Castahnas Do Brazil, Brazil | Natural

The Cocatrel Cooperative was founded in 1961 in Tres Pontas and has now grown to become the second-largest cooperative in Brazil. There are over 6,000 members who are part of the cooperative, and they operate 11 different buying points across the region. All the coffee is electronically tagged and recorded on delivery with a unique QR code, providing full traceability so growers know exactly where their coffee is.

Over 50% of the members of the cooperative grow coffee on land that is less than 10 hectares in size. At Falcon Coffees Asia, we work with a branch of the cooperative called Cocatrel Direct Trade, who source the best coffees and promote these for their members.

‘Castanhas do Brasil,’ which translates as “Nuts of Brazil,” is a blend made mainly from one particular area called Carmo De Cachoeira. The coffee is selected for its sweet and creamy hazelnut praline profile by the cupping team in the Cocatrel Direct Lab, who assign it to this profile blend. The coffee must have a clean profile and score 83+ on evaluation. All the coffees that are part of this blend are dried in static boxes.

These boxes are 1 meter deep and have a capacity for 15,000 liters of cherry, which equates to 25-30 bags of green coffee. The boxes have a vented grill at the bottom to allow air circulation from below, up through the drying coffee. There are two thermometers at different depths to ensure a safe temperature, always below 40°C. They are referred to as static because the coffee remains still in the boxes and is not turned or rotated during drying. After drying, the coffee is then left to rest for approximately 1-2 weeks before being milled.

This method has allowed the production of more fruity and prominent profiles, different from the usual profile associated with Brazil natural coffee.