The Farm
The Seibt family farm is fortunate to be located in what many consider to be the premier coffee production region in Brazil, referred to as the Cerrado Mineiro region. The farm was started from literally the ground up. With no running water and no electricity, their farm was carved out of the Brazilian prairie with hard work and a passion for producing
coffee.
As you drive through the Gaúcha farm, you will be surrounded by row after row of methodically cared for coffee plants in one of the highest concentrations of coffee production in the world. With such a perfect growing environment, other plant cultures have found their way into the same space such as corn, soybeans, cotton and eucalyptus plantations.
The phrase “specialty coffee” gets thrown around quite a bit.
But as you take a stroll through the farm, you will see for yourself that the Seibt family takes on its true meaning. To them, specialty coffee is not just a common expression, but their life’s work.
Running from late June to early August, the Gaucha farm comes alive as the harvest commences. With over 1,000 acres of coffee trees, the family must act quickly to identify the best developed coffee beans as the timing of harvest can be crucial for quality assurance.
Once the beans have been collected, they are transferred to drying patios where we utilize a “Natural” processing method for drying. The Natural process relies on sunlight to gently dry out the fruit hull surrounding the cherry over the course of a couple of weeks.
This process is less invasive and ensures the integrity of the quality is maintained. This allows for a sweeter taste that is unique to Brazilian coffee.
The coffee is produced at an elevation of approximately 3000 feet. Between a combination of unique elements such as elevation, rainfall, temperature and sunlight hours, this has allowed us to provide our clients with both a quality and consistency above and beyond the industry standard.
Gaúcha Coffee is uniquely integrated with a nearby dairy operation which allows it to use manure to reduce their use of synthetic fertilizers. The liquid organic fertilizer is stored and converted to methane gas in biodigestion tanks generating electricity. In addition to installing solar panels on the farm, they have also built one of the first bioreactors which allows them to reduce their use of agro-toxins.
All of this has allowed the Gaúcha Coffee farm to become completely self-sufficient in their energy needs, thus reducing their carbon footprint on the environment. We are proud to have earned sustainability certifications from Starbucks.