Cereja Coffee is the authentic Brazilian Coffee in London. It not only grown and is harvested by our micro producers but also sorted and roasted by our local coffee experts.
Farmers and all other professionals responsible for producing superior quality coffee are involved. Most of quality coffee produced in Brazil is exported as raw material to be roasted at the destination countries, and that’s when brazilian originality is missed. By bringing the final product we assign more value to it at its source and are able to introduce an authentic brazilian coffee to you.
Brazil is responsible for the production of 1/3 of the coffee in the world. There are large farms that produce this huge amount, they are equipped with modern technology and work in high turnover to meet exacting demands. But there are places in Brazil, which despite producing coffee longer, cannot adopt the current methods. In the case of micro-region where the Cereja Coffee is produced, although it is ideal for the production of coffee to be above 1000 m, cannot rely on modern machines for cultivation, so in the Circuito das Águas Paulista, most of the work is done by rural workers. Every tree needs human contact to produce, harvesting by hand is important so that only the ripe coffee cherries are plucked and used for processing, the beans are dried in the sun, and despite preserving all complexity of aromas and flavour, requires people turning it all day and raking for the night for several weeks. The success of this process also depends on the weather. Producing coffee under these circumstances has been a tradition that has gone through several generations and must overcome the difficulties. We understand that the only way to continue competing is with quality, making our consumers know the real Brazilian coffee and appreciate our artisan identity.
“Send the Brazilian coffee to the other side of the ocean is an idea that many have had before.
Bring top quality coffee with the potential to compete with others here across the ocean is not unheard. Creating Cereja Coffee is part of a plan involving other ideas, the main reason is to recover a heritage which is facing challenges to continue. Our region has been known for great production capacity and has been working hard to still being recognised as such. As one of the people who inherited the commitment to cultivate coffee, I feel it is my responsibility make it possible for our coffee to find in the world people who valorize as much as we do. The place where I was born was one of the largest coffee exporters in Brazil's history in the 19th century, what makes me think that many people in the world have tried our coffee before even not knowing where it came from. My idea is to somehow keep this history going, direct trading our quality coffees and involve all those who here have the same heritage, printing our identity wherever our product goes.
Why? When we are able to make others interested in our origin, our history and our traditions it is like discovering ourselves beyond the time of our lives, a lot of what we are today can be explained when we understand where we came from and those who gene-influenced our preferences and tendencies, and it seems to me the farther we have this recognition, the deeper we find ourselves.
To contribute for the next generations of Brazilian coffee growers is not just about telling them how to produce good coffee, we must find a new way to afford our tradition. I know it’s not possible to break the coffee trading chain but to find a space in between it’s links might be.”
Viviana da Silveira Bueno - Coffeee producer and Cereja Coffee Owner
Cereja means Cherry in Portuguese. In Brazil we call Cereja the coffee fruits ripe enough to be picked.
First come the little white perfumed flowers, and every flower leaves a little green cherry. The cherry matures for about 5-6 months on the branch of a coffee tree, and by the way a lot can happen during this period, lack of rain, pests, too much rain, but if we are lucky they will slowly mature, turning from green to slightly red and then to glossy deep red when fully ripe. the same colour of Asian Cherries, but an authentic Brazilian Coffee.
Just to mention, the two fruits can only be compared by colour, a Cherry grow bigger than coffee cherry and it’s pulp is larger, coffee cherry’s pulp is more like a layer of thick sweet juice, a Cherry bears a core and a Coffee Cherry 2 seeds. Their tastes can’t be compared at all.