With each iteration of Article, we aim to compose a coffee that has great balance, packed with classic coffee characteristics whilst retaining a sweet, clean finish.
For filter brewing we recommended using 70g of coffee per litre of water. For espresso brewing we recommend a dose of 18g pulled to 36g in 30 seconds. This coffee balances very well with milk.
Article 1 – Fazenda São Domingos, Brazil
Owned by Marco Antonio Guardabaxo, Fazenda São Domingos is located in the hills of Mococa (Mogiana), in the north of São Paulo State in Brazil, and was established in the 1960s. The terrain at altitudes between 810 to 1,100 metres allows the cultivation of different varieties of coffee (Yellow Catuai, Catucai, Obatã, Acaiá, Arara & Rubi) on the flat plains of the farm, with the cultivation of eucalyptus trees on the slopes.
Between the rows they sow a mixture of seeds for ground cover crops, including Buckwheat, Turnip Forage, Rattlepods, Millet, Brachiaria Ruziziensis and Congo Grass. The farm has 80 hectares of conservation and preservation land.
The farm has a complete wet and dry milling infrastructures, with modern technology, giving the farm the possibility to execute a varied range of processing methods. Throughout the fields, drip-irrigation systems have been installed to ensure uniform irrigation of the trees and thus consistent quality. All young trees up to the age of 6 years or a size of less than 1.5 meters are harvested manually, the older trees are harvested mechanically, but still selectively.
This selective harvesting is usually done in two passes. In the first harvesting phase, the machines are adjusted to reach only the outermost point of the coffee plant, where the fruit normally ripens first. In the second pass, it is then adjusted to harvest the remaining fruit. Varieties are kept separate, with this lot being comprised of 100% Acaiá coffee.
At Fazenda São Domingos there is a total of about 9,000 square metres of drying terraces where the seeds are dried for between 10 and 15 days. They are then finished off in 8 dryers to achieve the ideal residual moisture. For storage, 8 wooden silos with a capacity of about 2,500 bags are available. In these silos, the coffee usually spends 4-6 weeks before it is later moved to a warehouse for dry-milling.
It is our second year working with this farm and when making selections from the latest harvest we found the same variety and processing combination to be the most delicious.
Article 2 – Salkantay, Peru
This year we have expanded our sourcing approach in Peru to encompass a broader range of flavours and profiles. Cusco is still our primary area of focus, but we have also taken lots from Cajamarca in the North and Puno all the way in the South-East of the country. There are several community coffees from Cusco that we will feature in our house blends this season, and we are really happy to have been able to find this beautiful coffee from the municipality of Santa Teresa to feature in our Article blend.
On the cupping table when we first tasted lots from the agricultural co-operative group called Huadquiña they all impressed us with great structure, sweetness and clarity of flavour. This particular coffee from Salkantay is the result of a combined effort from various small-scale coffee producers with farms of only around 1-2 hectares in size. Mixed cultivars of Typica, Caturra and Bourbon are grown up to altitudes of 2,000 metres amidst a wealth of biodiversity.
The growers working with the Huadquiña co-operative are working organically and harvesting is all done via Mingas (communal work reciprocated amongst neighbours). Coffee trees are tended to organically, with each producer applying homemade compost and manually clearing away weeds. The farms themselves are located in the La Convención province, ranging from around 1,800 to 2,000 metres. After harvesting the coffees are manually depulped before being traditionally fermented in water for up to 20hrs, fully washed and dried on raised beds for between 10 and 20 days.
