Carrying on with introducing new coffees as they arrive on the site today it is my pleasure to to introduce to you Brazil Biodynamic Fazenda Floresta Bourbon Natural, an old favourite returning.

Back for a second year, this great world exclusive direct trade coffee. This was the first of our direct trades from Bahia last year, and we are very pleased to see it back.

This farm is located in the Chapada Diamantina region which is half way between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. With an altitude ranging from 1,050 to 1,200 meters it provides the ideal microclimate for coffee farming. The Chapada Diamantina region is the largest biodynamic coffee producing region in Brazil with over 600 workers and their families involved in this form of agriculture.

Biodynamic agriculture is the oldest consciously organic approach to farming and gardening and is one of the most sustainable in existence. It is founded on a holistic and spiritual understanding of nature and the human being and builds on the pioneering research work of Rudolf Steiner. Has Bean is the first (and at the time of writing, only) Certified Biodynamic Roaster in the UK.

I’m going to give you my Has Bean Steve summary of what biodynamic is in one short sentence. Biodynamic means the farmer gives a stuff about the farm, the land, the animals on the farm and the people that live and work on it. Like the sound of it ? Yes, me too, and that’s why we are involved at the ground level. Ignore the hooky cooky stuff you may have heard about it and remember this – as long as growers follow the good principles of biodynamics then that’s good for the cup, the environment and everyone involved.

Bourbon is not a varietal that is good for biodynamic farming, it’s a pig to grow, it’s yield is low and pests love it. But some of my favourite coffees have come from this varietal and in particular grown in Brazil. We have bought every last bean produced of this wonderful Bourbon varietal from Fazenda Floresta this year, both natural processed and pulped natural.

Like last years, in the cup expect a whole mug of funk, big huge full bodied, with a hint of the farmyard but again in a good way that you might find it in a great red wine. On the mid-palate there is a distinctive dried fruit soaked in real ale big boozy fest. Some would say this is on the cusp of being defected and over fermented, but this dangerous approach to coffee production has brought one of the most interesting examples of naturally processed coffee you will find anywhere in the coffee world. I think that Nelson is one of the most talented processors of coffee I have met. This years is a little more cleaner, and a little sweeter the aftertaste.

Farm: Fazenda Floresta
Farmer: Nelson Ribeiro
City:Chapada Diamantina
Region: Bahia
Country: Brazil
Farm Size: 67.00 Hectares
Coffee growing area: 34.00 Hectares
Altitude: 1200masl
Varietal: Bourbon
Processing System: Natural

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