Origin Trip - Minas Gerais, Brazil -
I went to the coffee-producing region of Minas Gerais in Brazil.
Brazil has always been a very interesting country to me, but I never had the chance to visit. The general image of coffee produced in Brazil is that it has a low acidity and a nutty or chocolate flavor, so it is mainly used in espresso blends. It can be said that it exists as the base coffee bean.
We don't blend coffee, but the Brazilian coffees we've purchased so far have mostly been low in acidity, creamy and soft, with a body like milk chocolate, and we've carefully selected coffees with a beautiful aftertaste. I bought it.
And it uses a roast profile that, primarily due to the extraction characteristics, delivers the best flavor when used in espresso.
This was the image I had of Brazil until now.
However, this trip has helped me to change that perception a little.
I was a judge for the Top 10 competition held by the APAS Community in the town of São Gonçalo do Sapucai in Minas Gerais, and I came across a coffee that surprised me. It had just the right amount of body, a clear sweetness, and an intense, long-lasting fruitiness.
It was hard to believe it was Brazilian, and in fact it completely overturned my previous image of the country.
The winner was a farm called Sitio Sao Francisco, which received unanimous first place from almost all the judges. The fact that the area is located at a very high altitude of 1300m to 1600m for Brazil may be one of the reasons for producing high-quality coffee with a clean acidity.
I am making an offer to purchase this winning micro lot.
By the way, in Brazil, Fazenda and Sitio are usually written before the farm name. Both words mean farm, but Fazenda refers to a large farm and Sitio refers to a small farm.
After the competition, I went to the lab of Cafe Bras (the exporter) in Varginha, where I cupped more coffees. No matter which origin I go to, I always cup at the lab of a coffee exporter.
The role of the cupping organised by the exporter is to collect coffee from farms and communities that a buyer (us or our agent, e.g. Nordic Approach) is likely to purchase, manage it, hold tasting sessions and lead to a purchase.
This time we cupped 48 types of food.
All were natural process except for the two types of pulped naturals they prepared for me.
Not only did they have a strong natural smell like the ones commonly consumed in Japan, but some had a clean scent as well.
However, there were some defects called phenolic. Phenolic is a term used to describe a unique smell, similar to alcohol. This occurs during excessive fermentation during the natural process.
The natural process is a refining method in which the fruit is dried directly after harvesting. The drying period is about 17 to 30 days, depending on the weather.
In addition, in areas with a lot of rain and humidity, drying in the sun alone is not enough, so drying is also done using a dryer.
The first time I saw a drying machine was at a Caballero wet mill in La Paz, Honduras, Central America. The Caballero wet mill is located at a high altitude, where the weather is changeable and sun drying doesn't work well.
Instead, we used a drying machine.
Coffee dried in this machine is primarily traded as commodity coffee (a grade that emphasizes quantity over quality), so it is unlikely that Fuglen will purchase it.
Weather near Caballero's Wet Mill
Drying Machine
Coffee drying purchased by Fuglen (Cavallero)
Let's return to Brazil.
I also came across another surprising coffee on this trip. It was a micro lot produced for the COE by a producer who is only 26 years old (Augusto from Cappadossia Farm).
He is passionate about creating coffee with a profile that will overturn the conventional image of Brazilian coffee, and the difference was clear even in blind cupping.
I was amazed that such good coffee could be made, and realized the depth of coffee making.
Brazil has already reached a level where it can break away from stereotypes such as "mild acidity," "nutty or chocolate-like," and "espresso base." However, it seems that there is still a need to review the production costs for such high-quality coffee, but I believe that in the near future we will be able to purchase coffee of that level at Fuglen.
Finally, let's look back at Norwegian history with Brazil to see why Norwegian coffee is so delicious.
In 1808, Portugal, which had rejected Napoleon's Continental Blockade, was invaded by French troops, and Portugal temporarily moved its capital to Rio de Janeiro.
After Napoleon left Portugal in 1821, the country returned to Lisbon, but João VI's son Dom Pedro remained in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil gained its independence in 1822.
When you think of Portugal, you think of bacalao. The ingredient used in bacalao is salted cod. Norway exported high-quality salted cod to Brazil, where Portuguese culture remains.
On the way back, the ship was loaded with Arabica coffee from Brazil. Thus, Norway was able to drink high-quality Arabica coffee for a long time without the influx of inferior Robusta coffee. This historical background gave birth to the coffee culture of Oslo, Norway today.
Let's not forget that it is this history that has led to the coffee you drink today, and that it will continue to connect to the coffee of the future.
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