Bahia Quality Competition 2011 Lot 1 - Fazenda Sol do Paraguassu Natural

This coffee is packed in jute sacks lined with PVC Grainpro bags – an airtight storage system that preserves aroma and freshness for longer, while also allowing the coffee to breathe naturally.

This coffee was awarded first place for a natural coffee in the Bahia Quality Competition 2011 - a state-sponsored competition that has been running since 2001 with the aim of finding the finest quality coffees from Bahia, in northern Brazil.

The competition is a partnership between Agricafé and ASSOCAFÉ (Coffee Producers of Bahia Association) and is open to all farms in Bahia. It was founded to help boost both the quality and price of Bahia coffees. The competition usually takes place at the end of the crop year (October). It is run along similar lines to the Cup of Excellence, with repeated blind cupping of competition lots by an independent jury and use of COE score sheets. This year (2011) was the first year that international judges have been invited to the jury, and Mercanta was delighted to take part.

This winning lot was produced by José Avelino at Fazenda Sol do Paraguassu in Bahia’s Chapada Diamantina highlands, close to the Paraguassú river. The estate extends over a total of 727 hectares with 142 hectares under coffee - Catuaí and Mondo Novo varietals. Most of the rest of Sol do Paraguassu is set aside as forest and nature reserves, which support a diverse range of flora and fauna including many species that are unique to the Chapada Diamantina region (a UNESCO world heritage site).

Sol do Paraguassu’s coffee is selectively picked by hand when ripe, processed on site and dried in the sun on the farm’s concrete patios until it reaches optimum humidity. The individual lots are then carefully demarcated and strored in purpose built facilities until they are ready for export.