Sítio Pedra Menina
Lacerda Family — Weber Teixeira Lacerda
Forquilha do Rio, Serra do Caparaó — ES
During our visits, we met many families who have a long-standing relationship with coffee. These are roots that expand and become stronger as the years go by, until they touch the hands of the youngest. This is the case for the Lacerda family. Coffee has been growing here for 4 generations, and today, the production is led by the young Weber, who is only 18 years old.
His relationship with coffee began when he was little, observing his parents’ routine, playing in the countryside. At the age of 15, he started to help with his father and learn from him. Nowadays, he already has some plots of his own in the family’s farm and his coffee is classified among the 10 best in the Caparaó region. Wonderful thing.
Weber continues the family’s work at Sítio Pedra Menina, in Forquilha do Rio. Ademir and Silvana (44 and 39 years old), his parents, worked all their lives taking care of these lands and Weber followed this trajectory very closely. He owns an area of a bit more than 1 acre, where he already harvests around 40 bags of coffee. “Here everything helps”, he says, commenting on the plantation that is at 1200m of altitude and has coffees there that are more than 25 years old. They also produce corn, beans, spices, and raise animals such as chicken and pork.
Manually harvested when ripe, peeled and with the defects picked by hand, the process of this coffee is highly handcrafted. Weber’s father helped with some of the work. With a quick drying period of 10 days, a late-harvest of Red Catuaí was handpicked, evaluated in the contest with 87.75 points. Producing quality coffee, for this family, has been a daily activity for many years. We love how simply and naturally this generation deals with the production process of specialty coffees. The Lacerdas have experience with contests, as they map the fields, looking for the best lots, where the coffees will always have quality. They know the potential of what is cultivated here. “I went in to win,” confesses Weber.
Recently graduated from high school, Weber has no plans to go to college, at least not yet. He wishes to stay in the countryside and officially start his career as a specialty coffee producer. The plans for the future include the desire to increase production: “Being young in the countryside is a very good experience. I like the quiet here and the freedom to choose what you can do on a daily basis.”
This right here, is already the future of specialty coffee production in Brazil. Inspiring.
FARM INFORMATION
Name Sítio Pedra Menina
Location Forquilha do Rio, Caparaó
Altitude 1300m
Total area 2,5 ha
Coffee area 1,5 ha
Native forest area 1 ha
COFFEE INFORMATION
Coffee varieties Yellow Caparaó and Red Catuaí
Number of plants 15.000
Total production 155 x 60Kg bags (70% specialty coffee, 30% commodities)
Processes Pulped Natural, suspended terraces and covered patios.
