Farm/Region: Bahia
Tasting Notes: Creamy texture with raisin and hazelnut praline
Producer: Pedro Santana and Delzute Araujo Mesquita
Varietal: Catuaí
Processing: pulped natura
Cafundó is a 28-hectare farm owned and run by Pedro Santana and his wife Delzute Araujo Mesquita, who acquired the land from a friend in 1989. Before that, the pair were living in São Paulo and Pedro was leading a busy, very stressful life as a banker.
Pedro and Delzute moved to the Piatã area to pursue a slower, simpler life, and planted coffee to take advantage of the region’s ideal growing conditions. With the help of the farm’s relatively high elevation and the shade trees Pedro has planted, the coffee cherries at Cafundó mature slowly, allowing sugars to develop and resulting in a sweet, complex cup profile.
“I wake up early and spend the whole day on the land,” Pedro told us. “I love the calm of the countryside. Delzute works by my side during the harvest and helps with administration.” Pedro has no regrets about leaving the city and switching from banking to coffee production. He told us, “No amount of money could pay for what we have here.”