25% Brazil / 60% Mexico / 15% Ethiopia

Origin: Brazil
Producers: Clarindo & Gilberto Brioschi
Location: Providencia, Venda Nova do Imigrante, Espirito Santo
Farm: Sitio Retiro de Ipe
Process: Washed
Varieties: Catuai & Catucai
Altitude: 850 - 1050 masl


Gilberto Brioschi was born among the arabica coffee fields in the region of Venda Nova do Imigrante, where his father Clarindo Brioche taught the craft of growing traditional coffee. In 2001 he was motivated by his neighbors' unsuccessful attempt to follow in the new wave of specialty coffee. "Some tried and failed," says Gilberto. He did his first quality check post-harvest in partnership with a cousin after they bought a pulper and sent his pulped coffee to a contest in Vitoria, and returned with the second best coffee award from Espirito Santo Holy.

Since then, he has not stopped investing and working for a higher quality coffee and the goal has been to make the highest possible percentage of its 80,000 feet in quality drinks. In 2018, of the 1200 bags harvested, 750 bags exceeded 82 points. "As 2018 was a lot of production in this last harvest, we suffered a little due to little rain in the region. The plant recovery was slower and we harvested 650 bags and managed to do the post harvest treatment of 350 bags that gave us high quality drinks."
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For this year our forecast is for a more balanced crop and high quality drinks. We may have around 800 bags or more in our area that today is 38 hectares, an area in which Gilberto has a partnership with his father and brother.

Achieving scores 85/86 on the Retiro do Ipe site is not a simple task. " When coffee arrives early it is difficult because we have to harvest and care for coffee quickly as our country has very rapid temperature changes. In the winter of 2019 the coffee rushed and arrives as early as July and had a "pass/float," and investing in slow drying may not be profitable, the producer has to be aware, " alerts the producer.

What motivated the producer to make special coffee was the desire to improve life in the countryside, to deliver food with more quality and in the sustainability of the business, in survival. When we started there was a lot of man power and little knowledge and innovation in coffee farming. Nowadays it is the opposite, we have knowledge, dense plantation and technology at our disposal.
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On the property Gilberto's wife, Elis ngela Filete Brioschi (48) and owner Ana Joana (77) take care of the agribusiness that brings many tourists to know the production of coffee and other agro products that are cheeses, socol and drinks. For the future Gilberto expects the launch of technologies for harvesting, in order to increase the use of the quality achieved in the fields. " Having a harvesting machine in the mountains, this is our bottleneck here on the farm."


website: https://ositocoffee.com

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Origin: Oaxaca, Mexico
Region: Pluma Hidalgo, Sierra Sur
District: Pochutla
Community: San Agustin Loxicha
No. of Producers: 8
Altitude: 1,500 - 1,800 masl
Variety: Pluma
Process: Washed
Fermentation: 18-24 hours dry
Drying: 10-20 days on petate mats
Harvest: December-March


The deeper we get into the world of Mexican coffee, the more excited we get, and those of you who have tasted the coffees or met some of our producing partners know why. Right now, we're looking at Pluma, a subregion of Oaxaca that brings with it an incredible history along with incredible coffees. Boasting the singular Pluma Hidalgo variety, an offshoot of Typica, at elevations as high as 2200 masl, Pluma coffees bring with them a wide range of flavors: distinct dried fruit notes like raisin and prune, saturated sweetness like brown sugar, richness like drinking chocolate, complex malic acidity like green apples, and even florals like amber honey and peach blossom.

Over the last few decades, Pluma's coffee production has evolved dramatically, shifting from the hands of large estates into the hands of local smallholder farmers. Nowadays, Pluma is almost exclusively the province of smallholders with farms averaging just 1-2 hectares, but going back 80 to 100 years, the coffee production landscape looked completely different. Huge, lower-middle elevation coffee plantations ruled the territory, buying the higher-grown smallholder coffees and blending them into their own bulk, undifferentiated despite their superior quality. In the late 80s and early 90s, Pluma gained a widespread reputation for producing quality coffee. However, a combination of factors including low market pricing and coffee leaf rust (known as Roya), saw estate holders abandoning their farms and moving on to more lucrative ventures.

Once the estates were decimated, local smallholder farmers continued farming-mostly out of necessity, though their operations were no more fiscally sound than the estates had been. Pluma's smallholders struggled to make enough to thrive and reinvest in their farms, and many have lived on the brink of giving up and following in the footsteps of the estate holders before them. Without access to a differentiated market where customers are willing to pay viable prices, there hasn't always been a real value proposition for Pluma's producers to keep growing coffee.
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Over the last couple of years, we've seen this start to shift. Being able to introduce these coffees to a group of buyers willing and ready to buy them at a viable price has started to build trust in this region and reinvigorated local farmers, who are beginning to understand that their coffee is worth more than they've always been told. They are ready to be able to dictate their own futures and gain access to new pathways to finance and reinvest in their own success.


website: http://www.redfoxcoffeemerchants.com

Origin: Ethiopia
Farmer: Ture Waji
Washing Station: Raro Nansebo
Region: Oromia
Zone: Uraga, Guji
Village: Kebele
Process: Natural
Varietal:
Altitude: 2,100-2,350 masl


The word Laayyoo refers to the indigenous tree growing in the area, used for shade on coffee plantations. It's deep roots allow for the falling leaves to offer rich, nutrient dense compost, acting also as a fertilizer for the coffee.

Ture Waji takes time between harvests to educate farmers of good agricultural practices to help improve the quality of their cherry. His company provides pre-harvest loans to farmers who, for example, need to pay labor to do maintenance on the farm, such as weeding and planting. Although we cannot draw a direct relation, this access to finance should mean that smallholder farmers need to draw less upon their family members, including their children. The washing stations employ a 'woman-first' policy and the company has built a school for the children. Roads have also been built to improve the infrastructure.

​Ture's company, Sookoo Coffee, values are Quality, Traceability and Sustainability. Sookoo Coffee focuses on working with smaller group of farmers, and by providing technical assistance in the form of education and agricultural practices, they can be assured to receive high quality cherry at their washing stations.