Description
I tell you, this coffee will hold a special place in my heart and mind. One of our first stops on a great Brazilian coffee hunt back in August ’12 – we have been buddies with Nilton ever since.
Sao Francisco is a decent sized family farm that uses very modern techniques to produce the beans, big mechanical harvesters and fields and fields of coffee are quite astonishing to the eye. (Very tasty beans at a reasonable price). Picked, sorted and dried to perfection – almost every detail of growth and processing is tracked and monitored so they can constantly improve the quality of the coffee.
I was astonished in Alta Mogiana – it really seemed you could toss a seed at any time during the year and it would grow and thrive – a perfect place to grow almost anything (year-round) and it was at enough altitude to produce denser coffee – about 4000 feet average.
Although Sao has giant fields of coffee it doesn’t mean they cleared the natural areas – quite the habitat they maintain – wild giant packs of capybara – many snakes and pond habitats – birds galore. Funny story – wandering his fields in the middle of the night I was chased by a pack of about 30 capybaras – never been so scared in my life (although I am pretty sure they are harmless – definitely intimidating to have a pack run at you). Quite the adventure finding these beans.
Tasting Notes: A very nice and clean fairly exotic cup of Joe. A little hint of acidity at the lighter roast points balanced with a spicy nutty and malty dark tone. Semi-sweet and a little thinner bodied this year, the cup holds good tones from light to dark but most will like it best around a strong medium roast (balanced and smooth). Darker roasting turns the cup a bit more chocolaty and compliments the roast tones; would make a great single origin espresso with its heftier spicier tones.
Roasting Notes: Easy to roast, although a smaller peaberry, the beans roast pretty even and are tasty from light to dark. For drip or pour over fans, a nice city+ medium roast will treat these beans well, for espresso fans, we would suggest closer to 2nd crack if not touching it.
wgrant6318 –
Just tried this morning. I’ve been looking for a Brazilian coffee that tastes like the old 50s and 60s A&P red bag. This is it. The after taste is simply phenomenal. Although I didn’t get the malt hints, I roasted this to City – Full city and brewed it in my Chemex. Outstanding.
Blaine (verified owner) –
Roasted this a bit past first crack. I would call it an American roast. There is definitely some spicy complexity to this roast. I would suggest going to a city roast as I get a strong tomato acidity in my light roast. It’s not unwanted, but I would like more roasty flavors. It had the strongest chocolate notes I have ever noticed during roasting. Would buy again, but it is for sure unique.
David –
Still playing around with the roast, but I believe that its going to be quite tasty when I get the right spot. Seems a bit light on flavor and boldness now. Definitely a darker roast for this one.