By Chris Kornman
PIATÃ, BR— Deep in the high plateaus of Chapada Diamantina, in the heart of Brazil’s vast state of Bahia, Valentina Pereira Souza has cracked the code of an entirely new wave of coffee processing.
“An agronomist told me that coffee processing equipment manufacturer Pinhalense invented pulped natural process in Mogiana years ago,” said Pereira, a third-generation coffee farmer. “I’ve been making pulped natural coffees for years, the old-fashioned way. Until recently, I had no idea that by calling it mel I could make more money.”
Demand for differentiated, high quality microlots in recent years has given rise to entirely new forms of coffees, previously unavailable to market. Among the more popular is “honey” process, wherein a coffee cherry’s skin and some fruit is removed before drying in the sun. It is identical in every way to coffees once marketed as “pulped natural” (cereza descascado in Portuguese).
While careful coffee cherry selection and rigorous, long drying times have been the signature for quality conscious small farmers like Pereira, new methods allowing higher profit margins are beginning to circumvent traditional practices. When I noted the similarity of the English words “honey”—“mel” in Portuguese—and “money,” Pereira confirmed that she is fluent in English and well aware of the difference.
“I’d like to show you the color of my money,” Pereira told me, as she proudly displayed various
currencies from customers in Australia, Norway, Japan, and the United States, each laid out next to partly dried coffee with various amounts of fruit left clinging to the seed. “I also have a blend called Rainbow Honey.”
Neighboring fazendas have caught wind of Pereira’s savvy techniques, and nearby farmers were quick to experiment with the increasingly popular processing method on their own land.
On the farm, Pereira assured me that her coffee was authentic and the original. She’s already pre-sold her two top-scoring lots to last year’s Australian barista champion, who intends to make it all the way to worlds with the power of money.
Like a good cast iron skillet, Chris is a seasoned roaster with at least one fire story. He lives in Oakland, California, where he teaches, writes, and researches about coffee and helps manage an improv theater.
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