Brazil
Daterra Masterpieces - Brazil
250g
*Premium Rarities*
QUALITY SCORE: 91.25
Cup Notes
Rose / Papaya / Blackberry / Rosé wine / Hazelnut
Suggested for espresso and filter
when we roast
We freshly roast to order all coffees on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding national holidays), and ship the same day! Cut-off time is 11:59pm (UTC+1) of the day before the roast day. *We only ship whole beans*
Details
- Quality Score
- 91.25
- Producer
- Boa Vista - Daterra
- Country
- Brazil
- Terroir
- Cerrado
- Altitude
- 1150 mt
- Process
- Honey Process
- Arabica cultivar
- Aramosa
- Picked in
- June 2019
- Arrived in
- February 2020
- Shipped in
- Box + Vacuum pack
- Roast profile by
- Rubens Gardelli
- Roasted on
- Customised solid-drum roaster
THE STORY BEHIND
All Daterra Farms coffees have been in possession of Rainforest Alliance certification since 2003, which means coffee is grown on farms where forests, rivers and soils are protected, wildlife is conserved; workers are paid decent wages and given access to medical care and education.
Each year Daterra masterful Cuppers search the vast potential of Daterra for unique small lots of coffee, defined as "Masterpieces".
This very small farm is a lab, where Daterra test new ways of producing coffee. The lab is rich with new and unusual varietals, processing methods, drying techniques and limitless experiments. Each coffee has a unique cup profile and scores 88+, is fully traceable, planted and grown with history and can never be replicated.
This lot is included in Daterra Masterpieces selection. Masterpieces are small lots completely traceable down to a few small plots at the farm where several unusual varietals are planted to test their productivity at the local terroir. Before a variety is approved to be planted on a larger scale, its experimental cultivation takes in total 18 years.
While Daterra also has more common varietals and more commercial profiles, this is the range that represents their experimental side, from varietal down to the fermentation and drying.
The Masterpiece lots are harvested by hand (as opposed to selective mechanical picking) and are subsequently dried on beds to bring the moisture down to 15-16%. The drying is completed in a stainless steel drum drier using natural gas. The honey lots are processed using an eco-pulper.
THE VARIETY
The Aramosa varietal is a crossbreed between Coffeea Arabica and Coffeea Racemosa – an heirloom Coffeea species. The Aramosa beans usually present floral aromatics and a lower caffeine content than regular Arabica beans.
Coffea racemosa is a lesser known species of coffee, one of over 120 Coffea species, similar to Coffea arabica. Racemosa is endemic to the coastal forest belt between northern Kwa-Zulu Natal and Mozambique, found growing wild in the coastal forests north of Lake St Lucia. Suited for the local climate, this coffee species is hardy, drought resistant, and resilient (it can withstand up to nine months in drought, and grows in even sandy soils).
Coffea racemosa is most well known trait is its naturally low levels of caffeine, less than half of arabica, and a quarter of robusta coffee. This naturally low caffeine status gives C.racemosa a healthy and unprocessed image.
C.racemosa was widely farmed by the Portuguese during the 1960-1970’s in Mozambique, but only two plantations currently exist, one on Ibo Island, and the other in Hluhluwe.
THE FERMENTATION PROCESS
For honey process, after the fresh coffee cherries are picked, the cherry peel is removed, but some amount of the fleshy inside, the mucilage, remains while the beans are dried.
The honey process does not require water.
There are different kinds of honey process: white, yellow, gold, red, and black honey.
The white and yellow honeys have less mucilage left after being mechanically peeled. Gold, red, and black honey coffees have much more mucilage remaining. More mucillagine yields a fuller-bodied coffee.
