Dionatan Almeida grew up enjoying on espresso farms in Três Pontas, Brazil, ”the arena capital of espresso.” Right here’s how he grew to turn into a champion.
BY ISABELLE MANI
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured picture courtesy of BSCA
The 2024 International Cup Tasters Champion Dionatan Almeida, 29, is the primary Brazilian to win the identify.
Dionatan hails from Sul de Minas, considered one of Brazil’s primary denominations of starting place, and is a fourth-generation espresso manufacturer.
Ahead of arriving in Chicago for his first global travel, Dionatan had most effective cupped Brazilian coffees, with few exceptions. Nonetheless, he completed the overall spherical of the International Cup Tasters Championship, held on the 2024 Strong point Espresso Expo in Chicago, at a profitable time of two mins and 19 seconds.
I spoke with Dionatan, who works in high quality and post-harvest processing, about his tale, his coaching as a cupper and taster, and the way he envisions his long term after profitable the identify.
Early Existence in Espresso
”Três Pontas, the arena capital of espresso”—that’s the self-proclaimed town slogan that Dionathan says he has heard very first thing within the morning at the native radio since youth. The town is the hub of the Sul do Cerrado coffee-farming house, considered one of Brazil’s 15 Managed Denominations of Foundation, and the second-highest generating area with regards to specialty-coffee quantity.
For Dionatan, Três Pontas is in point of fact the middle of the universe: His great-grandparents, grandparents, and oldsters have all been espresso box staff. His father drove tractors, and his mom is a espresso picker—a occupation she nonetheless practices lately. ”I grew up enjoying in espresso farms,” Dionathan says.
At 16, in 2011, Dionatan took his first process at Fazendas Caxambu and Aracaçu, the place he nonetheless works lately. ”I set to work within the fields, transferring the espresso at the patio, drying espresso, no matter was once wanted,” he says. Dionatan lived at the farm till he was once 18, throughout which era he labored throughout the day and studied at night time. “I used to go away at 4 p.m. and continuously didn’t get house till 1 a.m. on account of transportation difficulties,” he says. ”However I stopped highschool.”
His adventure into high quality keep an eye on and sensory analysis started in 2015. The farm administrator, Carmem Lucia “Ucha” Chaves de Brito (the present president of the BSCA and the primary lady ever to occupy the placement), requested him if he was once taken with coaching in specialty-coffee high quality keep an eye on, a manufacturing area of interest the farm had simply begun to discover. He had no thought he would fall in love with espresso so intensely.
”To start with, it was once simply paintings. However delving into high quality espresso, I discovered a deeper appreciation for the eye to element and care that is going into strong point espresso. It’s a adventure that’s unfolded an entire new global of probabilities.”
In 2016, he turned into a Q Grader and enrolled in a technical route in Espresso Generation. The next yr, at 20, he took on his present place as high quality director.
”I like my process as a result of I by no means know what I would possibly to find when cupping espresso. That fascinates me; I’m all the time excited about methods to procedure espresso and reach sure notes and flavors, how growing an enchanting profile begins within the farm and results in the brewing,” he says. Dionatan provides that since he took on his position, the manufacturing index of strong point coffees on the farm has risen from 8% to 87%.
Dionatan says he quickly discovered that tasting espresso was once “the perfect process” amongst his duties. Operating with high quality is a wide ranging serve as, he explains: “It’s important to direct, review, and perceive the overall client, greedy objectively the nuances of expectancies and tastes to marketplace the coffees.”
The Highway to Chicago
”I discovered that this type of pageant existed most effective in 2020, and after the pandemic, in 2022, I determined to join the Brazilian championship,” Dionatan says. He explains one of the vital motivating elements for competing was once the potential for pleasurable an previous dream: attending to trip to different international locations and find out about different cultures.
He educated throughout lunch breaks and on weekends, and were given 3rd position on the 2022 pageant in Brazil. In 2023, he turned into the nationwide champion, which secured him a place on the 2024 International Cup Tasters Championship, which came about in April. Chicago was once his first global travel.
