About this coffee

We're excited to bring back the Rio Brilhante Fosforico for the third year as one of our Legacy Coffees. Inacio named his farm Fazenda Rio Brilhante, meaning “bright river” in honor of the crystal-clear water that feeds his farm. The water originates at the Guarani Aquifer, the second-largest underwater reservoir on the planet. The aquifer runs under much of the Cerrado region and stretches as far as Paraguay and Uruguay.

Inacio and his sons use a combination of modern technology and age-old agrarian wisdom to manage their farm. Soil content and tree health is tested every quarter and the results inform the application of fertilizers and other inputs. Pruning is conducted approximately every 2 years by trained professionals.

As part of their drive for innovation, Inacio and his sons are always on the look out for newer varieties, like Arara and Paraiso to introduce. When analyzing which varieties to begin cultivating, they look for a balance of cup quality and disease resistant.

In addition to the 1,600+ hectares planted with coffee, Inacio has dedicated another 700+ hectares with a combination of cotton, soy, tomato, beans and grazing pasture for cattle.

Due to their large size, most Brazilian farms are built and equipped for mechanical harvesting and processing. The relatively flat landscape across many of Brazil’s coffee regions combined with high minimum wages has led most farms to opt for this type of mechanical harvesting over selective hand-picking.

In the past, this mechanization meant that strip-picking was the norm; however, today’s mechanical harvesters are increasingly sensitive, meaning that farms can harvest only fully ripe cherries at each pass, which is good news for specialty-oriented producers.

In many cases and on less level sections of farms, a mixed form of ‘manual mechanized’ harvesting may be used, where ripe coffee is picked using a derricadeira – a sort of mechanized rake that uses vibration to harvest ripe cherry. A tarp is spanned between coffee trees to capture the cherry as it falls.

With the aid of these newer, more selective technologies, there’s a growing number of farms who are increasingly concerned with – and able to deliver - cup quality.

After harvest, cherry is laid to dry in thin layers on a patio for 5 days. While it’s under direct sunlight, cherry is carefully monitored and turned frequently. Then, cherry is dried in a mechanical drum dryer for an additional 4 days. Once dry, cherry is bagged and rested for 40 days before it is transported to the dry mill for processing. This coffee is also currently featured in our Sojourner House blend and and provides the low tone sweetness and foundation for the house blend.