Rafael Vinhal Lot 48 (Honey) - Brazil

About this coffee

Since 1988 Vinhal Farm has been producing very high quality coffees in the heart of Minas Gerais state, in Cerrado Mineiro Region - Brazil. Throughout this trajectory they have improved their work and adopted the best sustainability practices and respect for people and the environment. They are a family running a business and everyone who works in the farm is absolutely passionate about their coffee. Their properties are certified by Rainforest Alliance, 4C and Certifica Minas. With great care and relying on innovative craft production, they do their best to ensure that their coffees stand out both in the domestic and foreign markets, and they are very proud of all the awards they have already won in some of the main quality contests in Brazil. Sustainability and Quality are their main focuses - their properties (Recanto Farm and Estrela Farm) have three different independent certifications, two of them international: the Rainforest Alliance, with headquarters in the USA, and the 4C Common Code of the Coffee Community, from Germany; and one of them, national: Certifica Minas, ran by Minas Gerais state. To achieve and maintain these certifications, they need to comply with a series of standards regarding issues such as: environmental conservation and sustainable production, good social practices and working conditions, an efficient management and control system for the entire production chain and, of course, full compliance with all current legislation. Thus, they periodically receive audits on farms to validate the fulfillment of more than 100 evaluation criteria. How This Lot Was Processed After being mechanicallyharvested the coffee cherries were washed and sorted to select only ripe cherries. They then underwent a dry aerobic fermentation for 46 hours, after which they were subject to a 'thermal shock' stage. The coffee then underwent a second fermentation, this time a dryanaerobic one for190 hours and then were subject to asecondthermal shock stage. It was only after this that the cherries were de-pulped before undergoing athirdand final (anaerobic) fermentation (with 100% mucilage remaining) for 72 hours. Finally the coffee was dried on raised beds for 21 days.