Brazil - Paulo Rabelo

about the producer.

Paulo Henrique Oliveira Rabelo grew up on his parents’ coffee farm. As a boy he dreamed of one day having his own coffee farm. Life often takes the long road, after studying medicine Paulo Henrique became a doctor, building a successful career in Rio de Janeiro where he lived for 22 years. In 2019 Paulo Henrique decided that it was finally time for that childhood dream to come true. He began looking for a quiet rural property, a place that could be a sanctuary from the busy life of the city and that could become the coffee farm he had imagined for so long. What happened next felt meant to be.

“In 2019, while driving along the road between Varginha and Três Pontas, I spotted a “For Sale” sign. At the time, I thought it wasn’t meant for me. Still, I remained focused and confident that I would find the right place in the region. A few days later, a friend who works as a real estate agent approached me with a property — and guess which one it was? That’s right, the very same one I had seen. Today, it is known as Fazenda Mariana.

Currently, the farm stands out for its strong focus on sustainability and continuous investment in technology to improve the quality of our coffees. The pursuit of excellence is a daily mission — and that’s what drives us.”

Paulo Henrique named his dream farm after his wife, Mariana Pinto Peixoto, and now together they produce exceptional specialty coffee. Fazenda Mariana is a model of innovation and sustainability often hosting agronomy students to learn from the different approaches they have implemented here.

One of the key developments Paulo and Mariana have made is to focus on intercropping plants along with the coffee plants to focus on soil health. Conventional beliefs are that cultivating other plants among coffee will negatively impact the plant health and yield. At Fazenda Mariana they have found the opposite to be true. By planting banana trees alongside coffee and interspersing cover trees they have created improved soil health, reducing the need for inputs and pesticides, all of which in turn supports the health of the coffee plants, the quality of cherries, and the crop yield. Now Paulo Henrique wants to share this knowledge with other farmers to bring about a renewal of the soil and create a more sustainable future for coffee in Brazil - the world’s largest producer of specialty coffee.

about the coffee.

Fazenda Mariana has state of the art processing and drying facilities and Paulo Henrique is constantly implementing new approaches to push the boundaries of his coffee quality. This stems from all of the work that goes into producing healthy plants and unique varieties like this Paraíso variety, a hybrid between Catuai and Timor Hybrid developed in Brazil that has complex fruit notes and a deep sweetness. Next the sugar levels of the coffee cherries are measured to ensure peak ripeness for ideal fermentations. These selected cherries go through meticulous post-harvest processing designed specifically for each lot.

This Paraíso lot underwent a 5 day anaerobic fermentation to develop the fruit qualities and intense sweetness, during this time the cherries are sealed in large sacks and kept in a cool shaded area to ensure a slow and controlled fermentation to maintain cup clarity and balance.

The cherries are then laid out in thin layers on raised beds to quickly begin drying the coffee down to 15%. At this point the cherries are gathered again to stabilize the moisture content for greater consistency before completing the drying in thicker layers for a slow drawn out finish. Paulo Henrique’s latest harvests have stood out for their exceptional quality and exotic flavors, a result of these careful and innovative practices.