

João Rafael da Luz
João Rafael da Luz has worked on coffee farms for many years, but was able to start his own business in 1985 after winning three hectares of land in a land raffle. He was successful in growing coffee and passionfruit for many years, but lost the majority of his crops to a heavy frost in 1993. Due to his success on his first farm however, he was able to purchase a larger plot, here at Fazenda Cachoeira, where he still farms coffee today. 30 hectares of the farm are planted with coffee, a location chosen specifically for its quality potential, and protection from frosts. João’s genuine passion for coffee is his main driver, as the only son who continued in his parents’ line of work.

It’s this passion and drive that sets him apart from many other producers in Brazil, where the landscape is dominated by large scale industrial agriculture projects. The farm is planted mainly with Catuai, tended to carefully by João and his son. This lot was processed as a natural, creating an elevated expression of the typical Brazilian profile, with rich and sweet chocolate notes lifted by stewed red fruit, like strawberry jam.
Cerrado Mineiro
The region of Cerrado Mineiro is part of the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. In 2013 the region became the first in Brazil to be granted a protected designation of origin certificate, similar to Champagne or Scotch whisky. To qualify for the title ‘Cerrado’, the coffees must be speciality grade and grown above 800 masl in the Cerrado Mineiro region. The 4500 producers of the Cerrado region produces 6 million bags of coffee a year, from 210,000 hectares of coffee growing lands. Most of the lands here are of quite low altitude compared to most of the coffee we buy here at La Cabra, and are more flat, rather than on more mountainous terrain. The region has characteristic and distinct seasons, with a wet warm summer, and a dry winter, leading to more consistency in growing conditions between years. The dry climate during harvest means less issues with drying coffees, part of the reason so many high quality naturals are produced here.
