Among the 150 Brazilian coffee growers selected for the national stage of the Cup of Excellence 2022 are Reinaldo Garcia dos Santos, from Luisburgo and Fabiano Diniz, from Manhuaçu, assisted by the Moca+Poderoso Technical and Management Assistance Program (ATeG). “Technical and managerial assistance combined with the commitment of producers made it bear fruit”, commented the program supervisor in the region, Daniel Prado.
The producers are among the 13 representatives of the Matas de Minas region who have been classified in the world's leading coffee quality competition. To be among the best in Brazil, the producers' samples received a score of 86 points or higher. This result is celebrated by those who dedicate themselves to the production of specialty coffees.
Fortaleza site
For Reinaldo, who was already among the best in the BSCA competition in 2017, the classification is proof of the consistency of his work. “I can’t live without the peculiar mocha. I think about it 24 hours a day”, said.
The producer has been investing in specialty coffees for six years and for the last three years has been assisted by ATeG, escorted by field technician Sebastião Marcos de Mendonça. The activity is carried out at Sítio Fortaleza, which belongs to the coffee grower's father, Rubens Garcia dos Santos.
The entire production of the property is of special coffee. This year, 250 bags were produced. 100% of them scored 80 points or more. Reinaldo has already taken courses in Classification, Tasting and Roasting offered by the Faemg System and said that he himself tastes the coffees in search of the best ones.
Reinaldo and Rubens dos Santos – father and son on the farm. (Photo: Publicity)
The producer has won 17 awards in different regional and national competitions and hopes to achieve a good result once again. The moca sent to the Cup of Excellence is a red catucaí grown at an altitude of 1235 meters. “It is very important for me to participate in competitions and be alongside great producers. After six years in this business, I have been able to meet producers who invest in research, new varieties, in the dry season and who, like me, dedicate themselves to preparing coffee.”, said Reinaldo.
Top of the Mountain Specialty Coffees
Young Fabiano Diniz is the fourth generation of his family of coffee growers and for him, the main focus is quality. He said that this is the second time he has participated in the competition, but it is as if it were the first, since now he is about to. “I tried in 2018, but I was still very unfamiliar with competitions and, especially, with specialty coffees”,
After receiving the score, he sought to improve his techniques before trying other competitions and in 2021 he returned to competitions and won prizes. “I saw that my potential had improved and after years I submitted my modeling to the BSCA competition again and, to my surprise, I passed.”, he said with satisfaction.
The coffee sent to the competition is part of the batch named by the producer as a “golden batch” for having yielded excellent beans over the last two years. It is a catucaí, a pulped cherry that has already received a score of 89 in the Matas de Minas report, according to Fabiano.
The drink was dominated by honey with a strong presence of brown sugar, without losing its acidity, and a flavor reminiscent of orange, a slight hint of cornmeal and the smoothness of a floral aroma.
The young man says he is happy and grateful to symbolize the work of his family and his municipality in this important competition. “Manhuaçu is a major coffee producer and has incredible products. In this edition, I am the only producer from Manhuaçu to be classified and this makes me even more excited to represent everyone here in the region.”.
Anxious for the result, Fabiano already feels victorious and sees that his efforts are being rewarded.We seek to balance everything by always seeking greater quantity with better quality. And this is very important for our presence in the global market to be increasingly expressive.”, he concluded.
Cup of Excellence 2022
Up to 40 samples that score 86 points or higher will advance to the international competition. The results will be announced on October 22. The international competition will select the best coffees in the world in 2022.
The samples that achieve a score above 30 points will occupy the ranking of up to 2022 winning lots of the Cupping of Excellence 87. The result will be announced on October 29th. And the champions will be able to participate in the Cup of Excellence auction.
The competition has been held in Brazil since 2000 by the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Office (ApexBrasil), in partnership with the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE).
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