Brazil Carmo De Minas Yellow Bourbon - August 2025
Apr 8, 2025by "Katelinne H."
Brazil Carmo De Minas - Fazenda Santa Ines Yellow Bourbon
Every once in a while, a coffee comes along that reminds us why we chase quality and why we believe traceability, innovation, and community investment matter.
This month’s Roaster’s Choice pick? A silky-smooth, natural-processed Yellow Bourbon from the legendary Fazenda Santa Inês in Carmo de Minas, Brazil. You’ll taste praline, dark chocolate, and blood orange in the cup, and you’ll feel just how much care went into bringing it to life.
Grower: Fazenda Santa Ines
Region: Minas Gerais
Cultivar: Yellow Bourbon
Altitude: 900-1050 masl
Process: Natural
Drying: Patio dried
Roast Level: Medium
Roast Body: Mild
Cupping Notes: Praline, Dark Chocolate, Blood Orange
A Farm That Changed Everything
Coffee has been the business of the Pereira family since 1979, when they took over the 215-hectare Fazenda Santa Inês. The farm was already planted in coffee, but the region was struggling with quality and reputation. Rather than settle, the Pereiras invested heavily, replanting with classic varietals like Red and Yellow Bourbon, Catuai, and Acaia; upgrading their facilities; and adopting new harvesting and processing techniques.
That gamble paid off. In 2005, a lot from Santa Inês earned first place in the Cup of Excellence Brazil with a record-breaking score of 95.85; a watershed moment that put both the farm and Carmo de Minas on the specialty coffee map.
Today, Santa Inês grows about 4,000 bags of coffee annually, including this Yellow Bourbon, with roughly half its land planted in coffee and the rest dedicated to bananas, corn, and dairy cows. The farm houses 13 families and provides support to many more from the nearby town of Olímpio de Noronha. Employees receive housing, food, transportation, and educational support for their children. It’s a coffee farm, but it’s also a small, thriving community.
This month’s Yellow Bourbon lot is a perfect reflection of all that care. Naturally processed and patio dried, it’s smooth and complex with notes of praline, dark chocolate, and blood orange.
Brazil's Coffee Legacy
It’s no exaggeration to say that Brazil is the backbone of the global coffee industry. As the world’s largest coffee producer, Brazil has long dominated the volume game, but not always the quality conversation. That’s been changing, thanks to farms like Santa Inês.
Coffee was first planted in Brazil in the 1700s and became a major economic force by the 1820s. It shaped infrastructure, labor, and even politics. And while Brazil’s sheer scale has sometimes meant a focus on efficiency over excellence, the last few decades have seen a shift toward high-quality microlots , farm-level traceability , and flavor diversity; all driven by producers who believe Brazil can do more than just mass-market blends.
Enter Yellow Bourbon: a prized cultivar known for its sweet, citrus-toned profile and smooth body. The Yellow Bourbon is slightly lower-yielding than other types, but the flavor payoff, especially when grown in high-altitude microclimates like Carmo de Minas, is more than worth it. This coffee proves it.
CarmoCoffees: Supporting the Soil and the Soul
Behind every bag of this Yellow Bourbon coffee is a network of support—and in Carmo de Minas, that support system is CarmoCoffees. Founded by cousins Jacques Carneiro and Luis Paulo Dias Pereira Filho, CarmoCoffees began as a way to market and export coffee from their family’s farms, including Santa Inês. But it quickly grew into something much bigger.
CarmoCoffees is now a hub for innovation in Brazil’s specialty coffee scene. They work with a network of producers to support processing innovation, reforestation projects, composting and recycling efforts, and recently, even bee farming initiatives aimed at increasing pollination and biodiversity on coffee farms.
They also invest in people. The CriaCarmo project , funded in part by premiums from coffees like this one, provides local youth with access to education, sports, language classes, and cognitive development programs . Kids from coffee-producing families can take part in everything from karate and chess to English lessons; building skills that go far beyond the farm.
It’s one thing to grow great coffee. It’s another to create opportunity with every harvest. CarmoCoffees does both.
Back to the Brew
This Yellow Bourbon from Fazenda Santa Inês is everything we love about Brazilian microlots: approachable but nuanced, comforting but complex. The natural process brings out a round, fruit-forward sweetness; the medium roast keeps it balanced and chocolatey; and the praline and blood orange notes make it something truly special.
It’s also a symbol of what happens when tradition meets innovation, when farms invest in their people, and when a country long known for volume chooses instead to lead with quality.
Roasted fresh, offered for a limited time, and backed by a story worth sipping—this is Roaster’s Choice at its best.
How Do I Get This Coffee?
Fresh Roasted Coffee’s Roaster’s Choice program is your passport to the world’s most captivating coffees and this month’s pick brings us to the heart of Brazil. Our Brazil Carmo de Minas – Fazenda Santa Inês Yellow Bourbon offers a silky, fruit-kissed cup with notes of praline, dark chocolate, and blood orange.
Grown by the Pereira family at the award-winning Fazenda Santa Inês , this naturally processed Yellow Bourbon is patio-dried and carefully cultivated in the rich, rolling hills of Minas Gerais. It’s a shining example of Brazil’s evolving specialty coffee scene; one rooted in tradition, elevated by innovation, and built on generations of farming excellence.
Order a Roaster's Choice subscription by August 7th, 2025, to experience this coffee for yourself!
Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC offers Roaster's Choice coffees in bagged coffee as well as classic pods. Subscribers can choose from 3-, 6- or 12- month subscription plans.
Ready to savor the unparalleled flavors of this month’s Roaster’s Choice? Limited quantities available, so don’t miss out!
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