This coffee has an SCA score of 85.75 offering lots of dark chocolate, candy and red ripe fruit in the nose that translates to nutella, dark berries and stone fruit in the cup profile. Cup is balanced, with medium tartaric acidity, medium- high body, and berry like finish. Sweet, with a nice texture.
Ademilson Noiman Borges can trace his family history at Sitio Grota Fria to the turn of the 20th century, when his great-grandfather owned the farm. The first coffee crops were planted in 1910. In 1988, Ademilson’s grandfather divided the land among his children, including Ademilson’s father, who continued to cultivate coffee and farm dairy cows. His father named that plot Sitio Grota Fria. In 1996, Ademilson leased part of the land from his aunt and planted his first crop of coffee, which was Mundo Novo.
In 2007, Ademilson’s father passed Sitio Grota Fria to him and Ademilson immediately applied for Certifica Minas certification, which certifies compliance with global trade regulations. Ademilson also set out to renew the trees on the land that had become old and unproductive, replanting with seedlings. Ademilson faced his father’s reluctance – his father produced coffee in traditional ways and believed that specialty coffee was time consuming and expensive to produce – in transitioning to specialty coffee but, with the help of the Associação dos Produtores do Alto da Serra (APAS), he was able to begin attending lectures and trainings to improve their crop.
His first harvest in 2013 scored 81.5 points. Now, his coffees are regularly scoring above 85 points. Since his first harvest, he’s focused on cultivation, post-harvest processing and quality control.
Unusually for Brazil, coffee is selectively hand harvested. Ripe, red cherry is laid in thin layers on patios to sun dry. Cherry is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes up to 17 days for cherry to dry.
n a country with around 25,000 Fair Trade growers, winning best Fair Trade coffee is no small feat, but that is exactly what Ademilson Noiman Borges did last harvest. As a participant in Casa Brasil’s Selective Harvest Project, Ademilson became the first APAS member to win best Fair Trade coffee in Brazil.
The Associação dos Produtores do Alto da Serra (APAS) was founded in 2006, to help producers organize in a collective way. Working together helps producers improve coffee quality, increase profitability and provide a better quality of life. In 2013, with help from SEBRAE and EMATER the association achieved its Fairtrade certification, making it possible to reach many of their goals. In 2019, they started Alto da Serra Producers' Cooperative (APASCOFFEE) with the intention of streamlining the marketing process and exporting with emphasis on specialty and certified coffee.
