“Should we keep with tradition? Or should we shift to something new?” I remember the growers from the Santo Antônio Estates (now “SanCoffee”) coming to me with those questions around 2010. They were looking for advice at a pivotal point, a time when traditional “natural” processing was giving way to the “pulped natural” processing that had recently begun to take Brazil by storm.

Natural processing involves drying coffee cherries with the flesh of the fruit still on. The challenge with the time-honored natural technique is that the beans end up with an unusual taste if you let them ferment too much, which can happen if you cut corners in the process. The pulped-natural approach, on the other hand, involves first removing the fruit and then drying the cherries with some mucilage on the surface of the beans. If you do it right, you get a beautiful blend of acidity and fruity flavors—results that made the pulped-natural method a fast favorite in the Brazilian coffee world. It became so popular, in fact, that pulped-natural beans swept the awards at some Cup of Excellence (COE) tasting competitions in Brazil. Still, you can’t count on drinking preferences staying the same forever. Trends often come and go with the times. When the growers from the Santo Antônio Estates approached me about a decade ago, pulped-natural mania was in full swing—but I had the feeling that things were going t

Natural processing is the easiest method to get lazy with—after all, it just comes down to letting the coffee cherries dry. But that simplicity also means that natural processing demands care. If you do the job the right way and keep the beans from fermenting, you can get clean, expressive tastes. I knew what optimal natural processing could do for the beans from the Santo Antônio Estates. “Natural processing gives you the best balance of flavors,” I told the Santo Antônio Estates growers. “I’d go with tradition and just keep working to perfect your technique.” It turns out my hunch about natural processing was right. In 2019, natural-processed beans won the Brazil COE. The times have embraced tradition.

Fazenda Vila Boa is a part of the Santo Antônio Estates organization. In charge at Fazenda Vila Boa is Mônica Borges de Souza, who left college at 18 and went back home to the farm to become a coffee grower. Learning the craft from her father, Nelson (the farm’s previous owner), Mônica poured herself into honing her skills and started steering the farm toward specialty-coffee production. There must have been some bumps along the way, of course; it’s easy to imagine some pushback with somebody so young calling the shots. But Mônica didn’t let that adversity get her down. She kept pushing her reforms, which included enhancing the farm’s traditional natural-processing techniques. With her efforts spurring the farm to new success, Mônica decided to establish a school to teach kids music and painting. She’s making good on her childhood dream: using the arts to help the local community develop.

Mônica is building new additions on the sturdy foundation of tradition at Fazenda Vila Boa. I don’t think the farm could’ve chosen a better path. In Mônica’s radiant smile, you can sense so much hope for the future. Take this chance to taste the natural-processed flavors from Fazenda Vila Boa. You’ll get a taste of today’s Brazil, a fusion of tradition and youthful spirit.