Crown Jewel Brazil Natural Arara Marta Ribeiro Rodrigues

Taste

Taste Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Minas Gerias is the state that produces the most amount of coffee in Brazil. With Brazil taking up 40% of the worlds production I imagine that the production of this state rivals that of some countries total volume. You could think of this like finding a needle in the haystack. It’s a long process to sort through to find really excellent coffee, from any Origin but especially from a country as massive as Brazil. Thanks to our partners at Carmo Coffees, we’ve been connected with such excellent producers.  

On the nose you’ll find this coffee has those classic Brazil tones. In the cup this Arara selection is tart, sweet with rich earth notes like hojicha and herbs de provence. The bulk of this coffee is an amalgamation of creamy chocolate waver, sweet chamomile tea and tart bing cherry or perhaps yellow plum. The sweet tang of in season stone fruit fused with heavier notes creates a lovable and surprising twist to the profile. While this might be unconventional for Brazil its not unconventional in favor profile, this is an easy to love coffee with sharp tang, brown sugar sweetness and pear pastry. Other notes we got from this coffee; buttery, honeycomb, marzipan, chocolate cake and sweet roasted almonds.  

Among the haystack, this needle will shine brightly to elevate the reputation of the Brazilian coffee and allure the masses to the beauty this country offers.  

Source

Source Analysis by Chris Kornman 

This microlot from Marta Ribeiro Rodrigues is proof that sometimes dreaming big means scaling back. 

Marta Rodgrigues is a fourth-generation farmer who spent her formative years surrounded by coffee trees on her family’s farm in Pedralva, Minas Gerais. Her career led her to manage a massive estate in western Bahia, a region whose climate and soils are typically used for soybean and corn production. Growing good coffee was a challenge. Producing incredible coffee? An impossibility. 

Marta eventually decided to retire from large scale agribusiness to rediscover her roots. She resettled in Pedralva and established a new farm, Santa Marta, where she brought business sense, generational knowledge, and a desire to incorporate sustainable structure—a decision that defies the stereotype of Brazilian coffee fazendas. Coffee trees cover a little less than half of the farm’s 45 hectares, and are intercropped with olive trees and bananas. The farm boasts an apiary to promote pollination. 

Beyond the plants, the Santa Marta’s sustainability structure also extends to its people. The farms caretakers, Daniel and Leandro, are more than employees, they are stakeholders and partners, receiving 50% of the farm’s income, in addition to their salaries. 

Remarkably, this is just Santa Marta’s second harvest season.  

This small selection, just 300kg in total, was harvested from Arara trees and processed with minimal intervention, as a natural. Arara is a recently developed cultivar, registered in 2012. It is a yellow fruit variety, selected from two parent trees from a grove of Obatã IAC1669-20 in Paraná. Obatã is typically a red-fruiting hybrid, a Sarchimor (short stature Bourbon mutation “Villa Sarchi” x Timor Hybrid) subsequently crossed with Catuaí to improve cup character while maintaining vigor, rust resistance, and productivity. 

Some academic studies have shown that yellow-fruiting varieties tend to out-cup standard red fruit cultivars in Minas Gerais, and this Arara certainly seems to have very high quality potential. We were impressed by its cleanliness and fruit-forward characteristics – we tasted berry jam, coconut cream, grilled peaches, and chamomile. 

Green

Green Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Green specs look great from this Brazilian lot, a slightly below average density, a moisture content a little bit below average and the water activity is on the lower side as well. With that, one can expect this coffee to taste ideal with a roast that is lower and slower but be sure to check out the roasters’ notes for more details.  

Roughly 75% of the screen size sits between 18-16, this tracks with the Arara hybrid which is a cross between a Bourbon mutation and Catuaí.  

Diedrich

Diedrich IR5 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

Our third drop of Brazil has a very particular name: Arara, a Brazilian creation developed by the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas, it’s a cross between two arabica varieties, born out of Brazil dedicate cultivar breeding programs. In the cup, is a pure creme brule caramelized sugar, spectacular sweetness, and a velvety full body. Soft and calm. From Minas Gerais Brazil the care and detail the producer Marta Ribeiro puts into every step of the process is truly remarkable. Josh Wismans the crown tasting room manager, handed me a cup of the first filter brew of this roast –probably four days after roasting- and it was just so sweet, so tender, so good. Please, taste this coffee. It is a work of art.  

To roast it, I chose to warm the drum to 410F. The beans density showed just a bit below average, but a noticed it was absorbing heat quickly, so I waited a minute before starting my gas application. Around the first minute mark, I opened the gas fully and ran with it until it hit 300F then dropped to the lowest setting and marked the color change at 314. At 350 I pulled the burners back to smooth the caramelization, then brought it back at 393F just after the first crack. For airflow, I opened right as I hit the first crack. I marked 50%, but from memory I’m pretty sure I opened fully, same as I do with all my roasts during development.  

