HOUSE ESPRESSO - BRAZIL

Our House Espresso comes from Sertaozinho Village in the Serra da Mantiqueria region of Brazil. This single varietal yellow bourbon lot is grown by around 100 mainly female smallholder farmers and is a UK exclusive in partnership with Ascarive, the fairtrade exporter, and our importer friends at DRWakefield. It’s full of those classic chocolate and nut notes we love in Brazilian coffees. Add in a gentle stone fruit acidity, lots of sweetness and body, and you’ve got yourself a dreamy espresso or milky boi.

Gareth and George were lucky enough to visit Sertaozinho this summer, and see for themselves the incredible collective effort that goes into producing this coffee. Here's a little from their visit: 'An almost other worldly feeling took over as we walked under huge banana plants and their alien seed pods, with the village glinting below under the early evening moon. We learnt how often Paulinho’s (one of the figure heads of the village) highest quality coffees come from banana areas. The shade provided by the bananas means the coffee cherries mature slower, which equates to more sweetness and complexity. This seemed to be a theme of the week. Slower maturation when growing, slower drying when processing = more sweetness, more complexity. Really good coffee takes time.'

This coffee is a much more intimate operation than is the norm in Brazil. Coffee is grown collectively, with each farm only one to two hectares in size. Mountain slopes rise steeply around the central village, so coffee is brought down to large driveways which double as drying patios or shared spaces between the houses. Family members and neighbors all pull together to help each other out. The driving force of the village and coffee are the women. Their reputation for standing behind the community with an ethical approach is well established. 

Maria Paula Rocha is the figurehead and go-between for the village and Ascarive. Ascarive will check the cleaning of the coffee, colour sort and cup, and prepare the bags for export. Maria makes sure the quality is upheld, and the premiums from being Fairtrade certified are spent appropriately. These premiums are collated and spent as a village (rather than individuals), on projects that positively impact the lives of all those in the village.

As we grow year on year here at Wood St, we were very keen to start a deeper, closer relationship when it comes to our house coffee. Back in the summer we cupped lots of coffee from all over Brazil, and this one was a clear winner. Not just on taste, but also its amazing story. A single varietal lot, from primarily female small holders, it’s full of those classic chocolate and nut notes we love in Brazilian coffees. Add in a gentle stone fruit acidity, lots of sweetness and body, and you’ve got yourself a dreamy espresso or milky boi. We are very excited to see where this new relationship takes us, and plan to work together with the farmers of Sertaozinho for many years to come.