Speedily, squeezing in a visit to Ross on Wye, yesterday between Edinburgh and London (on the same day!) I had the absolute pleasure of (albeit briefly) hosting Jose’ and Jacqueline. It turns out that it has been just over 4 years since Jacob and I visited Maria Branca (that’s mad!) and looked over the farm. I can still remember it like it was yesterday.
Apart from being some of the easiest people to spend time with, I admire the lengths that Jacqueline and Jose’ have gone to, to keep their coffee organic. In a situation where coffee plants that should be at the point of maturation are hit with root-eating bugs that devastate the plants and set you back another 5 years. You lose your investment of time (and money) and start again. This is a common theme in small-scale farming of most types, sadly.
On reflection of their trip, one of the things that they commented on was the quality of the coffee in the UK. It is a big subject, however, wherever they went, everything was espresso. Good restaurants: espresso. Average places to eat: espresso. The big quandary was, why is there no V60? Why can’t we buy filter coffee?
In the next few hours, Jose’ and Jacqueline will be flying back to Brazil. Tomorrow their 2022 crop of Organic Maria Branca will leave the port at Santos and we hope that it arrives very soon.
We love producer visits, in both directions.