Dionatan says that a part of his paintings is receiving shoppers from in all places the arena and that, early in his adventure, he understood that modulating his belief of flavors and notes from the SCA’s wheel was once an very important a part of running in high quality keep an eye on. ”Cupping with such a lot of other folks taught me to affiliate aromas and flavors that have been unknown to me with those I already knew,” he says.
He believes his talents in profiling espresso enabled him to succeed in the overall spherical, even if he didn’t have a lot familiarity with coffees from out of doors of Brazil.
”Discovering coffees from different origins within the Brazilian strong point scene is tricky. Brazil produces strong point espresso in an excessively extensive number of profiles, each and every with its terroir and local weather. We don’t import espresso; there’s little need,” he says.
In Chicago, Tim Taylor from Pedestrian Espresso hosted Dionatan for his extensive pre-event coaching, which lasted just a week, during which his number one focal point was once to familiarize himself with espresso produced in different international locations. ”This section was once simple,” he says, revealing that the one problem he confronted was once cupping coffees from Asia, whose sensory profiles, he says, ”I had no foundation for grading.”
Dionatan says he confronted some difficulties making ready for the travel, corresponding to having his visa denied for a two-month keep and most effective receiving affirmation of access to the U.S. not up to a month ahead of the development. His trainer fell unwell and most effective arrived within the town in the future ahead of the contest. Nevertheless it all became out large: “Even though I didn’t win, my week of coaching was once very pleasurable,” he says.
A Illustration Shift
There was once any other International Cup Tasters competitor from a manufacturing nation that was once additionally concerned with farming: Jonathan Rangel of Guatemala positioned fourth on the occasion. ”I used to be satisfied to peer myself within the ultimate with him,” Dionatan says. ”In previous editions, and particularly in barista championships, lots of the top-ranked have been from client international locations.”
The density of specialty-coffee intake or top of the range advantageous cups in generating international locations is factually small. Those international locations are predominantly former colonies with a historical past of that specialize in exporting their commodities, which tended to steer the native inhabitants to devour merchandise of the lowest-quality scale.
In Brazil, it is not uncommon to mention that ”our highest espresso is going in a foreign country.” Then again, the selection of specialty-coffee shoppers assists in keeping rising on the planet’s greatest generating nation: From 2022 to 2023, there was once an build up of seven.47% in home specialty-coffee intake, in line with the BSCA.
Taking a look Forward
Representing his nation was once a novel and glad enjoy, says Dionatan. However he’s permitting himself to procedure its importance with out haste.
”What touched me probably the most since I returned was once listening to other folks, even out of doors the trade, telling me they have been impressed via my tale as a result of I come from a background of a espresso box employee,” he says. This realization has already given him a trail ahead: He intends to concentrate on training and sharing his wisdom “in order that folks can get right of entry to alternatives like those I’ve had, which modified my lifestyles.”
”Successful this identify, truthfully, isn’t about me, it’s about Brazil, it’s about empowering the paintings of other folks like me. The truth that Boram (Um, the present global champion barista, and duvet of the August + September 2023 factor of Barista Mag) and I are the most efficient on the planet may be very thrilling,” he says.
Dionatan says that he’s happy along with his process and lifestyles on the farm. Till all of the espresso is processed, post-harvest is done, and his coffees are profiled, Dionatan says the whole lot else takes a again seat.
”I’m thankful for the chance this identify has given me. However my primary focal point is right here and now at the farm: Harvest season approaches, the espresso cherries are nearly in a position for choosing, and I will be able to’t wait to ‘meet’ those coffees,” he says.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Isabelle Mani (she/her) is a author, journalist, and communicator focusing on the global espresso trade. Since 2017, she has all in favour of writing articles and contours for more than a few global espresso information shops. Isabelle has traveled to coffee-producing international locations corresponding to Colombia, Kenya, Rwanda, China, and Brazil to review and analysis espresso. She holds coaching certifications from the Strong point Espresso Affiliation (SCA) and the Espresso High quality Institute (Arabica Q Grading).
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