You have been asking us frequently in recent times:

• Where is Serra Negra?
• why can I no longer buy my favourite Brazil?
• what happened to my coffee anyway?

Fazenda Serra Negra in espresso and pour-over versions are two coffees that disappeared from our range in January. They are no longer available to buy and, despite our most sincere wishes, we can no longer roast them. Instead, we have something just as good.

What happened?

However, before about what in return, a few words about why this is the case.

Fazenda Serra Negra is a farm in Brazil run by the Orlando Nakao family. We sourced grain from this farm through Unroasted, a company operating in Poland. We were expecting a delivery of fresh grain from the latest harvest in January. Unfortunately, something went wrong in 2020. The quality of the grain declined. The difference with 2019 grain may not be colossal, but it is noticeable. Unroasted decided not to import the grain from Serra Negra. And we decided not to look for it elsewhere, because we don't want to sell you coffee of a lower quality than what you are used to. For this reason, we had to put out as many as two products. Espresso Fazenda Serra Negra and the twin transfer Brazil Serra Negra.

Coffee is a fruit

One of Fazenda Serra Negra's fans listened to our explanation, then nodded and said: "well, yes, at grandpa's house the papier-mâché is also only once every two years". Coffee and apples have a lot in common. The coffee bean comes from the fruit. Contrary to the common name 'bean', it is its seed. The flavour of the fruit, and indirectly the flavour of the bean, depends on the botanical variety of the coffee tree, the soil in which it grows, the weather conditions, the post-harvest treatment and hundreds of other factors.

Coffee is a fruit, an agricultural crop. Its variability is not a disadvantage. It is a feature. For us, this variability is the main reason for the endless interest in coffee. For confirmation - here you will see what this fruit looks like.

Constancy in blends

Someone will say: "well, fine, but I liked a certain flavour and I don't want to change it - do you mean to say I can't count on that?". Definitely not! That's why we have espresso blends on offer.

Combining several different grains creates complex flavours and aromas. But it also offers the chance to negate the variability of the individual ingredients. If Serra Negra had been part of a blend, we would have replaced it with a comparable Brazilian and the difference in flavour profile would have been imperceptible. This is a theoretical example - Serra Negra was not part of the blend.

If you are looking for constancy of flavour whatever the season, you will find it in our blends.

What instead?

Fazenda Serra Negra has found a worthy successor in the form of Fazenda Santa Rita. We tried to select the beans in such a way as to maintain the flavour profile of 'classic Brazil' - nuts, cocoa, dark chocolate. Low acidity, high sweetness. We hope Santa Rita will stay with us for a long time. But if it, too, should one day leave the range, we will stay true to this flavour profile, so you too can get attached to it.
See in shop

In place of the overflowing Brazilian Serra Negra came the Fazenda Barinas. In terms of profile, this is a slightly bigger change than that of the espresso. Indeed, the Barinas has a much fruitier flavour and aroma than its predecessor. It's still Brazilian - you'll find nuts and cocoa in it. But there is "something else" in it. See for yourself!
See in shop