About this Coffee
Beginning in 2018, Ipanema began their ‘Premier Cru’ range: a selection of verysmall batch, handcraftedlots from the highest altitudes of the Estate’s oldest farm, Rio Verde. This range of Premier Cru coffees ispacked in cutting edge nitrogen-flushed vacuum-packed 20kg cartons. The method of nitrogen flushing,common with roasted coffee, stabilises the product by removing all traces of oxygen. Taking such care withgreen coffee is practically unheard of, even in specialty. The method speaks to the exceptional quality ofthese lots, which push the boundaries of what specialty coffee in Brazil can offer.
Rio Verde is a large farm of 1,566 hectares. Much of the farm lies between 700 and 1,000 metres above sealevel. However, just over 260 hectares of the farm rise above 1,000 metres. This part of the farm, which ridesseveral peaks, is separatedinto 32 ‘glebes’ (plots), all of which have different altitudes and sun faces, soilcomposition and a single varietal each (A=Acaia; B=Yellow Bourbon; C=Yellow Catuai). It is from these‘glebes’ (ranging from .65 to 20.13 hectares in size) that the PremierCru range is carefully harvested.
This 100% Red Acaialot was harvested onJune 3rd, 2022,from GlebeA48. The coffee was selectively hand-harvested and then processed using the traditional Natural method with a wild fermentation for 48 hours. This process begins with a measuring of the coffee’s Brix, or sugar content. The cherries are sorted and placedin the aerobic (oxygen present) environment to initiate fermentation, allowing for the coffee’smicroorganism development. Once the coffee’s temperature stabilizes, the fermentation is complete.During this process, the temperature rises and the Brix content drops. After processing, the cherries were dried onconventional patios for 67 hours and in vertical dryers for an additional 117hours.