New Release - Brazil Airuma

Airumá is a small lot selected from Fazenda Progresso, a beautiful farm nestled in the Chapada Diamantina mountain range in the heart of Bahia. The farm is surrounded by the Chapada Diamantina National Park, known for its mountainous cliff formations (Chapada) and 19th-century diamond mining (Diamantina).

The name Airumá comes from the incredible ‘starry sky’ that is seen over this region.

ABOUT FAZENDA PROGRESSO

Fazenda Progresso is a beautiful farm nestled in the Chapada Diamantina mountain range in the heart of Bahia. The farm sits on a plateau at 1,150m above sea level and is surrounded by the Chapada Diamantina National Park, known for its mountainous cliff formations (Chapada) and 19th-century diamond mining (Diamantina).

This elevation plays a key role in the quality of the beans, as does the average temperature variation of 10°C, with hot days and cool nights, providing the ideal conditions for slow cherry maturation, giving time for natural sugars to develop, resulting in a sweet and complex cup.

Fazenda Progresso is owned by the Borré family who have been in business for three generations.

In 2005, the Borré family sought to diversify the activities on their land and began to focus on coffee. They recognised they had the ideal conditions to produce specialty coffee with high altitudes, plentiful rainfall, and rich soil. The family’s youngest son, Fabiano Borré, spearheaded the coffee program, investing in state-of-the-art infrastructure and agricultural practices to ensure they could produce the very highest quality coffee possible. Fabiano has surrounded himself with an exceptional team and sought advice from some of the most respected professionals in the field, including Silvio Leite, founder of the Cup of Excellence and president of the Brazil Specialty Association, with 30 years of experience in coffee grading, tasting and quality control.

In total, 530 hectares of the property are dedicated to coffee. This land is divided up into different plots, which are processed separately, as Fazenda Progresso’s infrastructure is meticulously designed. Over the last decade, Fabiano has continued to experiment and invest in equipment and processes that will improve the quality of his coffee. He has a robust quality control program and dedicated quality control lab with a talented cupping team headed up by Ednaldo Nascimento who has worked with Progresso since 2010. 

“Working with something so sensitive, so changeable, involving the most varied areas of knowledge and then get to share all this with incredible people… it’s amazing. That’s why I choose coffee!” – Fabiano Borré

The Borré’s motto is ‘Mindful Coffee’. This describes their commitment to acting mindfully and ensuring that their family values and vision (that centre around excellence, innovation, and environmental and social responsibility) are informing every decision they make and defining how they do business.

Fazenda Progresso’s people and their welfare are important to the Borré family, and they take great care to create an excellent work environment for their staff. Buses are provided to and from work and clean and welcoming lunch facilities and bathrooms are also provided. The staff are also provided with insurance, protective wear, sunscreen and biannual health check-ups by a resident doctor. Additionally, the family provides financial support to the local school that is located in the village next to the farm and are working hard to build tourism in the region and working closely with the state government to get the region recognised for its agricultural excellence.

Caring for the environment is a core value for the Borré family, who take great care to protect and preserve the ecological health of their area. Water is sourced from their farm’s lake and is carefully conserved, with meteorological stations positioned throughout the farm to optimise irrigation and ensure the trees get the right amount of water. Cascara pulp from processing is composted (along with potato wastage, which is very high in potassium and great for coffee trees!) and used to fertilise trees throughout the plantation. 75% of the land is also preserved as native land; well above the national minimum of 20%.

HOW THIS COFFEE WAS PROCESSED

This coffee was carefully hand-picked by a specially trained team in August. It was then processed via the pulped natural method: the cherry’s skin and fruit were removed and the sticky, parchment-covered beans were soaked in a tank with water for 12 hours. The coffee was then dried on raised beds for 10 hours. It was then finished very slowly and thoroughly in mechanical dryers for 18 hours and then rested for 6 hours.  This process was repeated for a total of 38 hours until the coffee reached 12% humidity. Progresso has done a lot of experimentation with drying and has found that this method yields the very best results and ensures that the coffee holds its quality over an extended period of time.

Once dry, the coffee was cupped by the QC team and placed in large silos to rest. Once approved and ready for export it was processed at Fazenda Progresso’s dry mill which is also located on the farm.

HOW WE ROASTED

We loved this coffee from the minute we tasted it on the cupping table. The team unamimously agreed we knew this coffee would shine on espresso, and our home espresso baristas would enjoy the complex flavours both black, and in milk. Having such complexity, it took a few trial batches to get the perfect profile but once we had it... yeehah. 

Enjoy the notes of hazlenuts and candied orange.