Brazil Cerrado • Marcelo Assis

Producer: Marcelo Assis with support from Flávio Márcio da Silva

Processing Method: Natural (dry) process, dried on cement patios for 5 days

Variety: Red Catuaí

Coffee Farm Name: Olhos D’Água, Lot 1442 at the Bioma Café Estate

Town: Campos Altos

Region: Cerrado Mineiro

Elevation: 1,206 meters above sea level (masl)

Notes from the Importer, Crop to Cup: The lot was harvested mechanically in the selective mode, natural processed, dried in the conventional asphalt patio for 5 days, spread in 3 cm layers, turned over to 12 times a day until it reached 18% humidity, and was taken to a mechanical dryer (Eco Dryer - Penagos), where it remained at the average temperature of 35º C of the mass until reaching 12% humidity. After this process, the coffee lot rested with the outer skin for 30 days until the hulling process.

Bioma Café’s is a partnership between Marcelo Nogueira Assis and Flavio Marcio Silva dating back to 2001. Flavio came from managing the family businesses, and Marcelo was a recent graduate in the technical school of agriculture. By 2010 the two were ready to found their first coffee farm – dedicated 100% to specialty production – in Campos Altos region, Minas Gerais. The time between was spent evaluating each piece of land that they would later buy – a scientific search for the perfect terroir. A 1200m high plateau in Cerrado Mineiro was eventually selected, 229 hectares divided into six zones. Olhos D’agua is the central plot, where the processing happens. Bioma’s motto is ‘coffee for a better future’, yet they are already leading the way in regards to quality and sustainability in the Cerrado context. Their approach has three pillars, the first of which emphasizes the importance of healthy soil as maintained through extensive cover plants and customized nutrition. The idea is to ‘elevate the terroir’ by treating each plot individually. As well, Bioma makes their own organic fertilizers on-site which, by 2025, make up to 60% of the inputs used on the farm. In addition to soil health, Bioma’s plan for the future includes investments in people (22 fulltime workers, plus 25 seasonal employees), and technology (post-harvest processing infrastructure, quality mapping, and digital systems for traceability).

Bioma Café is a company that essentially came up with the purpose of producing specialty coffees, so that all the investments made since the acquisition of the head office property, the Olhos D'água Farm, were made thinking of the high-quality production, including the choice of terroir. From crop management to harvesting and post-harvesting, Marcelo and Flávio are very cautious about the quality, they treat each coffee lot produced as unique. All of Bioma Cafés’s productions are natural processed, with no water used during the whole process, the coffee harvested is separated by plot, varietal, and harvest date, so one lot is only mixed with another after classification and knowledge of the sensory profiles of each lot. All harvested coffee is processed in own farm facilities, and there are no third parties in this process. All of these practices means quality control.

Label Artwork: Meredith Miotke, @itsmeredithlynne