Brasil
Sitio Canaã

Natural process Red Catuai

Flavour: dried mango, dried papaya, toffee finish

Body: Acidity:

João Hamilton is a farmer turned community leader. He has been working with the neighbouring Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (“Environmental Fortress Farm”) farm for over eight years and has been fundamental in pushing the boundaries and setting new standards of quality and sustainable practices. FAF is a leader in sustainable and organic farming practices in Brasil.

Today João works with twenty-five neighbour farmers to assist them also working towards these goals, follow his footsteps in producing fine specialty coffees and becoming more aware about sustainability.

Some words from João:

We produce coffee on our 10-hectare farm at an altitude that ranges from 1200 to 1340 meters above sea level. The varieties we produce are Catuai, Mundo Novo, Sumatra, and Bourbon.

Our production was traditionally commodity and our goal was always to produce as much quantity as possible while using various agro-toxic chemicals. We did not respect Mother Nature or the quality of the coffee.

In recent years this system of commodity coffee had ceased to be sustainable for us.

In 2006 Marcos from Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza invited our family (Joao Hamilton and Ivan) to take part in a new sustainable method of producing coffee.

The objective became to achieve the highest quality while simultaneously respecting nature, reforesting the area around our springs, recycling our trash, refraining from utilizing toxic fertilizers and herbicides giving the practice of cultivating coffee a new inspiration and hope.

Our family adopted new processes in order to improve the quality of our coffee.

We began to harvest selectively for the ripest cherries, to do semi-washed pulped cherries, and worked with more care on the drying patio.

We exported for the first time our coffees in 2008 and in 2010 we invested in building raised beds for the further development of higher quality coffees.

We’re excited to share this micro lot 786 from Sitio Canaã with you this week.

Wait, what’s a micro lot?

When coffee is harvested by hand at farms, all the picked cherries from that farm are usually combined. With a micro lot, farmers separate out the very best of their crop and process that separately.

If there’s one hillside on the farm that has outstanding flavour, rather than being mixed in with the rest of the crop, it can be processed and sold separately.

We think micro lots are interesting because they’re capturing a moment in time on the farm and showcasing the flavours of such a specific set of conditions, this coffee will never be repeated.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: João Hamilton
Country: Brasil
Region: Caconde
Altitude: 1300m above sea level
Variety: Red Catuai
Process: natural
Harvested: August 2015
Importer: Silo
Body: Medium
Acidity: Low
Tasting notes: Dried mango, dried papaya, toffee finish
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

The location

Coffee from Brasil

Brasil is the largest coffee-producing nation in the world. It is also known as a country out of which countless new varietals have emerged, both through natural mutations and selective breeding

Farm processes

Natural process

This technique leaves some flesh on the coffee cherry during processing and drying. This results in flavours which may show jammy fruit and a little winey-ness.