Exploring the world’s top coffee-producing country. BRAZIL 2024
This Summer, we were invited by our friends at The Coffee Quest to join them on a sourcing trip to Brazil. Coffees from Brazil have always represented a large portion of Boxcar’s annual green purchasing, but we had never traveled to see the place and meet the people responsible for creating these unique and beautiful coffees. As we prepare for our 2024 Brazil arrivals, we’ve put together a trip report from our Green Buyer and Head Roaster, Jon McCann. We hope you enjoy!
It can be easy to think of Brazil as a country that, while massive in scale, produces a fairly limited range of coffees. These coffees are delicious in their own right, but generally take a background role in our coffee program; they give our blends a strong foundation of dense chocolate and caramel and help to balance fruitier and brighter coffees from Colombia and East Africa, but less often at Boxcar have they been a large presence on our Single Origin menu.
During this trip, along with the classic chocolate and peanut butter profiles we know and love, I was able to taste a huge range of high-scoring and beautiful coffees, produced by incredibly passionate and skilled professionals. Expect to see Brazil play a much larger role in our Single Origin program as we continue to deepen our relationships and seek out the very best from the world's top coffee-producing country.
Dark room at Fazenda Terracotta
After landing in Sao Paulo, the world's largest city outside of Asia with a population of 22.8 million people, we immediately made the long trek to visit Cocapil Specialty Coffee. Cocapil is a cooperative made up of 2,000 small and medium-sized coffee producers in Alta Mogiana, a region in the northern part of the state of Sao Paulo known for its exceptional coffee. Coffees from Cocapil have made up a large portion of our espresso blend, seasonally, since 2023, and we are excited to expand our collaboration with them this year with additional offerings across our menu.
During our first farm visit to Fazenda Terracotta, we got to see owner Felipe Carvalho‘s investments in special varieties, processing, and farming practices that he hopes will help him adapt to volatility from year to year, as well as new market opportunities. One example is his dark room, where coffee is dried for extended periods under UV light at lower temperatures to increase consistency and quality. In terms of farming practices, he shared with us that he hopes for smaller mechanical harvesters to hit the market in 2-3 years. He has already begun planting new trees more densely in anticipation which will increase his production per hectare of land improving the economics of his farm as well as protect the land from wind erosion.
Renato and his family at Morro Preto
Sitio Morro Preto
Boxcar is dedicated to building strong relationships with people like Renato Chagas de Almieda, owner of Sitio Morro Preto, who shares our values of positivity, environmental stewardship, and coffee excellence. Renato has a contagious passion for his coffee and land, which gave me a renewed sense of responsibility to the coffee we roast.
Morro Preto, named after the 'black hill' at the foot of which the farm sits, is operated by Renato and his family. They hand-pick 100% of their coffee and do not use any insecticides on the farm, because Renato believes the insecticides and mechanical harvesters dominant in Brazilian coffee production are unhealthy for the plants and wildlife of his farm. When Renato began working toward specialty coffee production, his neighbors told him he was crazy, but through careful stewardship of his land, taking the (rare on small farms) step of teaching himself how to cup and sample roast his own coffee, and help from his family, he is now producing some incredible coffees. I’m proud to say that Boxcar was the first roasting company in the US to purchase coffee from Sitio Morro Preto, and I’m excited to continue working together this year and beyond.
Experimental Processing at Fazenda do Salto
A few days before I arrived, The Coffee Quest had sent their microbiologist to Fazenda do Salto, who had an experimental process ready for us to get to work on. For years, The Coffee Quest has been investing heavily in new processing methods that can increase cup score, and ultimately value for producers. This is an exciting and much-needed project as coffee producers around the world face challenges including plant disease and insect damage, frost, and unpredictable rainfall, all of which are exacerbated by climate change.
The process we carried out at Fazenda do Salto is one you may be familiar with if you’ve tasted our coffees from Finca Costa Rica or Finca El Espejo in Colombia; by inoculating our coffee cherries with a yeast mixture, we can promote the presence of specific bacteria during fermentation that will help produce the cup profile we’re looking for: clean, expressive and overall delicious. We’re still waiting to taste the results, and hopefully, we’ll be able to share these fun coffees with you later this year!
Agroforestry
Agroforestry at Fazenda Pedra Preta
One of the most exciting things for me as someone who loves gardening was our visit to Fazenda Pedra Preta. We spent several hours with Otávio Ferreira exploring the fazenda and learning about their long-term transition to an agroforestry model. This process is already well underway and involves planting a row of shade trees, pest attractants, and living mulch between every 6 rows of coffee. Pictured below, you can see two plots recently converted to the agroforestry model; the one in the front is very new, while the planting in the background is more established. Planting coffee in this way may look less productive. Still, Otávio is certain the investment will pay off in the form of healthier plants, with fewer interventions needed to control pests and manage drought, all while building a healthy ecosystem for the plants and wildlife of the Fazenda.
Boxcar is not only committed to roasting and brewing exceptional coffee, but doing so while uplifting the lives of those we come into contact with along the way, at every level. One of the primary ways we can do this is by deepening our relationships and committing our support to projects and people we believe in. Traveling to Brazil helped us gain valuable insights into coffee production and make some very exciting purchases to share in the coming months, but more importantly, it allowed us to deepen our relationships and share the stories of the people who make great coffee happen.
Jon McCann, Green Buyer and Head Roaster
