Monastery - Rafael Vinhal Lot 004 Anaerobic Natural - Cerrado Mineiro, Brazil - 250g

Monastery is based out of Adelaide, Australia and is known for pumping out some of the best light roasts in the country. They carry a lot of coffees on the funkier side of things, but roast them very well! 

Roast Profile: This is a solid light roast coffee. Not ultralight, but minimal roast and a straight forward presentation of flavor

"Since 1988 Vinhal Farm has been producing very high quality coffees in the heart of Minas Gerais state, in Cerrado Mineiro Region - Brazil. Throughout this trajectory they have improved their work and adopted the best sustainability practices and respect for people and the environment. They are a family running a business and everyone who works in the farm is absolutely passionate about their coffee.

Their properties are certified by Rainforest Alliance, 4C and Certifica Minas. With great care and relying on innovative craft production, they do their best to ensure that their coffees stand out both in the domestic and foreign markets, and they are very proud of all the awards they have already won in some of the main quality contests in Brazil.

Sustainability and Quality are their main focuses - their properties (Recanto Farm and Estrela Farm) have three different independent certifications, two of them international: the Rainforest Alliance, with headquarters in the USA, and the 4C Common Code of the Coffee Community, from Germany; and one of them, national: Certifica Minas, ran by Minas Gerais state.

To achieve and maintain these certifications, they need to comply with a series of standards regarding issues such as: environmental conservation and sustainable production, good social practices and working conditions, an efficient management and control system for the entire production chain and, of course, full compliance with all current legislation. Thus, they periodically receive audits on farms to validate the fulfillment of more than 100 evaluation criteria."

This is a funky coffee! But it comes across in a rather enjoyable way if you like funk! Probably a 4/5 on the funk scale though. When chatting with the roasters, they actually highly recommended this coffee for the sub. They said it has a great anaerobic flavor and it is one of their favorites from their current line up. I went with a less funky option (the Sayisa anaerobic) because I've featured some pretty funky lots on the sub recently and like keeping thing fresh. But this is a great one of purchase for people who want a little funk in their life!

Tasting notes: Pandan, Coconut and Bubblegum