Fazenda Samambaia Anaerobic Natural

The very welcome return of this Brazilian beauty from Henrique Dias Cambraia of Fazenda Samambaia sourced through SanCoffee in Brazil. We visited SanCoffee in September 2025 and toured the Samambaia farm and were hosted in Henrique's family home (built in 1896). ie. it's a special coffee not only because it's a great example of a 'modern' controlled process but also because of that visit. SanCoffee is a privately owned cooperative with 20 producer owners and another 400 'Beyond Borders' producers that they support and buy coffee from in the Campo das Vertentes region of Minas Gerais. The total output of the group last year was just over 65000 x 60Kg bags ie. Approx 4 Million Kg's, which equates to about 200 containers worth. Definitely not big by Brazilian standards but significant by most others.

The cool, green hills of Sul de Minas provide ideal conditions for coffee growing and produce some of Brazil’s finest beans. The region is known locally as ‘Vertentes’ because it forms a border between two very important basins in Brazil: the Grande River Basin (which runs to the south) and the São Francisco River Basin (which runs to the northeast).

As we came close to the farm it was clear to see things here were very different to any origin trip I’d been on before, mainly gentle rolling hills with perfectly even and neatly contoured rows of trees. Each of the plots not huge in themselves but definitely ordered and so incredibly neat by design. Perfectly spaced rows, perfectly spaced trees within the row. Most (if not all) of the plots had been planted using topographical mapping and GPS guidance, to make the mechanical harvesting easier. We were able to see one of the harvesters up close as well as in action as it passed over the coffee trees full of cherries and left them almost stripped completely. 

Henrique is committed not only to producing high quality coffee but to farming in a way that is socially responsible and environmentally sustainable.The farms of the Dias Cambraia family have been receiving technical assistance from Agronomist Dr Josué Pereira de Figueiredo, for over ten years. Dr Figueiredo was the technical coordinator of the Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC) and was also a Cup of Excellence finalist in 2001 and 2015. Henrique also regularly attends events organised by the Association of the Coffee Producers of Southern Minas Gerais (Sulminas Café) and other similar bodies, to ensure that the Dias Cambraia farms remain at the forefront of new technologies and techniques.

For this special lot, processing starts by placing selectively harvested Yellow Bourbon coffee cherries in barrels. The cherries are layered with a fermented solution of sugar, water, and yeast. This solution was carefully created over a seven day period to cultivate the yeast. The cherries remain in the barrels with the yeast mixture for 48 hours, sealed with an airtight valve to ferment. Afterwards, the cherries are removed and cleaned to halt the fermentation process. They are then moved to patios to dry in the open sun until the ideal moisture content is reached.The dried cherries are rested then hulled to be prepared for export.