The man behind Fazenda Samambaia
Fazenda Samambaia is a family-owned farm that has been run by the Cambraia family for over 100 years and four generations.
In 1993, Henrique Cambraia took over the farm from his father and has managed its operations ever since.
Henrique made a landmark discovery that changed not only the future of his farm, but also the landscape of Brazilian specialty coffee. He noticed that Brazilian coffees were not receiving the same recognition as coffees from other coffee countries, especially in the world's leading coffee shops.
Determined to change this, Henrique focused on improving the sensory qualities of his coffees by improving cultivation methods and experimenting with innovative post-harvest techniques.
Together with other local producers, he helped found the cooperative Sancoffee, which enabled them to export their specialty coffees directly.
Today, Henrique also serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association and continues to promote Brazilian specialty coffee globally.
Aerobic fermentation
You may be familiar with anaerobically fermented coffees, which have become very popular in recent years. This coffee has undergone what Fazenda Samambaia calls "aerobic" or "open air" fermentation.
After being hand-picked, the coffee berries are spread out in thick layers of about 30-40 cm high. The layer thickness reduces the drying rate as the beans have limited exposure to sunlight, which increases fermentative activity.
This process continues until the temperature in the center reaches around 38°C, which can take between 24 and 48 hours.
Once this stage is complete, the berries are spread out in thin layers to begin drying until they reach the desired moisture level.
Taste
Due to the special fermentation technique, the coffee berries achieve varying levels of fermentative activity during the initial processing. This provides increased complexity in the cup, as there is a slight variation in the fermentation intensity from berry to berry.
Some coffees have very linear flavor profiles – they taste clearly of only a few things and don’t develop much. This coffee is the opposite. It’s very complex with many different flavor notes. As the coffee cools, it develops significantly – the first and last sips taste noticeably different.
When hot, the coffee is sweet and very juicy with notes of red berries and citrus. As the coffee cools, the acidity fades and the coffee becomes very creamy. At this point, it tastes of melon, papaya and brown sugar. It also has a pleasant herbal quality, reminiscent of lightly oxidized oolong tea or fresh sugarcane juice.
Brewing instructions for two cups of coffee
24 g ground coffee
(32 clicks on Comandante or 900 microns)
400 g soft filtered water at 95°C
Pour Over Guide
Start the timer and pour about 60g of water to bloom the coffee
(Make sure all the coffee is soaked)
At 1:30 pour up to 400g of water in about 1 minute
Brewing should be complete in between 3 and 4 minutes, depending on your grinder and grind setting.
Enjoy it!
Grind coarser if the brew tastes bitter and dry.
Grind finer if it tastes weak and unbalanced.
