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Curitiba · Brazil

Lucca Cafés Especiais

Since 2002 · Georgia Franco, Luiz Otávio Franco Souza

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Overview

Lucca Cafés Especiais opened on June 7, 2002 in Curitiba's Batel district — founded by Georgia Franco and her husband Luiz Otávio Franco Souza, with the name a tribute to Luiz's maternal grandfather João Pedro Lucca, a coffee producer in northern Paraná. Georgia had been a finalist in Brazil's first National Barista Championship earlier that year, and the cafe opened with a roaster on the floor and five Brazilian specialty origins on the menu; in 2010 the family added a dedicated roastery in Pinhais (PR) anchored by a Probatone 12 to handle wholesale demand under the Lucca Torrefação brand.

Known for

  • Self-identified and widely cited as Brazil's first specialty coffee cafe
  • Curated 30–40 microlot menu personally hunted by co-founder Georgia Franco from Brazilian estates
  • Dedicated wholesale roastery in Pinhais (Paraná) running a Probatone 12
  • Georgia Franco was the top judge at Cup of Excellence Brazil 2006, then international judge for COE in Guatemala (2009) and Colombia (2010)
  • House sourdough program developed with the third-generation Feliz family of Curitiba millers

Why it matters

Lucca is the longest-running specialty cafe-roaster in Brazil and a foundational training ground for Curitiba's coffee scene. Georgia Franco's role as a Cup of Excellence judge in multiple producing countries makes Lucca's curation unusually deep, and the operation's long-running pairing of microlot coffee with sourdough has become a template for southern Brazilian cafes.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
Georgia Franco
color sorting
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roaster machine
Probatone 12 (wholesale roastery in Pinhais, PR, since 2010); plus original in-cafe roaster at the Curitiba flagship
filter equipment
Syphon, Chemex, V60, Kalita Wave, AeroPress, French press, Clever
cupping frequency
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roastery location
Pinhais, Paraná (wholesale roastery, since 2010); Alameda Presidente Taunay, 40, Batel, Curitiba (cafe roaster)
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

Alameda Presidente Taunay, 40, Batel, Curitiba - PR, 80420-180

Recognitions

  • Self-cited and widely recognized as Brazil's first specialty coffee cafe (June 2002)
  • Top judge, Cup of Excellence Brazil 2006 (Georgia Franco)
  • International COE judge: Guatemala 2009, Colombia 2010 (Georgia Franco)
  • Finalist, first Brazilian National Barista Championship 2002 (Georgia Franco)

Sources

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