Please note, organic coffees are roasted on Wednesday.

I feel for Jose and Jacqueline, having a 5 bag harvest in a year when prices went wild. Although we paid them more than usual, it would have been better if they had the increase with an 80 or 90-bag crop. Small harvests are often a result of hard pruning and replanting and you have probably heard about the bad weather too. A perfect storm no less.

Jose and Jacqueline work with our mutual friend Cassio Franco Moriera, who is also a passionate organic advocate and our supplier. He has consulted with José and Jacqueline since the beginning of the journey, turning Maria Branca into an organic coffee farm.

As intended by Jose and Jacqueline, this will be roasted as organic, to reflect on their hard work and investment.

Top Trumps

Farm: Maria Branca

Owners: José and Jacqueline Lopes de Faria

Region: Esperito de Santo de Pinhal

Farm size 35 Hectares/ 15 Hectares planted with coffee.

Varietals: Catucaí, Amarelo (main), Icatu and Mundo Novo

Certification (Organic)

Process: Natural

Roast: Espresso.

Espresso Potential: ☕️1

|Aromatics: Sweet, Dark Chocolate| Body: Silky| Acidity Low acidity, citric finish.|

In espresso:

Brew Temp: 94C

Milk-based drinks: 1:2 18g of coffee into-34-36g (ish) of espresso in 25+seconds.

Espresso 18g of coffee into 45-50g of espresso liquid 25-30 seconds works well.

9oz Milk-based drink. Rich dairy, milk chocolate, and a hint of cosie cereal.

6oz Milk-based drink. Some chocolate, a hint of acidity giving some structure.

Espresso: Soft citric frontend, chocolate, mellow fruity acidity; think papaya, satisfying lingering finish.

Farm Stuff

Maria Branca is a labour of love in more than the usual way. Owned and run by a highly accomplished medical couple (we are talking about a professor (Jose) and his wife (Jacqueline) is a famous optometrist) who both thought it would be interesting to have a coffee farm. When we visited in the summer of 2019, I don’t think I have ever seen a farm run like it. Jose is very accepting of what nature does and replants and regrows things in a different way that can work.  I don’t negatively mean this at all, but when you want to run a farm and you will still get by if the farm doesn’t make a (big) profit there is a different outlook from many of our other producers, whose everything is solely dependent on coffee income. Organic is at the heart of what they do and believe in.

On the farm several other organic crops are grown, everything is organic. The bananas were some of the best I have ever tasted, and that’s before we talk about the coffee.

Maria Branca is a truly idyllic place.