Yellow Catuai

Mantiqueira de Minas represents one of Brazil's most celebrated specialty coffee origins, recognized with Geographical Indication status in 2011 for its distinctive quality and origin authenticity. The region takes its name from the indigenous Tupi-Guarani word Amantikir, meaning "the mountains that cry", a reference to the abundant natural springs flowing through the landscape. Spanning 25 municipalities across over 70,000 hectares, the region is home to approximately 9,200 coffee growers, many of them smallholders with farms under 5 hectares who have been linked to coffee production for over 100 years.

This pulped natural Yellow Catuai showcases the classic Brazilian profile that has made Mantiqueira one of the country's most awarded coffee regions. Yellow Catuai, developed in 1949 by Brazil's Instituto Agronômico de Campinas through crossing Mundo Novo and Caturra cultivars, produces cherries that ripen to a distinctive yellow color rather than traditional red. The name "Catuai" translates to "very good" in the Tupi-Guarani language, and the varietal has become the backbone of Brazil's specialty coffee production, accounting for nearly 60% of the country's Arabica.

The pulped natural process bridges the characteristics of washed and natural methods. Spread on raised beds or patios and raked regularly over 10-21 days, the beans absorb sugars and fruit complexity from the remaining mucilage, creating enhanced sweetness, smooth mouthfeel, and the characteristic caramel, milk chocolate, and roasted hazelnut notes. This method is particularly well-suited to Brazil's climate with its long sunshine periods and low humidity during harvest, requiring less water than fully washed processing.

Anaerobic Natural Arabica Catimor

Marivic Dubria chairs the Balutakay Coffee Farmers' Association (BACOFA) in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. She transformed her family's livelihood in 2011 by shifting from unpredictable vegetable farming to specialty coffee production. Her work has earned national recognition with 1st place in the 2018 PCQC Arabica Category and Champion of the 2019 PCQC Arabica category with an 85.36 score that was cupped at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston.

Marivic now serves as both producer and consultant, sharing expertise across her community while her 2-hectare farm on the foothills of Mt. Apo—the Philippines' highest peak—demonstrates how specialty coffee creates sustainable income and generational legacy for Filipino farmers.

This Arabica Catimor underwent anaerobic natural processing, where whole coffee cherries are fermented in sealed, oxygen-free tanks. This controlled environment produces distinct fermentation characteristics, enhancing fruit complexity and creating the winey, tropical notes of raspberry and grapefruit alongside heightened acidity. The subsequent sun-drying preserves the mucilage's natural sugars, contributing body and the milk chocolate undertones with refreshing mint notes. Catimor, a hybrid between Caturra and Timor developed in Portugal in 1959 for disease resistance and productivity, expresses clean fruit acidity and balanced complexity when cultivated at higher altitudes with expert processing like Marivic's approach.

Honey

MILALITTRA represents 150 indigenous farmers from the Talaandig Tribe across four barangays in Talakag, Bukidnon, collectively stewarding an 11-hectare ancestral domain protected under a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title. For the Talaandig people, coffee cultivation is inseparable from environmental responsibility—as Dumaquita explained at the 2025 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition awards ceremony: "We are responsible for protecting our ancestral domain. Growing coffee is suitable for this because it protects the environment while giving our people good lives."

This exceptional honey-processed Typica showcases how traditional Talaandig farming wisdom combines with modern specialty coffee practices to create remarkable fruit-forward profiles. After selective hand-picking of fully ripe cherries, farmers use mechanical depulpers to remove the outer skin while leaving the sticky mucilage layer intact around the bean. The beans are then dried with the mucilage still attached, which is a process that requires constant attention to prevent over-fermentation. As the mucilage breaks down during drying, its natural sugars are absorbed into the bean, creating the characteristic honeyed sweetness and juicy fruit notes of blueberry, cherry, grape, and crisp red apple.