BRAZIL - Alta Mogiana

The Flavour Profile

This is the kind of coffee that feels like a warm hug on a cold morning. Naturally processed in the sun-drenched Cerrado region of Minas Gerais, our Brazil Alta Mogiana is a medium-dark roast that delivers everything you want in a comforting, full-bodied cup — rich milk chocolate, sweet nougat, and a velvety smoothness that lingers long after the last sip.

The natural process — where the whole cherry dries slowly in the sun before the bean is ever touched — is what gives this coffee its remarkable sweetness and depth. The fruit does all the work, quietly passing its sugars and warmth into the bean over weeks of careful drying. You can taste that patience in every cup.

The body is full, round, and silky — never sharp, never bitter. Just smooth, chocolatey comfort from start to finish.

Drinking it black? Expect pure milk chocolate and nougat upfront, with a naturally sweet, velvety finish. Rich and deeply satisfying, with no harshness at all. A beautiful espresso or a stunning cafetière.

Drinking it with milk? Oh, this is where it truly shines. The milk transforms it into something almost dessert-like — creamy, chocolatey, with a soft caramel warmth. Think chocolate milkshake meets the best flat white you’ve ever had. You might not go back.

This freshly roasted single origin coffee works beautifully as espresso, cafetière, stovetop, or french press — and is a joy at any time of day. Roasted to order by Nick in our small Canterbury roastery, it arrives at its absolute freshest. We’re also happy to grind it for your preferred brewing method — just let us know. Buying regularly? Our subscriptions offer the best per-kilo price, and our Buy More Save More page has bulk savings for offices and trade customers.

 

The Little Details

Brazil Alta Mogiana comes from the Cerrado region of Minas Gerais, in south-western Brazil, grown at altitudes of 900 to 1,250 metres above sea level. This is one of Brazil’s most celebrated and consistent coffee-growing regions — known for its homogeneous climate, warm temperatures, and well-defined dry season, all of which make it perfectly suited to natural processing. The coffee is produced by a network of approximately 3,600 producers, many organised into large cooperatives, across farms ranging from 100 to 3,000 hectares. Varieties are Mundo Novo, Catuaí, and Bourbon, processed naturally. Grade NY 2/3.

 

About the Process

The harvest in the Cerrado runs from April through to September, perfectly timed with the region’s long dry season and abundant sunshine. Cherries are harvested using large mechanical harvesters that move carefully along the neat rows of trees, with any remaining unripe fruit hand-stripped afterwards to protect quality.

Once harvested, the whole cherries — skin, pulp, fruit and all — are sorted by density using water flotation, which removes any underripe or defective fruit before drying begins. The selected cherries are then laid out on large open patios or raised drying beds and left to dry slowly in the sun, completely intact, for up to three to six weeks.

This is where the magic happens. As the fruit dries under the Brazilian sun, the natural sugars in the cherry pulp slowly transfer into the bean — building the sweetness, the body, and that unmistakable velvety depth that makes a great Brazil so special. The cherries are raked and turned regularly throughout the day to ensure even drying and to keep quality consistent.

Once dried to around 11% moisture, the cherries are sent to dry mills where the hardened fruit is hulled away from the bean. The beans are then sorted, graded, and prepared for export. No water. No washing. Just sunshine, time, and a great deal of patience.