About the coffee:

Salmo Plus is a combination of coffees from five farms (fazendas) in two top-quality regions: Fazendas Lenheiros, Alcaan, Santa Barbara and Queixadas from Cerrado and Fazenda do Lobo from Sul de Minas.

Ripe and raisin cherries (cherries left to dry on the tree) were mechanically harvested, sent to the washing station on the farm by tractors and were cleaned and separated by density (ripe to one side, raisin to the other). They were dried in the sun on cement patios and then put in mechanical driers to ensure an even result.

After drying, they rested in wooden boxes for 30-plus days before being hulled and sent to a nearby warehouse where they were reprocessed and sealed in containers, ready to ship.

About the region:

Sul de Minas, in the southern part of Minas Gerais, is the most important and diverse coffee region in the country and a place where producers still live out traditions that have passed between generations of coffee growers. It’s also Brazil’s most charming coffee region, with steep slopes, beautiful valleys, exuberant natural landscapes and well-preserved colonial farms.

Cerrado is the newest coffee region in Brazil. It was shaped by two important events. In 1975, the “black frost” devastated plantations in Parana — at the time, the largest coffee-producing region in Brazil — while in western São Paulo, coffee plantations were struggling against an intense nematodes infestation. These two events brought Brazil’s coffee industry to its knees.

Farmers set out in search of new areas to develop and arrived in Cerrado — an underdeveloped area with poor, acidic soil — just as a government effort was underway to understand the science of Cerrado’s soil and whether it might someday be a major food producer. Simple, inexpensive solutions wound up being effective, and coffee plants adapted well to Cerrado’s well-defined climate. Its warm temperatures, intense sunlight and dry winters aligned perfectly with the harvest, which demands dry weather. Today, coffee is grown here in 55 towns and across 210,000 hectares.

Producers:

Ana Maria Menezes Mendonca, Andreia Galvao Nogueira, Celio Davi de Oliveira, Filomena Estefania de Mattos Gatti, and Maria das Gracas Silva

Geography:

Region: Cerrado and Sul de Minas

Altitude: 920-1100 meters

Variety:

Red Catuai, Mundo Novo, Topazio, Acaia

Processing:

Natural

Brewing instructions:

Auto drip:

• Grind size: coarse sea salt

• Ratio: 1 3/4 tablespoons of ground coffee per 1 cup of water

• Brew time: ~4 minutes

French Press:

• Grind size: pretzel salt

• Ratio: 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 1 cup of water

• Brew time: 4 minutes

Pour over:

• Grind size: kosher salt

• Ratio: 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 1 cup of water

• Brew time: 3-4 minutes