9:20 minutes total roast time: slow through the first half of drying, then pressure through the second half, and slow again through the last stretch of Maillard –landing at a great 397F end temperature. 

On the cupping table: Bing cherry, yellow plum, chocolate cake, chocolate wafer, creamy, pastry, roasted almonds, vanilla… But the best cup I’ve had of this roast was the one from Josh, a brew pours by Katie Briggs – check the brew analysis.  

Highly recommend this Brazilian coffee to roast, and if you’re around don’t miss the opportunity to stop by; this coffee will soon be on as our new espresso option.  

aillio

Aillio Bullet R1 IBTS Analysis by Evan Gilman 

We use the RoasTime app and roast.world site to document our roasts on the Bullet. You can find our roast documentation below by searching on roast.world, or by clicking on the link below. Take a look at our roast profiles below, as they are constantly changing! 

Wary of scorching what I assumed to be a delicate bean, I held back on initial heat application for this roast, opting for a tempered charge temp of 437F and an initial ‘soak’ that consisted of P2 power for the first 30 seconds of roast. After that mild start, I increased heat to P8 and allowed the coffee to chug along a bit before increasing fan speed to F4 for extra airflow early in the roast, while also reducing power to P7 before yellowing. I kept this up until roughly 7:00 into the roast, reducing power further to P6, and finally increasing fan speed to F5 before what turned out to be a very late first crack. Depending on how vigorously you roast this coffee, you might see earlier/cooler crack times/temperatures than my fairly extreme 392F (I usually see first crack anywhere between 375F and 386F).  

In the cup, I found much more complexity than expected. Starting off with a tea-like top note and continuing into more expected hazelnut flavors, this coffee kept developing as the cup cooled. Tea notes mellowed into fleeting florals, and acidity began to show itself in the form of ruby red grapefruitiness. As the cup cooled completely, I got orange slice and Boston baked beans candy. Tons of sweetness. 

You could easily brew this as a single origin, press it into a portafilter for delicious espresso, or steep it cool for a very balanced cold brew. Choose your own adventure, this is not a typical Brazilian coffee! 

You can follow along with my roast here at roast.world: https://roast.world/egilman/roasts/3Pp1Pvx2AfU4WKizJi_sk 

IKAWA

Ikawa Pro V3 Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Our current Ikawa practice compares two sample roast profiles, originally designed for different densities of green coffee. The two roasts differ slightly in total length, charge temperature, and time spent between color change in first crack. You can learn more about the profiles here. 

A sweet and crisp coffee I assumed that this was one and done on the cupping table, a lower density coffee would be a perfect match for a the light density profile. Boy was I wrong, while the low density roast of this coffee was good, it did have those deeper and distinct tones of a Brazilian coffee. And although that isn’t bad, the high density brought out so much acidity and brightness it removed any of those undertones.  

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this coffee’s ability to shine on the high-density roast. Something tells me that it has the ability to taste good in multiple roasting styles. We love  

You can roast your own by linking to our profiles in the Ikawa Pro app here: 

• Roast 1: Low Density Sample Roast 
• Roast 2: High Density Sample Roast   

Brew

Brew Analysis by Katie Briggs

I started my brews on a V60 cone brewer with a dose of 19 grams and a grind of 10. I did an initial pulse of water that was 50 grams and let it bloom for 40 seconds. I then did the final two pulses about 30 seconds apart, one up to 200 grams and then the last one up to 300 grams. We really liked this brew! We got notes of blackberries, rosemary, molasses, and orange soda. Had some nice sweetness and acidity.

We wanted to try the same brew but on a different brew device, so we did that on the Kalita Wave flatbed brewer. This brew had a lot less fruitiness but still had nice sweetness. We got notes of sassafras, apricot, and anise.

The last brew we did we just made the grind a bit finer and did it at a 9. this brew was very

tasty! We got notes of smores, orange cream, and spiced peaches. It was quite perfumy but in a good way. This one was definitely my favorite. I would recommend a flatbed brewer for this coffee with a finer grind to really bring out the sweetness!

Espresso

Espresso Analysis by Asha Wells 

Such a treat to work with this well-rounded Brazilian Natural, brimming with sweet herbals like marshmallow and cola, rubbing shoulders with a rich depth the likes of butter and rum raisin ice cream.  

Beginning with a moderate dose of 19 grams, a fitting yield of 39 grams, and running at 29 seconds, this shot was comfort and satisfaction incarnate, round in body with little acid. Notes of nougat, sesame, and lemon meringue. 

For my next shot, I brought a tighter grind to a smaller dose of 17.5 grams, a yield of 38 grams, this took all of 30 seconds. This profile was a marked and welcome difference from the first, lighter on its feet, and bringing acid to the many sweet and deep florals; marmalade and blackcurrant on a bed of frangipane and creme fraiche. 

This coffee is wrought with interesting notes, uniquely mellow and satisfying. A remarkable coffee, I am excited to see it in espresso rotation at The Crown in coming weeks!