Brazil: Rio Brilhante

This easy drinking cup is all milk chocolate and Brazil nuts, with just a little buttery biscuit note on the finish.

There's something rather poetic about a farm named after the crystal-clear water that sustains it. Rio Brilhante – 'bright river' in Portuguese – draws its lifeblood from the Guarani Aquifer, the second largest underground reservoir on the planet.

Inacio Carlos Urban first planted trees here back in 1984, and what started as one man's dream of sustainable, innovative coffee production has grown into one of Brazil's largest speciality farms. We're talking 1,627 hectares under coffee across a 2,350-hectare estate in Coromandel. To put that in perspective, it's roughly the size of a small town.

Cerrado Mineiro itself holds a rather prestigious distinction – it's one of the few coffee regions in the world to have received official 'Origin status', similar to Champagne. Only coffee grown here can bear the Cerrado name. The region's perfect balance of wet and dry seasons, combined with altitudes between 1,000 and 1,250 metres, creates ideal growing conditions.

What sets Rio Brilhante apart is the meticulous attention to detail. Soil and leaf samples are analysed quarterly, with corrections made using specific fertilisers based on the results. It's precision farming at its finest. For this natural-processed lot, cherries are hand-picked, sorted, then spread in thin layers on patios to dry for around 23 days until they reach that sweet spot of 12% moisture.

The farm is now a family affair, with Inacio's sons involved in daily operations and a genuine commitment to their community through initiatives like 'Seeds of Change' – a programme helping staff develop essential life skills. It's the kind of place where coffee, family and sustainability feel genuinely intertwined.

• Country: Brazil
• Region: Cerrado
• Nearest town: Coromandel
• Farm: Rio Brilhante
• Producer: Inacio Carlos Urban
• Farm size: 2,350 hectares
• Coffee production area: 1,627 hectares
• Elevation: 1,050 m.a.s.l.
• Varietal: Yellow Catuai
• Process: Natural
  

Medium Dark

A steady to slightly longer roast for this, stopping just before second crack but developing those layers of sweetness fully.

Tasting notes: Milk chocolate, Brazil nut, biscuit

Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores

• Clean Cup: 6/8
• Sweetness: 6/8
• Acidity: 6/8
• Mouthfeel: 6.5/8
• Flavour: 6/8
• Aftertaste: 6/8
• Balance: 6.5/8
• Overall: 6.5/8
• Correction: (+36): +36
• Total: 85.5/100