Brazil Condado Estate

JC Coffee Farms is a family partnership of Canaan Estate Coffee and Condado Estate Coffee, producers of fine Arabica beans. The farms are located in the Carmo de Minas and Sul de Minas regions of Brazil. The farms were established in the late 1800s as dairies, cattle ranches, and coffee plantations. Situated in the mining face of the Serra da Mantiqueira mountains, the plantation’s very fertile land and ideal climate has allowed for growth each year as well as excellent results in regional quality contests in Brazil.

JC is a part of the COCARIVE, headquartered in Carmo de Minas, which serves several local municipalities in the Mantiqueira de Minas region. COCARIVE stands for the production of specialty coffees that promotes the development of the region. The COCARIVE’s goal is to add value to high quality coffees while consolidating the region already recognized nationally and internationally as a producer of specialty coffees. The COCARIVE provides its members the services of a professional structure with a high level of expertise in quality and taste evaluation. The COCARIVE offers specialty coffee made unique as a product of controlled origin in Brazil.

JC Coffee Farms brings only the finest coffees from their family estates to the roasting room. Every step of the process is controlled and managed by their farmers, from the seeds all the way to the delivery of the green beans. They produce, process, export, import and distribute, so when you buy their coffees, you are purchasing direct from their farms.

History of Coffee in Brazil

American colonists had been drinking coffee for fifty years before the first coffee seed was planted in Brazil in 1727. A hundred years later, Brazil accounted for 30% of the world’s coffee supply. A hundred years after that, in the 1920’s, Brazil held a virtual monopoly, producing 80% of the world’s coffee. Although Brazil’s market share peaked at 80% in the 1920’s, its continuing status as the world’s largest coffee producer still gives the country considerable influence on the market and coffee prices. It is said that when Brazil sneezes, the coffee world catches cold. In 1975, a “black frost” destroyed over 70 percent of the crop in Brazil and coffee prices doubled world-wide. Brazil was a founding member of the Pan-American Coffee Bureau, which invented the concept of a “coffee break,” during an advertising campaign in the early 1950’s.

Growing Coffee in Brazil

The U.S. state of Maryland is not large enough to contain all the coffee plants in Brazil, even if every inch of the state was growing coffee. Over 300,000 coffee farms in 2,000 cities grow coffee in Brazil. Although some of Brazil’s 30 coffee growing regions are home to the world’s largest coffee farms, there are also small and medium sized farms, including those owned and operated by women as part of Olam’s Café Delas initiative. With so much land devoted to coffee, it’s no surprise that over 40 species coffee plant can be found growing in Brazil, but the most common are Yellow Bourbon, Acaia, Yellow Catuai, Red Catuai, and New World. While the amount of washed coffee coming out of Brazil has increased steadily over the years, the vast majority of coffee is still produced using the dry method.