Volcanic region: coffee grown in SP and MG wins awards – 03/13/2024 – Café na Prensa

A region between the south of Minas Gerais and the northeast of São Paulo has attracted attention for growing coffees that produce drinks with complex and highly valued sensory notes.

Located around a crater of a volcano that has been extinct for millions of years, the farms in this area have won quality awards and competitions, which has drawn attention to what sets it apart from other coffee producing regions in Brazil: the volcanic soil.

More in-depth studies are still needed to explain precisely why the region produces such quality coffee, but hypotheses point to the fact that the difference really lies in the combination of altitude and volcanic soil.

As we know, Arabica coffee requires high altitudes to produce good fruit. In this region, coffee plantations are located on elevations created naturally around the volcanic caldera.

This results in drinks with a sweet flavor and citrus acidity, according to researcher Leandro Carlos Paiva, from the Federal Institute of Southern Minas Gerais.

“Higher lands are colder at night, and during the day they still maintain a temperature warm enough to maintain adequate development of the coffee. And on cold nights, the coffee breathes more and produces more citric acid. So there is a balance between the acidity and sweetness, and the coffee is very balanced, very full-bodied, very sweet, but with a perfect balance of acidity”, he says.

Another reason lies in the properties of the soil itself. “It is not considered an extinct volcano; it is a volcanic caldera that was formed, but did not explode. So our soil is not that basalt soil. It is a soil of volcanic formation, but it has a very diverse rock formation, because it is an elevation which came from the bottom up, from the magma. So there is a much greater complexity of soils”, says Paiva.

Of course, the final flavor of the coffee depends on numerous factors, such as variety, altitude, post-harvest processing, roasting, etc. But, in general, a coffee from the volcanic region brings flavors of yellow fruits, caramel and chocolate, with a silky body and intense citrus acidity.

Last year, a coffee from the region broke a record price. Cultivated by Orfeu in São Sebastião da Grama (around 250 km from São Paulo), the gesha variety grains grown at 1,570 meters of altitude were sold for the equivalent of R$84,500 per 60 kg bag – or around R$ 1,410.00 per kilo. It was the highest price ever paid at auction for a Brazilian natural processing coffee.

The success achieved by coffee growers has attracted other crops and companies to the region. Orfeu itself began cultivating olive trees and, as a result, produces olive oils that have already won international awards. Chinese investors have started testing avocado planting, and the results have been pleasing.

To add value to the coffee, the farmers decided to join together, in order to delimit the area that is actually located in the volcanic terroir. In total, the so-called volcanic region covers 12 municipalities, eight in Minas –Andradas, Bandeira do Sul, Botelhos, Cape Verde, Caldas, Campestre, Ibitiúra de Minas and Poços de Caldas– and four in São Paulo –Águas da Prata, Caconde , Divinolândia and São Sebastião da Grama.

Now associated, the producers intend to petition the INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property) for recognition of the designation of origin – a seal that designates a product whose qualities are due to the geographical environment, such as what occurs in Europe with sparkling wine from the Champagne region , in France, or parmigiano reggiano cheeses, in Italy.

The journalist traveled at the invitation of Orfeu.



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