To get you in the mood for the main event (the return of Maranhao, Vargem Grande, Jacaranda, Tres Barras, and Maria Branca which are currently on the water) we thought it was time to whet your appetite. Here is a firm favourite from last year, and our best Brazil of the season to date. Sitio Da Torre is four generations in the making and has won many awards. If you are a coffee aficionado you may well have seen this coffee before.

Top Trumps

Farm: Sitio Da Torre (Translates to “from the tower”)

Region; Carmo de Minas (Brazil)

District: Dom Vicoso

Owner: Alvaro Antonio Fereira Coli

Farm Size: 65 Hectares

Coffee production; 45 Hectares

Process: Natural.

Varietals: Yellow Catuai

Altitude: 1200 Meters above sea level, average.

Roast: One Roast

Cup profile

Aromatics:Nutty,Caramel |Body; Creamy| Acidity;  Low and red; for me Pomegranate |

On opening, this is a super cosy, cuddle of a coffee. First, there is caramel, some dark chocolate and nuts. The nut evolves into walnut and the chocolate; cocoa. As the liquor cools there is a white fruity sweetness, shy of how I remember lychee. This is followed by ripe red fruits, which subjectively I found pomegranate-like. This is such a great coffee in a cupping bowl or espresso.

Recipe:

With good water, I have enjoyed this most in full immersion. Think cafetiere, fellow pour-overs, or clever dripper. 60g a litre has not left me wanting anything. Even in the “work’s batch brew” this has been dazzlingly delicious.

Espresso-based drinks:

A 9oz Milk-based drink. This has enough soluble and is all of the cosiness you could hope for akin to a chocolate bar.

A 6oz Milk-based drink. Intense and tasty cocoa and brown sugary deliciousness from a “One Roast”.

Espresso: 1:2 17g ground coffee into 34g of espresso liquid for milk-based. We typically like to go longer for espresso as we find it sweeter.

Espresso:

Big dark chocolatey body, juicy fruit (think gooseberry/ kiwi) a touch toasty, savoury and this immense long finish. I am writing this after trying all of them (yes both espresso shots) and it is so satisfying.

Farm Info

Coffee history with Sitio da Torre started in the 19th Century. Antonio Coli migrated from Italy to Brazil, searching for a better life. He planted the first coffee trees at Sitio da Torre and the land has passed from generation to generation. Brazilian Sitio Da Torre is a 4th generation family group. Working together over the last twenty years they have secured 29 Cup of Excellence awards. Every lot of coffee that they produce is traceable, this helps analyse, what works best and how. The coffee is harvested by hand and processing starts the same day, depending if it is going to be washed, pulped natural, or like this lot, natural.

In 1985, the family hit hard times and had to sell a piece of da Torre’s land to survive. In 2019 the family bought the land back and named it after their late father, and is now called Sitio Paulo Coli da Torre. Today the family group is focused on growing specialty coffee and taking care of the environment.