Tate - Carmen Lúcia 250g | Brazil

Fazenda Caxambu is a farm owned by the De Brito family. Carmen Lúcia Chaves de Brito, otherwise affectionately known as ‘Ucha’, focuses her efforts on variety and processing management. She has a deep understanding of complexity in coffee, the micromanagement of flavour and quality through each stage of the process, from developing new varieties in her “experimental field”, to pushing the boundaries of flavour with experimental processing methods.

This coffee is a study in both varietal expression and processing, produced as an experiment with Dionathan Almeida, 2024’s World Cup Tasting Champion. Cherries are picked and then defined by maturation at collection via a laser colour sorter. Placed under banana and mango trees, temperature stability is created by protection from the direct heat of the sun. The cherries are then wrapped in banana leaves, and undergo regular checks while they ferment over 72 hours. Once complete, they are taken to concrete patios and dried over 12 days. Research conducted on the farm with Dionathan and Professor Flavio Borem showed that this is the crucial point at which gasses are exchanged between the cherry and husk, and where a natural coffee develops its distinctive character. 

In 2016, alongside SMC and DR Wakefield, we launched our Gender Equality Project; pledging to source at least 50% of our coffee from female producers to address imbalance through the supply chain. We have been working with Ucha since that first year and are thrilled to have sourced this unique coffee to celebrate this ten year milestone. The GEP has helped focus our sourcing, and has introduced us to some amazing producers and incredible coffees that we otherwise may have missed. 

Here’s to the next ten years!