Coffee is processed in Sul de Minas by three different methods that produce Natural, Pulped Natural or Washed coffees.

• Natural coffees: traditionally obtained by letting the fruit go through its complete natural cycle. When hand picked selectively at the peak of maturation, these full-bodied coffees have a characteristic sweet flavor, ideal for the finest espresso blends.

• Pulped Naturals: obtained by pulping the mature cherries, then allowing the beans to absorb the mucilage while drying on the patio. This method develops in the coffee a well balanced flavor profile comparable to Naturals.

• Washed coffees are obtained by pulping the mature cherries and then fermenting them in tanks, after which the mucilage is washed away. These are milder coffees with a more pronounced acidity.

We are able to process our coffee using all three methods.

Immediately after being picked, all coffee passes though a pre-selection, with equipment specially developed to eliminate impurities and to sort the coffee by stage of maturation.

Blowers and sieves separate the leaves and small wooden sticks from the trees as well as other possible impurities.

A density separation tank will then separate the ripe cherries and the green beans from those that have passed the ideal maturation stage. These overripe beans are partly desiccated and will therefore float in this tank, being thus withdrawn from the processing line and taken directly to the patio to complete the drying. The ripe cherries, still mixed with the green beans, are denser and will sink in this tank. From there they will be taken to the pulping equipment.

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Now the fruits will go through the most important piece of equipment: the green separator. The ripe fruits are squeezed against a perforated plate and will burst open, letting the seeds pass through this plate. The green beans, which are harder, will not burst open and will be sorted out at this stage.

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After the separation of the green beans, which are taken to a separate drying area in the patios, the pulped cherries will pass through the pulper, which will separate the seeds, still covered by its pulp (‘mucilage’), from the husks, which are taken to a compost pile.

At this stage, the coffee seeds, still covered by the mucilage, will by submitted to the processing method that will be chosen by our quality control team to achieve the desired taste profile resulting in a Pulped Natural coffee or in a Washed coffee.

Natural coffees will not pass through this processing line: the fruits will be taken immediately after the first pre-selection to the patios for drying.