Fazenda Sertão is an 850-hectare farm with 330 hectares planted in coffee of several varieties, including Red and Yellow Bourbon, and Yellow Catuai. The farm also grows bananas and corn and is used to raise dairy livestock. This farm has a love story behind it: Among the first generation of coffee growers in this area was Jose Isidro Pereira, a dentist-turned–coffee producer who inherited Fazenda Sertão from his mother when she passed away—an incident that ended his dentistry career but put him on a path to coffee farming. In 1949, Jose Isidro met the “love of his life,” Nazareth, who continues to run the farm her husband left in her care. Nazareth and Jose Isidro’s children—Francisco, Luiz Paulo, Clycia, and Sandra—are also coffee producers, carrying on the family tradition.

Coffees from Brazil are commonly looked over as lacking vibrancy or unique characteristics, but this is often a self-fulfilling argument that leads roasters to not give Brazil the attention it deserves when buying or roasting coffee. This lot of Yellow Bourbon variety from Fazenda Sertão showcases what we love about Brazilian coffee… it has an extremely silky mouthfeel with loads of natural raw sugar sweetness while exhibiting a subtle but pleasing apple acidity.