Brazil Fazenda Serrado

About the Coffee

The Pereira family has been farming Fazenda Serrado in Carmo de Minas, Minas Gerais for generations. The farm sits at 1,150 to 1,200 meters above sea level in a region of Brazil known for producing consistent, high-quality Yellow Bourbon. Carmo de Minas has a well-established reputation among Brazilian coffee-growing areas, and Fazenda Serrado is one of its steady, reliable producers.

This lot is a naturally processed Yellow Bourbon, meaning the whole coffee cherries are picked and dried as intact fruit rather than being stripped before drying. The drying is done slowly and with careful monitoring to keep the process clean. That control is what separates a natural that tastes muddied from one that tastes clear and sweet. Caio Pereira oversees this process directly, and his hands-on approach to picking and drying is what keeps the coffee consistent season after season.

Fernwood has purchased this coffee for six consecutive seasons and has visited Fazenda Serrado twice. Caio has also spent time with the Fernwood team in Victoria. That kind of back-and-forth relationship gives Fernwood direct visibility into how the coffee is grown and how decisions get made on the farm, which is rare for a single-origin lot at this price point.

About Fernwood

Fernwood was started in 2007 by Ben and Terra, who bought Parsonage Café in Victoria, BC. Before coffee, they worked in restaurants. When they started a family, they wanted to build something that had the same standards as a well-run kitchen but worked on their own terms. A 1936 Barth roaster was already sitting in the back of the café when they bought it. Roasting started as a curiosity and became the core of what they do.

From early on, Ben and Terra focused on consistency and daily quality control rather than chasing scale. That approach is still how they operate. Their relationship with the Pereira family at Fazenda Serrado is a good example: six seasons of purchases, two farm visits, and a producer who has come to Victoria. That kind of ongoing sourcing relationship is central to how Fernwood works.

"Fernwood is a roaster you'll see all over Reddit as being one of BC's best. I asked to try their coffee, and now I get what all the hype is about. I bought a few extra bags of Manos al Grano for my stash at home."

- Dean, Director of Coffee