Brazil Mogiana FAF Bob-O-Link Reserve – Sitio Sassafras – Catuai Natural Processed

Founded by the Croce family in the Mogiana region. The Bob-O-Link project, an FAF initiative launched in 2008, was created to transform Brazilian coffee from a mere commodity into a specialty product. The harvest is carried out manually, and the cherries undergo a 100% natural process: after careful selective picking, they are washed and floated to remove damaged and less-dense beans, then gently dried on raised beds and turned periodically to even out moisture and enhance complexity.

Despite the default impression of Brazil as being dominated by large, mechanized farms, still about half of the country’s coffee farmers are small, family-managed operations who process at home and sell to local growers’ organizations to earn their living. Smaller farms tend to be clustered in the more difficult landscapes for coffee efficiency the ones that are steep and forested, difficult to access, or at higher elevations where the climate is more challenging for coffee to thrive. FAF Coffees is a specialty exporter founded by the Croce family. During their years spent struggling to revive the soils of their own family farm in the Mogiana region, the Croces connected with like-minded growers struggling as well to make farming viable for the next generation, with a strong focus on their immediate ecosystems the watersheds and canopies that made the land worth living on as well as quality, as a means to economic independence and self-esteem. Over the years the Croce’s network of farmers grew. FAF now exports coffee on behalf of a large network of small and sustainable farms throughout the Mogiana region and beyond, dedicated to the same combination of cup quality, environmental health, and community strength, exuberantly referred to in the FAF network as “total quality.”

The history of Sítio Sassafraz began in 1888, in Sermide, near Bologna in the Montova region of Italy. The Vanini family boarded the steamship Giava bound for Brazil in search of work, arriving at the port of Santos and being taken to the immigrant hostel in São Paulo on March 18 of the same year. Upon arriving in the countryside, they were settled on the Bonfim farm in Cabreúva to work on the coffee plantations. Later starting their own coffee farm. Now in its 4th generation, they produce wonderful small lots through the partnership with FAF.

A great cup from light to dark roasts. The sweet and nutty tones give a hint of caramel with a little setup. Shows some citric acidity upfront but would be considered a lower acidity cup overall. The brighter features comingle with a medium bodied nutty/cocoa undertone and a sweeter edge. Medium to dark roasts mute the brighter characteristics providing a very smooth cup that works a little better for daily drinking or espresso. Turns much more chocolaty the darker you roast, still retains a little nuttiness in the aftertaste, a bit roasty if you touch or go into second crack but it compliments the beans characteristics.