Cerrado Mineiro

The Cerrado Mineiro, in western Minas Gerais, is where Brazil started protecting its coffee by name. It was the country’s first protected coffee origin, in 2005, and its first coffee denomination of origin, in 2013. Its arabica grows at 800–1,300 metres, where the seasons are sharply defined: hot, wet summers and mild, dry winters. Here’s what that means in the cup.

The short version

• Brazil’s first protected coffee origin (2005), and its first denomination of origin (2013).
• 800–1,300 m.
• Sweet and chocolatey, with caramel-to-nut aromas and delicate citric acidity.
• A sharp dry season that ripens the cherries evenly and suits natural coffee.
• About 8.9 million bags from the wider zone in 2026.

What does Cerrado Mineiro coffee taste like?

The Federation of Cerrado Coffee Growers, which controls the denomination, describes the region’s coffee like this:

Attribute	Description
Aroma	Intense, with notes from caramel to nuts
Acidity	Delicately citric
Body	Moderate to full
Flavour	Sweet, with chocolate
Finish	Long

Source: Federação dos Cafeicultores do Cerrado.

INPI’s technical sheet for the denomination adds that the abundant sun at harvest time helps the beans take on the sweetness of the fruit, and calls the coffees full-bodied, with a complex aroma.

Where and how high is it grown?

INPI defines the area by a 1995 ruling of Minas Gerais’s agriculture institute (IMA): the Triângulo Mineiro, the Alto Paranaíba, and parts of the Alto São Francisco and the north-west of Minas Gerais, between 16°37’ and 20°13’ south. The federation counts 55 municipalities. Coffee there grows at 800 to 1,300 metres, and the denomination sets 800 metres as the minimum.

The climate is the point. The federation and INPI both stress the well-defined seasons: a hot, humid summer and a mild, dry winter. The dry winter coincides with the harvest and drying, which INPI says gives the region a strong aptitude for natural coffees, dried in the cherry, with less risk of losing quality. Coffee is picked by machine or by hand onto cloths, INPI notes.

When is it harvested?

In the dry winter. Conab doesn’t split the Cerrado out in its monthly calendar, but for Minas Gerais as a whole the 2026 harvest peaked in June (29%), July (35%) and August (21%).

How is it processed?

Every way. INPI’s sheet lists natural coffee, dried with its skin and pulp, and three wet methods: cereja descascado (pulped, then dried with its mucilage, often called pulped natural), demucilaged, and despolpado, where the mucilage is removed by fermentation in water.

How much coffee does it grow?

Figure	Value	Source
Area in production, 2026	219,501 ha	Conab (Triângulo, Alto Paranaíba and north-west)
Crop, 2026	8.9 million bags, up 86.5% on 2025	Conab (same zone)
Yield, 2026	40.5 bags a hectare	Conab
Coffee area	255,000 ha, 120,000 ha of it certified	Federation (undated)
Producers	4,500 in 55 municipalities	Federation (undated)
Usual output	6 million bags a year, 12.7% of Brazil’s crop	Federation (undated)

Conab’s zone and the federation’s region overlap but are not identical, so their figures differ. The 2026 jump reflects the on-year of the biennial cycle and good rain before flowering, Conab says.

What are the rules for the denomination?

To carry the Região do Cerrado Mineiro seal, the federation’s rules require:

• arabica grown inside the delimited area, at 800 metres or more;
• lots scoring at least 80 points on the Specialty Coffee Association scale;
• a grower belonging to one of the federation’s 9 co-operatives or 6 associations;
• traceability, and the official sacks with the seal of origin.

Cerrado Mineiro and other Brazilian origins

• Coffee in Brazil: the whole country, its harvest and its figures.
• Sul de Minas: Brazil’s biggest coffee region, to the south.
• Matas de Minas: mountain coffee in eastern Minas Gerais.