Macaubas

The family’s tradition in coffee was started by Vitor’s great-great-grandfather, Elias Barbosa, and has been passed down through the generations since. Vitor has now been working with his father, Danilo Barbosa, for almost 30 years, soaking up the family’s generational knowledge and experience of their land. The family emphasises quality production in their work, and have placed highly in several green coffee competitions. Their highlight so far was in 2021, when they placed 1st in the Brazilian Cup of Excellence and 3rd in the Cerrado Mineiro regional competition. They carefully manage each step of the production process, balancing modern agricultural techniques, environmental factors, and their pursuit of the highest quality.

Cerrado Mineiro

The region of Cerrado Mineiro is part of the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. In 2013 the region became the first in Brazil to be granted a protected designation of origin certificate, similar to Champagne or Scotch whisky. To qualify for the title ‘Cerrado’, the coffees must be speciality grade and grown above 800 masl in the Cerrado Mineiro region. The 4500 producers of the Cerrado region produces 6 million bags of coffee a year, from 210,000 hectares of coffee growing lands. 

Most of the lands here are of quite low altitude compared to most of the coffee we buy here at La Cabra, and are more flat, rather than on more mountainous terrain. The region has characteristic and distinct seasons, with a wet warm summer, and a dry winter, leading to more consistency in growing conditions between years. The dry climate during harvest means less issues with drying coffees, part of the reason so many high quality naturals are produced here.