those all contribute to the quality of the coffee.”

So the next time someone seems to show up late to the party, just remember they might be the party.