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The Story:
Ccoffee came to Brazil in about 1727, when
the emperor sent Francisco de Mello Palheta - a sort of
Brazilian Johnny Appleseed of coffee - to French Guiana
to obtain some coffee seeds. The French jealously guarded
their coffee, as it produced a significant income for their
empire. Palheta was suave and cunning, though, and the French
governor's wife could not resist his charms. With her help,
Palheta was able to smuggle some seeds and small coffee
plants back to Brazil in a bouquet of flowers.
From those humble beginnings, Brazil has managed to become
the larger producer of coffee in the world, producing one-third
of the world's coffee and growing three-times more coffee
than second-place Vietnam.
Much of the Brazilian coffee is for mass-consumption and
is grown at low elevations. The Moreninha Formosa is from
Serra do Salitre, a high plain (1200 meters) in Cerrado
Miniero, Minas Gerais state. The coffee dry-processed -
meaning the coffee is dried inside of the fruit on raised
beds like many of the African coffees. This allows for dry
air to circulate all around the coffee, evenly and thoroughly
evaporating moisture from the ripe coffee cherry, and makes
for a more earthy and natural flavor.
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