Episode 643: Brazil Fazenda Inglaterra Natural Canario

Fazenda Inglaterra is a farm we've been buying from for over ten years, and it's one that we are very proud to be working with and linked with. The owner is a very good friend of Hasbean, Stephen Hurst.

To tell the story of Inglaterra, we asked Stephen to explain how he came to own 'Inglaterra':

“Maybe it had always been an idea in the back of my mind – so a couple of years ago when some friends in Brazil mentioned that a small coffee farm was for sale, I had a look.

The farm's name (Fazenda Toca Da Onca) means 'hiding place of a small wildcat'. The locals now call the farm 'Inglaterra'. The previous owners had abandoned Toca Da Onca/Inglaterra. So we had to start again, almost from scratch. Some surviving coffee trees were pruned right back and the coffee that you are now drinking is that re-growth from the original old trees.

For the coffee people, the varietals are Icatu, Acaia and Catucai. In future I expect coffee cherry varietals to become as well known as wine grape varietals, and to a much wider audience. The farm is located near the lovely spa town of Poços De Caldas in the coffee-growing heartlands of Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. The farm's elevation is 950–1,300 metres, and it has rich soil. It's on the edge of an ancient caldera/super volcano, whose outline can be seen on satellite images. 50% of the farm is virgin Mata Atlantica forest and as long as I own it, it will stay that way. I am replanting some areas with the help of my local friends Gabriel and Cristiano, without whose assistance this project would never have started."

Sweet as you like, this kicks off with a big hit of Brazil nuts and brown sugar. Those flavours carry all the way through, with a full texture in the mouth, before swinging in to walnut on the aftertaste.

• Country: Brazil
• Region: Minas Gerais
• City: Poços de Caldas
• Farm: Fazenda Inglaterra
• Owner: Stephen Hurst
• Farm size: 10 hectares
• Coffee growing area: 5 hectares
• Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l.
• Varietal: Canario
• Processing system: Natural

CUPPING NOTES

Brazil nut, brown sugar, walnut.

Clean Cup: (1-8): 6
Sweetness: (1-8): 7
Acidity: (1-8): 6
Mouthfeel: (1-8): 6.5
Flavour: (1-8): 6.5
Aftertaste: (1-8): 6.5
Balance: (1-8): 6.5
Overall: (1-8): 6
Correction:(+36): +36

Total (max 100): 87

Roast Information
Medium to medium-dark - don't expect a lot of noise from these Brazilian coffees, but they need to be pushed steadily through the gap and towards second, but we don't want to hear second get going.