Brazil Sitio Sassafras

This lot comes from Francisco Barretto's family, who has been producing coffee in the Mantiqueira region since the 19th century. In his parents’ farm Fazenda Fortaleza in Mococa, in the state of São Paulo, Francisco learned from his father how to make excellent coffee.

In 2021 Francisco and his wife, Silvia Ribeiro de Aquino, acquired a piece of land in the Mogiana region close to the city Poços de Caldas. The farm has 36 hectares and is called ‘Sitio Sassafras’, named after the Sassafras tree, a tree species that is naturally occurring in the southern part of Brazil. A vast part of the farm is covered with natural forest and many native species find habitat within the steep hills, protecting several water springs. Yet, the Sassafras tree, with his strong characteristic scent, has a special meaning to Francisco - that's how the farm got its name. The remaining areas were used as cattle pastures and are now slowly transformed into coffee and olive fields. At an altitude of 1400 masl and surrounded by much remaining forest over, great specialty lots are being produced at Sitio Sassafras. This is not only due to the environmental factors but can be attributed to the great passion of Aldo, the farm manager, who carries out all daily operations. Aldo lives in the nearby town and comes to the land very day to take care of the coffee trees.

This is the first year that we have started working with Francisco and we chose this lot consisting of Catucai 2SL, which is a hybrid cultivar developed in Brazil by it's coffee institute. It is a cross between Catuai and Mundo Novo and it known for its high productivity and up qualities. We find that this coffee really worked very well for those who really enjoy a creamy texture cup of espresso with dried fruit sweetness and a finish that reminds us of honey nuts!