Cascavel Vermelha
كاسكافيل فيرميلها
The rattlesnake, known as Cascavel in Portuguese, gets a bad rap. Its reactive tendency to defend itself from all perceived threats makes it a frightening opponent. But it’s also essential to the coffee ecosystem. In addition to their beautiful markings, rattlesnakes eat rodents and other small animals. They keep these pests far away from coffee fields where they could wreak havoc by burrowing into coffee tree root systems or chewing through irrigation setups.
Our Cascavel Vermelha (Portuguese for red) is a pulpy Brazil with lots of red fruit and refined sweetness Most Brazilian coffee is grown on huge farms, built to maximize productivity. The relatively flat landscape across many of Brazil’s coffee regions makes mechanical harvesting more possible and that, combined with high minimum wages that make labor more expensive, has led most farms to opt for this type of mechanical harvest- ing over selective hand-pick- ing. While, in the past, this mechanization meant that strip-picking was the norm, today’s mechanical harvest- ers are increasingly sensitive and allow farms to harvest on fully ripe cherries. With the aid of newer, more selective technologies, there’s a grow- ing number of farms who are increasingly concerned with and able to deliver cup quality. In many cases, a mixed form of ‘manual mechanized’ harvesting may be used, especially on less level sections of farms. Ripe coffee is picked using a derricadeira – a sort of mechanized rake that uses vibration to gently harvest ripe cherry from trees. A tarp is spanned between coffee trees to capture the cherry as it falls.
This coffee has been selected based on its fruity profile. In most cases, Natural processing connotes such flavors; however, this coffee may have some Pulped Natural contributions as well. Natural lots will be dried on large patios under sun, while Pulped Natural will be pulped and then laid to dry on patios. In both cases, the coffee will be raked and turned regularly to ensure even drying and a clean cup profile.
