Bota Fora PN - Brazil - Lillehammer Kaffebrenneri

Brazil

Bota Fora PN

Knowledge of the land and coffee processing stretches back four generations at Fazenda Bota
Fora in Brazil’s Mantiquieria de Minas region. Everyone from the owner to the permanent
workers has decades of history and experience with the land they work. This expertise is
evident in the quality of coffee we’ve cupped.

FARM/COOP/STATION:
      Bota Fora
VARIETAL:
      Yellow Bourbon
PROCESSING:
      Pulped Natural
ALTITUDE:
      1,100 to 1,300 meters above sea level
OWNER:
      Maria de Fátima Silva Marques da Fonseca
SUBREGION/TOWN:
      Carmo de Minas
REGION:
      Mantiquieria de Minas
BAG SIZE:
      60kg GrainPro
HARVEST MONTHS:
      Sul de Minas: April - September | Cerrado Mineiro: May - September | Mogiana: April -
      September | Matas de Minas: April -September

About This Coffee
Bota Fora has remained in the same family for over 100 years. Since Francisco Teóphilo Reis
Neto bought the land and the fazenda in 1900, ownership has passed through four generations
of family. The current owner and manager, Maria de Fátima Silva Marques da Fonseca, is the
latest in the family to care for the land.

The farm can count on many years of expertise in quality production. Bota Fora has five
permanent workers who have been working on the property for the last twenty years. For
technical support, they can rely on the COCARIVE cooperative and Emater MG (a
governmental organisation that provides assistance to farmers in Minas Gerais). These skilled
teams of agronomists advise on the best planting techniques, cultivation systems, drying and
conservation methods, the newest coffee processing machines and more.

Harvest & Post-Harvest
There are a growing number of farms in Brazil that are focusing more on cup quality than
volume. These farms approach growing, harvesting and processing with a great attention to
detail. The altitude and volcanic soil in Brazil are prime conditions for growing the balanced,
well-bodied coffees of Brazil.

Wide, flat farms make mechanisation easier and allow for reduced production costs, making
Brazil one of the few countries with consistently comfortable margins in the face of low world

prices. The relatively flat landscape across many of Brazil’s coffee regions combined with
high minimum wages has led most farms to opt for mechanical harvesting over selective
hand-picking. In the past, this meant strip-picking was the norm; however, today’s mechanical
harvesters are increasingly sensitive, meaning that farms can harvest only fully ripe cherries at
each pass, which is good news for specialty-oriented producers.

In many cases and on less level sections of farms, a mixed form of ‘manual mechanised’
harvesting may be used, where ripe coffee is picked using a derricadeira – a sort of
mechanised rake that uses vibration to harvest ripe cherry. A tarp is spanned between coffee
trees to capture the cherry as it falls. After picking, the cherries pass through colour-sorting
machines to separate the mature cherries from the immature ones. The cherries are loaded into
the de-pulping machine in lots according to quality. Once removed from their mucilage, the
coffee beans are laid to dry on a cement drying patio. Here they are dried to a moisture level
of 12%.

Finally, the dried parchment is moved to wooden bins in the storage room. Here, the beans
undergo a necessary resting period to stabilise humidity. One month later, the coffee is sent to
COCARIVE’s warehouses in Carmo de Minas.

About COCARIVE
For cooperative members, after the drying stage, the parchment coffee goes to the
COCARIVE warehouses. The cooperative takes further care of grading, commercialization
and export. They have their own quality lab and storage and milling facilities in Carmo de
Minas. COCARIVE gives support to its members in all parts of the production chain. Their
team of agronomists and technical experts assists with cultivation techniques, machinery,
storage and finally commercialization of the beans.

At the dry mill where they prepare the coffee for export. COCARIVE has its own laboratory
for quality control. Their team of trained cuppers and Q graders makes the first selection
based on cup quality. They will verify which lots are suitable and of high enough cup quality
for specialty microlots. Their quality control team checks the quality of every lot at a variety
of times throughout the dry milling process analyzing both on physical and cup
characteristics.

All COCARIVE member farms have the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) certificate.
On top of that, they are all certified by the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA).
This certificate is a guarantee from BSCA that every aspect of labour at the farm is legal. It
also guarantees the implementation of environmentally friendly practices on the farm during
all steps of the coffee production process.

Coffee in Brazil
Just under 40% of all coffee in the world is produced in Brazil - around 3.7 million metric
tons annually. With so much coffee produced, it’s no wonder that the country produces a wide
range of qualities. Brazil produces everything from natural Robusta, to the neutral and mild
Santos screen 17/18, to the distinctive Rio Minas 17/18. In recent years, Brazilian producers
have also begun investing more heavily in specialty coffee production. Through our in-

country partners in Brazil, including our sister company, we are able to provide a wide range
of Brazilian coffees to our clients: from macrolot to microlot.

Today, the most prolific coffee growing regions of Brazil are Espirito Santo, São Paulo,
Minas Gerais, and Bahia. Most Brazilian coffee is grown on large farms that are built and
equipped for maximizing production output through mechanical harvesting and processing.
The relatively flat landscape across many of Brazil’s coffee regions combined with high
minimum wages has led most farms to opt for this type of mechanical harvesting over
selective hand-picking.

In the past, mechanization meant that strip-picking was the norm; however, today’s
mechanical harvesters are increasingly sensitive, meaning that farms can harvest only fully
ripe cherries at each pass, which is good news for specialty-oriented producers.

In many cases and on less level sections of farms, a mixed form of ‘manual mechanized’
harvesting may be used, where ripe coffee is picked using a derriçadeira – a sort of
mechanized rake that uses vibration to harvest ripe cherry. A tarp is spanned between coffee
trees to capture the cherry as it falls.

With the aid of these newer, more selective technologies, there’s a growing number of farms
who are increasingly concerned with – and able to deliver - cup quality.