The Alves Lima Family Farm
Three generations, one piece of Minas Gerais land, and the coffee behind Café Alves Lima Especial.
Some coffees taste of more than their tasting notes. They carry a place, a family and a lot of years of work. That is how Bruno Alves de Alvarenga describes the coffee from his family's farm in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and it is the farm behind our Café Alves Lima Especial.
It started with one small plot
The farm began almost a hundred years ago with Bruno's grandfather, Getúlio Alves. He bought a small piece of land, planted the first coffee trees, and grew the farm little by little with hard work and faith.
Today the farm operates as Agropecuária Alves Lima, in Candeias, in the state of Minas Gerais.
A second generation that studied the craft
Getúlio passed his love of coffee to his son, João José Alves de Alvarenga. João José didn't just keep growing coffee; he wanted to understand exactly what makes coffee truly good. He trained as an agricultural technician, then as a technologist in coffee growing, and went on to become an agronomist. Bruno says his father knows the crop so well that it seems he talks to the plants.
That knowledge shows up in how the farm is run. The family looks after the soil "as if it were people," and the plants get the best care everything his father has learned can give them.
A third generation that went out to see the world
Bruno grew up among the coffee trees, but he says he truly fell in love with coffee after leaving the farm and seeing coffee around the world. He took barista courses in Brazil and then in Australia, traveled to Indonesia and Europe, and worked in and visited many cafés and roasteries, tasting coffees from all over.
What he discovered, he says, is that the coffee from his own family's farm is truly special: sweet and light, with notes of chocolate, caramel and nuts.
Care at every step
On the Alves Lima farm, only ripe coffee fruits, the "cherries," go on to the drying process. The family says this gives the cup more sweetness, quality and uniformity.
The farm grows several 100% Arabica varieties. Its harvest photos show Arara, Yellow Bourbon, Catucaí and Catiguá MG2 coffee, cherries drying on raised beds, natural and honey processing, unripe cherries being picked out by hand, and the farm's Q-Grader at work.
Harvest time matters beyond the farm, too: during the harvest, the farm helps many families in the region by providing work and income.
From Candeias to your cup
Café Alves Lima Especial is a 100% Arabica coffee of the Arara variety, naturally processed and grown at 1,000–1,200 meters. It is scored 84+ points on the SCA scale and certified under the Certifica Minas Café program for quality and traceability. We offer it as a Medium Light Roast, whole bean, in a 500 g (17.6 oz) bag, with notes of chocolate, sweetness and a velvety, balanced cup.
The family's door is open, too. Bruno invites coffee lovers to visit the farm, and to follow along on Instagram at @coffeealveslima.
Shop Café Alves Lima Especial →See the full specifications →Sources: cafealveslima.com ("Nossa Fazenda", "Fotos da Colheita" and contact pages, by Bruno Alves de Alvarenga); Café Alves Lima Especial product description and technical sheet.
By Fazenda Coffee