Exploring Brazilian Coffee Characteristics: The Legacy of Catuai Cultivation at FAZENDAS KLEM Estate

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What are the characteristics of Brazilian coffee? What is the history of the Catuai variety cultivated at Brazil's FAZENDAS KLEM coffee estate?

Fazendas Klem is a leader in the Matas de Minas project and a model of organic production in the region. After extensive research on organic processing, soil protection, and many other variables, they have developed a method that allows them to grow coffee using local materials. This involves the use of every available organic material, as well as minerals found near large rock formations. Only a few years ago, they decided to begin exporting their own coffee and provide technical assistance to others in the region.

They have gradually spread best practices from their own path to a completely organic approach. As a secondary crop, they grow trees that produce small avocados, using the same soil and certification. Klem Estate is certified by USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and UTZ. The entire region is divided into several areas, all of which are cultivated by the Klem family (five brothers) and several other families. All micro-batches are processed manually, using raised drying beds in solar dryers for complete separation. The founder and grandfather, Nagype Klem, still works in the main part of the farm, alongside where they roast samples and cup all coffee throughout the season.

Catuai is a cross between the productive Mundo Novo and the compact Caturra, developed by the Instituto Agronomico (IAC) in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. Compared to Bourbon, this plant is highly productive, partly due to its small size, which allows for close plant spacing; it can be planted at nearly double the density. The plant's shape makes it relatively easy to apply pest and disease treatments. Its main characteristics are great vigor and low height; it is more compact than Caturra. It is highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Catuaí comes from the Guarani word meaning "very good." The variety was created in 1949 by crossing yellow Caturra with Mundo Novo, initially called H-2077. There are yellow fruit and red fruit types, and since then, there have been many selections in different countries.

It was first introduced in Honduras in 1979 and tested by the Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFÉ). After IHCAFÉ selected two breeding lines, it was commercially released in 1983. Today in Honduras, Catuai accounts for nearly half of the Arabica coffee cultivation area. IHCAFÉ researchers are actively working on breeding with Catuai, including creating hybrid crosses between Catuai and the Timor Hybrid series.

Catuai's small size allows for dense planting and more efficient harvesting, which partly contributed to the intensification of full-sun coffee cultivation in Central America during the 1970s and 1980s. Made by the children of Fazenda Klem's founder, Nagipe Viana Klem, entirely from the respected Catuai variety Arabica trees. This is a "natural" or dry-processed coffee, meaning the beans or seeds are dried while enclosed in the entire fruit, rather than after the fruit has been removed, as in wet or "washed" processed coffee. Naturals form the backbone of the Brazilian coffee industry, but this particular approach reflects a particularly refined method.

The Natural Processing Method

The drying process seems simple: pick the fruit, place it in the sun until it turns from red to brown to nearly black, then step by step remove it from the thick dried outer layers to reveal the green beans. This is a method suitable for arid regions where sunlight and heat can dry the seeds inside the intact fruit.

It's often called "natural coffee" because of its simplicity, and because the fruit remains intact and undisturbed, somewhat like drying into a raisin. Because it requires little investment, the dry process is the default method for producing cheap commodity-grade coffee in regions with appropriate climates that can dry the fruit and seeds. But in humid or moist regions, it's a failure. If drying doesn't proceed quickly enough, the fruit will degrade, rot, or mold.

Dry-processed coffee can also be very inconsistent. If you want a clean, solid, sweet, rich cup, the dry process (DP) requires more manual labor than the wet process. Even the most careful pickers will pick green unripe or semi-ripe coffee from the branches as they pick the red, ripe cherries. If these are not removed on the first day of drying, the green ones turn brown and become difficult to distinguish from the ripe fruit.

Flavor Profile

Flavor: Lavender, citrus, strawberry, orange, honey, watermelon, grape, tropical fruit, peach, herbs.

Acidity: Citric acid, fruity, melon, sparkling, bright, lemon, cherry.

Other: Silky, floral aftertaste, chamomile, lemongrass aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Method:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 4

Brewing Technique: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee grounds. First pour: 25g water, bloom for 25 seconds. Second pour: inject to 120g water, stop pouring. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to halfway, then continue pouring. Slowly pour until reaching 225g water. Total extraction time around 2:00 minutes.

Analysis: Using a three-stage pour to clearly define the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, stopping the pour can help extend the extraction time.

Important Notice :

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