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Country: Brazil

Region: Carmo de Minas

Farm: Fazenda Capim Seco

Variety: Red Bourbon

Altitude: 1100-1300 masl

Method: Anaerobic Natural

Tastes Like: Spiced Cranberry Sauce, Reeses Puffs, Creme de Violette, Kush

Goes Best With: Rainbow Connections, Jacuzzis, Lego Sets, Bibliophilia———————————————————————————————————————

From Cafe Imports:

Sitio Capim Seco is owned and operated by Rafael Dias Pereira, who comes from a long line of coffee producers: His grandparents Isidro and Nazareth Pereira were among the first coffee producers in the region, and Rafael's mother and aunt own the nearby Fazenda Irmăs Pereira.

Rafael has three passions: family, horses, and specialty coffee. His passion for horses is partially how he got interested in managing farms: Before he was a coffee producer, he actually established a horse farm, where he breeds Brazilian Mangalarga Marchadors, a horse-racing favorite. When his equestrian endeavor became successful, he decided to invest some of the profits to the passion he shares with his family—coffee. He bought a small plot of land near his family's coffee lands, and since his first harvest in 2007, he has earned high cup scores for his lots.

"Coffee is what makes my family stay tightly bonded, up since the past until nowadays," Rafael says. If we want to honor its influence on our lives and history, we must have in mind to keep the hard work we're used to employ in our tasks in order to produce, consistently, the finest coffees possible."

Because Sitio Capim Seco is relatively small (35 hectares of coffee—large for the rest of the world but small by Brazilian standards), Rafael uses the equipment and facilities at Fazenda Irmăs Pereira to process his coffee. There, he dries his cherry on raised beds or patios, and he produces both Naturals and Pulped Naturals. He has even tried some experimental processes like Black Honey.