Brazil FAF Bob-O-Link – Serra De Caracol Community – Red Catuai Natural Processed

Description

FAF is Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza. One of the best Brazilian coffee farms on the block (at least in our opinion). They are the family that process and runs the Bob O Link Co-op, which many of us love and have been waiting for this season.

I had the joy of staying with them back in 2017 on my first trip to Brazil and am happy to vouch for the sustainability and quality of the operation. They are leading the way in boutique Brazilian coffee and getting better every season! This is not your average Brazil by any means. From processing, quality of screen, tastes and sustainability of their farming practices, these beans go way above 99% of Brazilian coffee production.

These two FAF lots are basically very fancy Bob-O-Link coffee. Higher cup scores than generic Bob-O-Link coffees, more diversity in flavor, more traceable, and fresh as can be.  Instead of being a  larger production blend of co-op members, these are fancier  top lots from single farms, or multi-family lots of single strains.

Tasting Notes: A beautiful single-origin drinking Brazil. This is a cup we are happy to drink all day long! This is the most traditional lot of the two; nutty, chocolaty, sweet, clean and tasty. Hints of lemony acidity at the lighter roasts, good body with more traditional Brazilian nuttiness in the cup. Turns a bit more chocolaty and smooth as one pushes the roast into the medium to dark roast level. A nice sweet edge to the cup regardless of roast level. Still has some fruitiness in the cup, also some cool spice notes, but mild comparatively to the other two offerings. 

Roasting Notes:  Easy to roast, a little chaff heavy. Roasts just slightly two toned. If shooting for those wonderful light roasts, make sure everything is a little through first crack. A longer setup is not necessary, these beans present nicely even 12 hours later. After 4-5 days, loses a bit of floral/fruity factors but the cup will be richer and smoother.

Serra do Caracol (“Snail Mountain”) is a local natural landmark outside the village of Andradas. The landmark is part of a long ridgeline that runs right along the border between Minas Gerais and São Paulo states. This coffee is a blend of 100% Arara cultivars from multiple producers in this area, processed centrally as a raised-bed, sundried natural.  

Red catuaí, though produced prolifically throughout the Americas, is originally a Brazilian cultivar. Red catuaí is a cross between Brazil’s own mundo novo (itself a cross between bourbon and typica) and caturra (a dwarf mutation of bourbon). It was first created in 1949, and has been in production throughout the country since the 1970s. 

FAF Coffees and the “Other” Brazil 

FAF Coffees is a specialty exporter in Brazil founded by the Croce family. During their years spent struggling to revive the soils of their own family farm in the Mogiana region, the Croce family connected with like-minded small growers struggling as well to make farming viable for the next generation. Over time, the Croce family estate, “Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza” (Environmental Fortress Farm), started sharing their approach to land management, and exporting other producers’ coffees to buyers they had come to know.   

Farmers working with FAF have a strong focus on their immediate ecosystems—the watersheds and canopies that made the land worth living on—as well as quality in the cup, as a means to economic independence and self-esteem. Over the years the Croce family’s network of farmers grew. FAF now exports coffee on behalf of more than 250 small and sustainable farms throughout the Mogiana, Sul de Minas, and Caparaó regions. In all places they have mobilized entrepreneurial small growers dedicated to the same combination of cup quality, environmental health, and community strength, exuberantly referred to in the FAF network as “total quality”.