Episode 647: Brazil Fazenda Inglaterra Pulped Natural Mixed Selection

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 our very good friend, Stephen Hurst.

To tell the story of Inglaterra, we'll hand this over to Stephen to tell you 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.

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."

This is the only Pulped Natural lot we have from Inglaterra this year, whereas in the past, we've enjoyed single lots of Acaia, Bourbon and Canario. Inglaterra isn't a big farm by any standards and is tiny by the overall standards of Brazil. What that means for their processing is that they don't get to pick and choose much. We buy the entire coffee production of the farm, and the weather (and amount of free space they have) decides for them which lots will be Naturally processed and which will be Pulped Natural.

Nuts! It's a moreish medley of hazelnut, pecan and Brazil nuts, but with a dark caramel sweetness which makes it all rather like a nut brittle.

• Country: Brazil
• Region: Minas Gerias
• City: Poços de Caldas
• Farm: Fazenda Inglaterra
• Farmer: Stephen Hurst
• Farm size: 10 hectares
• Coffee growing area: 5 hectares
• Altitude: 1,200 m.a.s.l.
• Varietals: Catuai, Icatu and Acaia
• Processing system: Pulped Natural

CUPPING NOTES

Hazelnut, Brazil nut, pecan, dark caramel

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

Total (max. 100): 86

Roasting Information
Medium to medium-dark - through first and give it some time in the gap, but no more than the very first pops of second crack on the drop. Beware that there's not so much noise from this coffee, so spotting cracks will be tricky.