6 - Sítio Três Barras - Brazil 2024 (Experimental)

Sítio Três Barras originally belonged to Manassés’ grandfather, Mr. José Caetano Dias, in the 1940s. At the time, the predominant activity was potato growing. In the 1950s, José Caetano, who was keen on coffee-growing, planted around 5000 coffee trees, but because he didn't get good yields, the crop was discontinued. It wasn't until 2001 that Manassés' father, Artesio Sampaio Dias, decided to give it another go.

More than ten years ago, the farm adopted a significant reduction in the use of agrochemicals, with less frequent applications of agricultural defensive products each year. The management of the natural vegetation, as well as the partial afforestation together with the coffee crop, has made the environment ideal for increased productivity, reduced costs and environmental sustainability.

The farm is currently part of a program to implement the concepts of regenerative and conservation agriculture, which have an agenda in line with the global agenda to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Even as a smallholding, Três Barras is aware of its social role in the local community, offering its partners and collaborators employment with suitable conditions, good
pay and good work environment.

The potential for producing specialty coffees was noticed and developed in 2015. In that year, Manassés took part in regional competitions and achieved positive results.
The partnership with SMC has opened doors to the international market for high-quality coffees.

Careful agronomic management, through processing and post-harvest processing means that the vast majority of the lots produced are of higher quality. Harvesting begins at the ideal stage of ripeness and the coffee cherries are transported daily, being separated by plot, variety and time of crop. The main processing is natural sun-dried, with the use of African beds to guarantee slower, more uniform drying.

The farm has recently started working on the "From Seed to Cup" concept and as part of this, Manassés launching his own roasted coffee brand, aiming to make specialty coffee available to consumers in the local market.

This batch of the Yellow Catucaí 2SL variety was prepared as an induced fermentation. The batch was harvested and poured onto a new, properly sanitized plastic cloth. Saccharamyces cerevisiae yeast, from the INTENSO strain selection by Lallemand, was inoculated. The yeast was rehydrated, activated and sprinkled over the coffee mass while it was poured onto the cloth. To ensure maximum homogenization of the coffee mass and distribution of the yeast, the coffee was wrapped in this cloth, also ensuring minimum oxygen presence in the environment. This fermentation was carried out for 86 hours, when the cloth was opened and the coffee was sent to the drying stage.

Initial drying took place on an African bed and, after reaching an average humidity of 18%, the coffee was transferred to the concrete patio, where the process was completed until the ideal humidity was reached. The coffee rested for approximately 35 days before being processed.