Do What is Right and Create Beauty.

Our motto at Casa Brasil is do what is right and create beauty. How? By discovering the incredible coffees of Brazil and bringing them to you at their fullest potential.

Thanks for taking the time to learn a little about us and we hope you enjoy drinking our coffees as much as we love sourcing and roasting them for you.

How We Got Here

Casa Brasil Coffees began in 2005 as just “Casa Brasil,” a Brazilian Cultural Center in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Austin, Texas.

Our goal was to help Brazilians living in Central Texas by promoting Brazilian culture and providing a place to “touch” Brazil. We offered free translations to Brazilians for immigration, legal, and medical matters; taught Portuguese language classes and Brazilian music lessons; and hosted Brazilian cultural events such as film screenings, Festa Juninhas, and a weekly samba jam session. We also ran a small market that featured imported Brazilian goods. Among the products in this market was, of course, Brazilian coffee. However, it was a mass-produced commercial brand, nowhere near the quality of the freshly roasted Brazilian coffee that we offer today. As coffee lovers, this bothered us and we wanted to offer something better, so we ventured to a local roaster to see if they could provide us with some “high quality Brazilian coffee.” Their response:

“There is no such thing as high-quality Brazilian coffee.”

We knew this was a false statement and figured if we wanted the good stuff we would have to find it ourselves. Over the next three years Casa Brasil founder Joel Shuler spent much of his time on the ground in Brazil, learning about Brazilian coffee by interning at co-ops, visiting hundreds of farms, and practicing the art of cupping. He eventually worked his way up to judging various regional and national competitions and began building the relationships that would lead to our first import and the transition of Casa Brasil into a full-fledged coffee roaster.

Fast forward fifteen years, and not only are Casa Brasil coffees offered at some of the best restaurants and coffee houses in Central Texas, but quality Brazilian coffees have become sought after worldwide, often fetching record scores prices at quality competitions and auctions. Joel has continued on his path of education, completing a master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Universidade Federal de Lavras, one of the world’s top coffee research institutions, and has taught hundreds of coffee growers and baristas about coffee cupping and processing through his classes, lectures, and project work around the world. 

We are proud to be pioneers in promoting high-quality Brazilian coffees in the US and through it all, our love of Brazilian culture remains stronger than ever.

We encourage you to browse the Brazilian Culture pages of this site and discover the complex beauty of Brazil.

We drink a lot of coffee

We travel to Brazil each harvest to taste hundreds of coffees from throughout Brazil’s coffee growing regions. We are constantly seeking new partners and tasting how the peculiarities of each year affect the harvest.

We've found some great partners

After nearly a decade of doing this, we are fortunate to have developed great relationships with some of Brazil’s top growers.

We detach from the commodity market, pay a consistent price, and pay well

Traditionally, coffee prices are based on the commodity market. High quality coffees receive a “premium” over the market price while lower quality coffees are sold for a “discount.” However, the commodity price fluctuates greatly, and growers often operate in uncertainty, not knowing if the price they will receive will compensate them for the extra steps they took to produce high quality coffee. Our relationships are not based on the commodity market. Rather, we pay a consistent price for high quality coffee that is well above the C Market and even the Fair Trade price floor.

Transparency and right of first refusal

Not only do we pay top dollar, but we offer our growing partners complete transparency in exchange for the right of first refusal on their top lots.

Proper drying and storage

To maintain quality, our coffees must be properly dried and stored. We work with our growing partners to take every step possible to maintain quality, from climate-controlled warehousing to special packaging during transport.

We roast to order

All Casa Brasil coffees are freshly roasted to order.

We taste every batch

Every batch that comes out of our roaster is cupped to ensure quality before it goes out the door.

We chase the perfect roast

Coffee is a seed that interacts with an ever-changing environment. We are constantly fine tuning our roasts to get the most we can out of every coffee.