Cafe do Mirante

Me and my sister, "mirante" in the background

My sister is here visiting, and she loves coffee.  Her love of coffee has rubbed off on my husband.  So we decided to visit a coffee farm while she was in Minas Gerais.  Unfortunately, due to our schedules, we couldn't plan a return trip to Fazenda Cachoeira, but several friends recommended Cafe do Mirante in Santo Antonio do Leite, which is relatively close to Ouro Preto (about an hour and 1/2 from Belo Horizonte).

I was able to schedule a tour via email (in Portuguese, but they were very quick about getting back to me).  For R$14 a person, we got a tour of the coffee farm, to see the production and storage area, sample the coffee, tour the distillery (alimbique), sample some cachaca, and tour the pousada.  The kitchen was closed, so we weren't able to eat there, but we brought a yummy picnic and enjoyed it on the grass yard with a beautiful view.

Picking Jabuticaba

The woman who made our sample of coffee was great, and we REALLY enjoyed the sample (her method was a surprise, and a little bit of a shock,but so worth it).  I also got to mark something off on my Brazilian bucket list: pick jabuticaba fresh off the tree!  November is the month to harvest, and there were  a few trees at the pousada.  It's delicious!

The library bus at Jeca Tatu

On the way back to BH,  we stopped at Jeca Tatu, a restaurant/museum unlike anything we've ever seen before.  There are several old American school buses that have been converted to rooms that hold books, memorabilia, old records, and all sorts of fascinating stuff.  Well worth the stop.

We also stopped for ice cream at Arte e Manha.  There were signs everywhere along the road, advertising their unique ice cream flavors, such as violet, guava and cheese (romeu e julieta), rose, and many unique Brazilian fruit flavors.  I had graviola (aka soursop) and cupuaçu (tropical rainforest fruit somewhat related to cacãu) and seriguela and cajá.  My sister had the goiaba e queijo.  I'd highly recommend any of they unique flavors.

We had a great day!

Michael Palin's Visit to Belo Horizonte

What I should really do is catch up on some posts, especially about our trip in July to Fazenda Cachoeira, an organic coffee plantation in the south of Minas Gerais.  But in the meanwhile, this will have to do.  

Sebastian has a wonderful friend named Ian.  One time my husband mentioned to Ian's dad that he loved coffee.  Ian's dad is related to the owner of Academia do Café (which by they way, this process of making the connection to how you know something is SOOOOO Mineiro [something that people from Minas Gerais do]) and highly recommended a visit.  I visited their website the other day, and found this great video from Michael Palin's visit to Brazil in 2012.  I love the shots in the Mercado Central, and the fact that he ONLY visited Academia do Café while he was in our town.  Enjoy!