Brazil Sourcing Trip : Pico Mirante
We had the immense pleasure of visiting Pico Mirante, which has been under the meticulous management and ownership of Adolfo Veira Ferreira for the last 40 years. It is one the most beautiful farms we've ever seen, set among the mountains in the south of Minas Gerais, just outside the town of Monte Belo. We've been buying Adolfos coffee for many years now, they are consistently among the best coffees we cup from Brazil each year, being guided through the fields and the patios by the man himself is a real honour.
We started the day with a tour of the farm, snaking through the many plots of different varieties, updating us on the progress of this years crop and the changes that have been made recently. Pickers were out in full force, with an exciting new upgrade to pick coffee with. Instead of the petrol powered mechanical hand tools previously used to harvest coffee, the pickers now have battery powered electrical pickers, which gently shake the cherries from the branches. They fall to the floor where they are gathered on huge tarpaulins, before being dragged out and then blown with a leaf blower to remove debris. These new electrical pickers are not only less noisy than the petrol powered ones but also don't produce any noxious gases, much healthier for the pickers and are powered completely by solar energy, generated on the farm. Adolfo informs us that Pico Mirante is now powered completely by renewable energy generated on site - the first of its kind in Brazil.
Of the 350 hectares on the farm, 70 are natural wild forests, completely untouched. Adolfo has also planted a further 24 hectares of forest over the last 15 years, created wildlife corridors for the many fauna found in the region. Looking out from the viewpoint at the top of the farm across the sea of green, it's hard to spot where the coffee ends and the forest begins.
After our tour we headed back to cup in the first pickings of this years harvest, still early days in the season and the coffees are super fresh, but there were some delights on the table. After a difficult 2024 season Adolfo is feeling good about this year, yields are looking up as well as quality, which is good for everyone. This cupping was extra special for us, being joined by Myles from FED, we were able to cup together and choose their coffee for next year.
Producer, importer, roaster and cafe all round the table - that's a pretty rare and special thing.
After the cupping we had a classic Brazilian barbecue: plate after plate after plate of meat and copious glasses of caipirinha. Sharing these moments with producers are always the highlights of any trip, and the best chance to relax and chat about all things being in the coffee business.
