Overview
Our final Brazilian offering of the year is from a producer that’s new to us, but he’s a key member of the Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (FAF) story and family. Francisco grew up on the FAF farm and managed coffee production throughout the 1980s and 90s until his sister, Silvia, inherited the property around 2002. She’s been running FAF alongside her husband and son - Marcos Croce and Felipe Croce, respectively - since this time period; and they’ve slowly turned FAF into a hub for teaching sustainable coffee-growing and agroforestry techniques to neighboring communities.
Though Francisco’s been absent from the business for a couple decades, he’s no doubt an expert in the field. He recently purchased a 50 hectare plot of land in 2021 - Sitio Sassafras - where he’s now producing some of the best coffees in the FAF network thanks to detailed farm management techniques and natural ecological factors. 60% of the land is planted with coffee at the moment, woven through native forest (including Sassafras trees!) and separated into parcels based on the variety being grown. In addition to the intentional intercropping and protection of multiple water springs on the property, the farm sits on one of the highest altitude hills in the area at around 1300 - 1500 meters above sea level.
We’ve been working over the past few seasons to continue digging deeper with our purchasing model in Brazil by focusing on single producers, and we’re excited to begin this relationship purchasing from Francisco. This selection of Catucai 2SL is an exemplary representation of coffee from the Vale de Grama area. The stereotypical nutty, chocolatey Brazilian profile is present here, but presented with a lot of clarity and distinct fruit flavors. We’re tasting: fig, black plum, apple butter, almond butter, nougat, honey, tootsie roll, white chocolate / macadamia nut cookie.
Relationship
Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (Environmental Fortress Farm) is the premier coffee farm in Brazil and a leader amongst the international coffee community. This is our oldest producer relationship, dating back to our humble beginnings in the early 2000s, when we first met Marcos Croce, Silvia Barretto, and the family. With quality control spearheaded by their son and our dear friend, Felipe Croce, the attention to detail in terms of lot selection and separation is paralleled by few companies the world over. We have sourced different lots from their farm and many of the connected farms working under the FAF banner over the years. As their knowledge and skills of organic farming and proper processing techniques continues to grow, so does the network of other families that are working with FAF and adopting the same methods. Their goal is beautifully simple - promote total coffee quality and sustainability and find other farmers who share the same desire. For the FAF family, this concept of total quality is “found at the intersection of sensorial quality with holistic sustainable practices that ensures quality of life for all involved. Coffee quality comes first, and it is what gets you in the door. This must be followed up with more farms switching to organic or more sustainable alternatives. Planting new varieties, improving processing, and producing better tasting coffee. Building a new generation with a bright future.”
FAF’s vision of how to properly treat our planet and our environment is truly inspiring. They’re consistently raising the bar for the model of sustainability in coffee production, not only for Brazil but for the entire world. More from one of their websites (bobolinkcoffee.com): With altitudes ranging from 1000-1400 meters, this coffee is all family farmed. Instead of treating coffee as a homogenous product, we believe in focusing on smaller lots and harvesting unique flavors. We are a network of farmers working together and exchanging information in order to innovate, evolve, and produce some of the most special coffees in the world. Our philosophy is to achieve the highest quality out of each bean, while taking into account social and environmental responsibility. Our agricultural methods aim to produce in harmony with nature. This means both utilizing nature to create a healthy balance of shade and rich soil, respecting the habitats of animals and keeping springs and waterways clean.
Brewing
If your coffee tastes overly nutty, slightly sour, and the mouthfeel is thin or watery - like boiled peanuts - try grinding finer.
If your coffee tastes more like bittersweet chocolate (versus the ideal sweeter, milk chocolate flavors) and the mouthfeel is cloying and gritty - like cocoa powder - try grinding coarser.
