Northern Lights

Producer, Marcos Vinicius was raised in Mata da Bananeira district of Patrocínio Minas Gerais, he grew up working with dairy cattle but had a dream to work with coffee.

In 2017 he relocated to live in Santo Antonio da Lagoa Seca. There his neighbours worked with coffee, and his interest in planting coffee became even more apparent. In 2019 he began growing coffee, making a small total of 4 hectares focused on producing high quality coffee.

The Cerrado region is relatively new to coffee production, having only begun growing coffee about 50 years ago. Prior to that, the land was primarily used for cattle ranching, as the soil conditions were considered unsuitable for coffee cultivation. However, advancements in technology and financing has transformed this landscape, and today, Cerrado Mineiro is recognized as a global leader in coffee productivity and innovation.

Some of the knowledge that fuelled this development came from Paraná, where many farmers left in the 1970s due to frosts that devastated their yields. Relocating farmers sought new opportunities coming from all over Brazil to try growing coffee in this new region. The soil was adapted to make it suitable for coffee production, and over the years, technological improvements steadily boosted productivity.

Process Info

The harvesting of this yellow catuai was mechanized then the cherries were placed on the terrace in a volcano shape for 3 days under a tarpaulin. On the fourth day, Marcos began to stir the coffee every hour, from morning until evening before he piled the coffee up like a volcano once again to dry. This process took about 20 days to reach the ideal drying conditions before the coffee could be packed for export.

Espresso: 1:2 coffee to water, water temperature 91°C, extracted in 28 – 32 seconds

Pour over: 1:16 coffee to water, water temperature 89°C, pour in stages, brew time 2:30-3:00 mins

French press: 60-65g coffee per litre of water, water temperature 91°C, brewed for 3-4 mins

Aeropress: 16g coffee, water 250g, water temperature 91°C, brewed for 1:30-2 mins, press time around 45 sec

Stove top: 18g Coffee - 200g water - 94 degrees - grind size extra fine - brew time 5.5 minutes