We were absolutely stunned & incredibly grateful at how our home community came through to cup, connect, & transform our coffee hang with Luiz Paulo Pereira of Carmo Coffees into something exceedingly wonderful.
Our supposedly low-key catch-up with Luiz Paulo and a handful of our friends to taste rare Brazilian-grown coffees — center stage, the elusive Eugenioides — snowballed into an unprecedented gathering, in number and in character, among new and long-time specialty coffee lovers, with surprise walk-ins including some of our local scene’s most endearing chroniclers, catalysts, and tastemakers.
To start, Luiz talked us through defining moments in his family’s four-generation coffee legacy, fostered by the unique terroir of their home turf, Carmo de Minas in Mina Gerais, leading up to their efforts to diversify and elevate Brazilian coffee by cultivating rare varieties and processing innovations.
Here, Luiz helped us appreciate how microclimates beneficial to growing the finest coffees are also a function of latitude and not just altitude. Fred chimed in to drive the point and broaden our perspective by explaining that the higher elevations credited for top-notch quality cultivated in countries like Ethiopia and Panama are implicitly relative to latitude.
Rare Brazil coffees in context, it was finally time to cup.
On top of our shared discovery of the integral cup character of a natural Eugenioides, alongside Geisha and SL28 processed different ways, we gained insight into effects of the trees' maturity on coffee’s sensory attributes, thanks to the thoughtful sequencing of coffees on the table and Luiz’s patient signposting of which cups were from baby trees vs older ones and remarks on their respective processes, augmented by Fred's commentary that the flavors and quality we chase tend to come around the 3rd harvest.
Rounding out our satisfyingly mellow and uplifting afternoon together, we closed Cup & Connect on a celebratory note with raffle prizes for our friends and Bkry Space croissants sweetening our connection with our community.