Humid Atlantic Forest zone of eastern Minas Gerais with small farms and cups often sweet with citrus, caramel or chocolate notes.
Matas de Minas, in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais, has an undulating landscape in the Atlantic Forest with a warm, humid climate, and about 80% of its farms are smaller than 20 hectares. São João do Manhuaçu is described as the principal coffee region of the zone. Its coffee is typically sweet with citrus, caramel or chocolate notes, and Catuaí and Mundo Novo are the varieties named. INPI registered the Indicação de Procedência Matas de Minas in December 2020. A Ministry of Agriculture delimitation note counted 63 municipalities, with arabica grown at 600-1,200 m across about 36,000 coffee properties.
Field notes
- i
The Zona da Mata Mineira grew about 90% of Minas Gerais's coffee in the 1880s and about 70% in the 1920s.
- ii
The state agriculture institute first called the region Região das Montanhas de Minas in 2000, then renamed it Matas de Minas by a follow-up ordinance the same year.
- iii
Sítio Fortaleza, a Matas de Minas farm, took second place in the 2018 Brazil Cup of Excellence pulped naturals with a Catucaí lot scoring 91.36.
In the cup, according to guides
- SweetnessMorePerfect Daily Grind describes Matas de Minas specialty coffee as typically sweet.
Varietals
Processing
Elsewhere in Minas Gerais
Sources · 6 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-11-10. Some details here are less settled than others.
- Minas Gerais · Wikipedia
- Coffee production in Brazil · Wikipedia
- A Concise Guide to Brazil's Major Coffee-Producing Regions · Perfect Daily Grind
- Brazilian Coffee Regions · Coffee Geography Magazine
- Certificado de Registro de Indicação Geográfica BR402018000002-7: Matas de Minas · INPI (Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial)
- Brazil Pulped Naturals 2018 · Alliance for Coffee Excellence