About David & Dival Xavier of Brazil

At Tenfold, we aim to work with fewer producing countries so that we can focus and work more intentionally within the countries we do source from. This coffee is a prime example of this for several reasons.

We love the coffees coming from the Espirito Santo region and enjoy that we can showcase something that is perhaps 'non-typical' for Brazil. When thinking about a Brazilian ‘profile,’ this undoubtedly would not be what you think. Espirito Santo coffees are often more refined and sweeter. This is due to the climate, which is heavily influenced by its proximity to the eastern coast. Because of this, the area is consistently misty and humid but with cooler evenings. It also has farmlands as high as 1200 masl, which again is uncharacteristic for most of Brazil. Because of all this, cherry development is often prolonged, which makes the coffee sweeter and more intense with floral notes.

Something also a bit different is that Espírito Santo generally has smaller farms - 20 hectares or fewer as compared to the 100- or 200-hectare farms found in Carmo de Minas. Because of the smaller size and scale, as well as the altitude and local traditions, producers are doing things a bit more ‘hands-on.’ In general, there is a bit more selective picking, utilization of smaller mechanical harvesters that shake trees instead of stripping them, more hand-sorting of cherries, and loads of care during fermentation. Sitio Xavier - or the Xavier farm – exemplifies a bit of these norms of the region as well, but also has some additional ‘help.’

Sitio Xavier is a family farm high in the mountains. It is actually very close to our partner's, FAF Coffee, offices in the region. Dirceu Xavier, son of David Xavier and nephew to Dival Xavier, the two owners of the farm, is actually FAF Coffees’ field coordinator. Dirceu is a young trained agronomist who is only twenty-six years old but has a huge impact in the area. Dirceu is on the road every day training other farmers how to process, pick, and cup, and with his father and uncle, the role was no different.

Dirceu managed to coach his father David and uncle Dival into producing and picking carefully. Honey processed coffees possess quite a bit of risk as they are quite exposed to various elements of the climate, so this coffee was dried on a patio with cover. He also then cupped day lots with his father and brother to help identify the results of their drying practices.