São Domingos

Fazenda São Domingos was bought by Marco Guardabaxo and Maria Silva in 2006 and is located in close proximity to their home at fazenda Pinheiro in Mococa, Brazil. Since acquiring the farm, extensive renovations have been undertaken to expand and enhance the cultivation of prominent coffee varietals, well-suited to the region. São Domingos’ state-of-the-art facilities are run by the farm’s manager, Ivan Cirino and Lucas Galdino Cirino, head of coffee processing, alongside their professional and committed team of farmers.

São Domingos hosts complete wet and dry milling facilities on site, allowing the team to perform a wide range of processing methods. All processing equipment is equipped with temperature sensors, enabling the farm to employ a highly precise drying technique. Throughout the fields, drip-irrigation systems have been installed to regulate the uniform irrigation of the trees. All young trees up to the age of 6 years (or a size of less than 1.5m) are harvested manually and the older trees are selectively harvested using a machine that only picks the ripe cherries. The fazenda has roughly 100,000 square feet of concrete drying area where the fruits lay for 10 to 15 days. Once dry, the beans are distributed amongst 8 dryers to achieve the ideal residual moisture.

Environmental activity is taken very seriously on São Domingos. Rain-water is collected for the irrigation system and the compost and bio-fuel created on fazenda Pinheiro is used for both the farm's coffee and eucalyptus cultivation. In addition, São Domingos has 80 hectares of conservation land which is home to many native flora and fauna.

The Acaiá variety is a natural mutation of the Mundo Novo cultivar and is mainly grown in Brazil - the plant exhibits large fruit and seeds. This is a Pulped-Natural preparation of their Acaiá. The seed is removed from the fruit for processing but some residual pulp is left attached to the parchment ahead of the drying stage. Once dry, the coffee is left to rest in silos before passing through the dry mill. The result is added texture and mouthfeel similar to a naturally processed coffee but with a cleaner finish and crisper acidity.

In the cup we taste milk chocolate and peanut butter. The body is present but not heavy and there is some acidity that shows its face as the coffee cools.

Producer → Marco A. Guardabaxo
Farm → Fazenda São Domingos
Location → Mococa, São Paulo, Brazil
Varieties → Acaiá
Altitude → 950 masl
Process → Washed