International​​ Coffee ​​Week Highlights Brazil’s Specialty Coffees

Thousands of coffee professionals who travel to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, for International Coffee Week will have the opportunity to cup and buy hundreds​​ of​​ specialty ​​coffees.

Brazil International Coffee Week, which opens today (25 October) and runs through 27 October, is the biggest coffee festival in Brazil. Last year its 14,000 visitors were able to taste 2,250 cups during more than 30 cupping events. It led to $25 million real (nearly USD $8 million) of commerce.

Brazil is responsible for producing roughly a third of the world’s green coffee per MIT’s Observatory of Economic Complexity. The 2016 harvest reached 55-million 60-kilo bags of green beans according to the International Coffee Organization. Brazil isn’t just known for its great quantity of coffee: it’s also becoming increasingly ​​known​ ​for ​​its ​​specialty ​​lots.

From the high-altitude regions of Caparaó to the sweet Cerrado Mineiro coffees, which have been awarded Designation of Origin, Brazil offers a wide range of traceable 80+ coffees with good transport links to the US and further abroad. Buyers will be able to cup all these coffees, including​​ the​ ​Coffee ​​of ​​the ​​Year ​​Brazil​​ (to ​​be ​​chosen​ ​at ​​the ​​event) ​and​ ​the​​ nine​ ​runners-up.

The three-day event will also focus on supporting farmers to produce better-quality coffee, through the Sustainable Agriculture Forum 2017; the Producers’ Meeting at the Café+Forte Program; Educampo Café Meetings, which are designed to provide better training for coffee producers; and the International Women’s Coffee Alliance Brazil Meeting. Controlled fermentation will take centre-stage, in line with Brazil’s continuing interest in fermentation​​ and​​ the​​ international​​ market’s​​ interest ​​in ​​it.

The event will also feature the 12th​ Espaço Café Brasil, an exhibitors’ space; Coffee DNA 2017, a symposium attended by industry leaders through Brazil and abroad; Model Coffee Shop, which offers practical workshops for entrepreneurs; the Barista Cup 2017, a Brazil-wide competition measuring espresso, cappuccino, and filter preparation; and a Roasting Course from Torra Lab. Additionally, the event will feature the World Coffee Events Re:verb Brazil, which​​ examines ​​roasting ​​in ​​depth.

Held in Minas Gerais, Brazil’s largest coffee-producing state, attendees will have the opportunity to not just cup coffees and build relationships with producers but also arrange farm visits, should they​​ be​​ interested.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: semanainternacionaldocafe.com.br/en.

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