The Mattos family have been growing coffee in Brazil for generations. At the end of the 19th century, Francisco Firma de Mattos began growing coffee near Contagem, just outside what is now the city of Belo Horizonte. Francisco purchased the farm as a passion project, and became known by other local farmers for his exceptional coffees. The farm was never the family’s economic focus, and it remained in the family as a memorial to Francisco after his death in 1956.
In the early 1980’s, Francisco’s oldest son was living in Patrocínio in the Cerrado Mineiro region, and seeing the quality potential of this region, he convinced his brothers to continue their father’s legacy by investing in land here. Over the next several decades, the Mattos family used knowledge passed down by Francisco to slowly grow their coffee growing activities, always aiming for the highest quality, pioneering the coffee revolution in Cerrado. The Central Mattos Estate is now looked after by Francisco’s great granddaughter, Maria Thereza. She feels her family’s legacy strongly, and today produces some of the finest coffees in the region, with high placings in both the Best of Brazil and the Cup of Excellence.
We first purchased in the 2019 Best of Brazil, but Central Mattos was heavily affected by the 2021 frost in Brazil, badly damaging 90% of the farm. These trees all had to be stumped to around 40 cm, and have spent the intervening years slowly re-growing. This is the first year we have been able to purchase a significant amount of coffee from the farm again, and we’re excited that the signature fresh and fruit-forward profile is back.
The lot we are sharing is of the Topazio varietal, a cross of two popular Brazilian varietals, Mundo Novo and Catuai. It exhibits very similar characteristics to Catuai, but ‘exhausts’ less after a high production year, therefore yielding more consistently. This natural lot exhibits a fresh fruit character of peach, alongside a deep brown sugar sweetness and typical Brazilian dark chocolate notes.
