Our second year with coffee from Fazenda Bom Sucesso in the Serra Da Canastra region in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

We were introduced to the owner Paulo Henrique Guerra and his coffees through a mutual friend whilst attending a sensory analysis course. The Brazilian instructor went around the (virtual) room asking what people were drinking and told us she had a lovely coffee from a friend... Paulo. I immediately asked for his details and we struck up a connection and he sent us some samples from his harvest. They were very good and Paulo asked how we would like our coffees processed! That was a first for Crankhouse.

This year Paulo offered us a couple of different lots and after sampling we decided on this naturally processed Mundo Novo. Resulting from a natural cross between the Sumatra and Bourbon Vermelho cultivars, Mundo Novo was discovered in the São Paulo municipality of Mineiros do Tietê, in 1952.

This part of the story is where science comes in. The seeds of one of these coffee trees were planted in the municipality of Mundo Novo (which today bears the name of Urupês), São Paulo. There, Embrapa researchers selected the parent plants that gave rise to the Mundo Novo cultivar – a reference to the city where it was developed.

Soon, the plants proved to be resistant and productive in the field. In view of the high performance, Embrapa bet on the varietal, multiplied the seeds and distributed Mundo Novo coffee to the market. Since then, the varietal has been one of the main ones in the country’s Arabica production, along with Catuaí coffee. 

Paulo send through some pictures of the flowering of the coffee trees which shows the beauty of this special time of year. It's the marker that the trees are ready to produce fruit, and the more abundant the flowers, the more likely it is to get a good harvest. Plus, it smells amazing.