ORGANIC Brazilian Fazenda Jacaranda
ORGANIC Brazilian Fazenda Jacaranda One Roast
This season we have 2 lots of organic Brazilian Fazenda Jacaranda. This lot is my absolute favourite and I hope it becomes yours too.
We started buying Fazenda Jacaranda in 2003. I have always had a soft spot for it and today, I am lucky enough to have Cassio as a friend. There was a gap in the middle where it became hard to buy Jacaranda in the UK. By chance, I met Cassio in Pinhal (in Brazil) about 7 years ago and we have been working closely together since. He has opened the doors to new organic coffee possibilities for us. We are going to sell Jacaranda in various ways over the coming weeks. This is how I like it, with the most possibilities and there will be an espresso roast at some point soon. Although this is a mega and delicious organic coffee, we will be selling it as a conventional coffee too, to make it available to a wider audience.
Farm: Fazenda Jacaranda
Owners: Cassio Franco Moreira, agronomist, PhD, and his mother Telma Teixeira Franco
Region; Machado, south of Minas Gerais
Process: Natural
Size 150 Hectares
Altitude: 1.100 – 1.250mts
Selectively picked, and dried on semi-parabolic or covered raised beds.
Varieties: Bourbon, Catuai, Mundo Novo, Icatu, Catucai
Scale: Anual production potential of around 400 bags of 60kg
Roast: Medium Filter. Great in espresso too.
Cup Potential
|Aromatics: Red Stonefruit and black tea |Body: Light-medium | Acidity: Sweet and soft|
Short version…
“On opening, there are the classic Jacaranda brown sugars and black grape sweetness. On cooling, there are some tannins followed by rich soft chocolate and some stonefruit”. or the longer version…
On opening, Jacaranda oozes soft ripe fruit, with dark chocolate and a lingering finish. Rich brown figgy sugars, followed by red grapes, blueberries, and a soft yet lingering finish remain. On cooling, this becomes like cranberry juice, just better. The delicate red fruity acidity and the berry finish are all delivered with a background of dark chocolate. This is an incredible coffee!
Recipes:
Filter.
This is a synch. Start off with 60g a litre and either tighten your grind or alter the coffee ratio to taste.
Espresso
Recipe:
Based on a brew temp of 93-94C
16g-18g ground coffee/34-8g espresso liquid in 28-34 seconds around for milk-based drinks.
16-18g ground coffee/55-65g espresso liquid 28-35 seconds
From the biggest drink downwards: In a 9oz drink, this is a milk chocolate with a berry finish.
6oz Milk-based drinks, this is like drinking a liquid chocolate bar. Flat whites can make things just “more intense”. This is just better!
The espresso. We ran this long as it just became more complex and sweeter with every extra few ml we added. The fruit is soft, sweet, and deep. Cassio has done us proud this year.
Farm Stuff.
The Franco family has produced coffee since 1860, originally at the Serra Negra Farm. Carlos Fernandes Franco inherited part of Serra Negra farm in 1969 and started Jacarandá . He died in 2003 and was always passionate about nature and a true ecologist (also engineer who made huge bridges in the Amazon). He was the pioneer in organic coffee production in Brazil and the farm has been organic since 1992. His grandson Cassio Franco Moreira started agronomy college in 1995 already having a strong organic coffee influence.
Today the farm is divided between Carlos Franco´s widow, Francisca Franco, and her sons and daughters. All of the areas are still organically managed but some coffee plots have been abandoned. Today 2 daughters, a son, and the grandson of Carlos run several parts of Jacarandá with around 30ha of organic coffee being managed and a plan to renew 15ha in the next 5 years.
When we visited Jacaranda, the level of re-planting and reinvestment was staggering. Cassio is an optimist and a long-term thinker. Quietly, I also hope that Jacaranda does so well it wins Cup of Excellence one day, as a reward and recognition for the long-term dedication. Cassio wrote us a brilliant article on organic coffee farming in Brazil and climate change here if you are interested.
Over the last few years, Cassio has been investing more resources in processing and drying on raised, covered (parabolic) beds. Last year was a very good harvest, and we sold more Jacaranda than ever before as a single farm. Jacaranda also looked destined to do great things in competition.
Why not share your brews with us?
