From the volumes of coffee flowing out of Minas Gerais (the largest of the three major Brazilian growing regions), we have plucked a special treat traceable to a single estate located in the protected origin of Mantiqueira de Minas region known for its rolling hills and uneven terrain.
The 300 acre estate called Rancho São Benedito, which Mariana de Carvalho Junqueira inherited from her parents in 1954.
Today her son, Marcio Heleno de Carvalho Junqueira, manages operations at the estate. During the harvest coffee cherries are floated to remove less dense and damaged coffee, and then depulped and placed on patios to dry with the mucilage still attached.
A combination of patio drying and mechanical dryers to precisely finish the drying to 11 percent moisture. Dried parchment is carefully stored until it is time for milling and export.