DATERRA, BRAZIL

From humble Broadway Market beginnings, The Baron has now gained legendary status as a crowd pleasing espresso enjoyed in countless cafes, restaurants and living rooms the world over. This is thanks to our long-standing relationship with pioneering Brazilian coffee producers Daterra. We first released this coffee in 2010 and have since collectively shifted the expectation of how Brazilian coffees can be sourced, roasted and served. The Baron is a testament to relationships in specialty coffee. Starting with Daterra’s knowledge based relationship, to our ongoing commitment to roast this coffee to its finest. The area of Daterra harvested for The Baron is now affectionately dubbed as the ‘Climpson’s Plot’. We’ve been lucky enough to see the inspirational Daterra production first hand, from planting to processing, on several origin visits over the last 14 years.The production of specialty coffee is grounded on environmental preservation and social development. Daterra means “from the earth” and was conceived in the 80s after previously starting as a cattle and avocado venture. Repairing the ecosystem was a priority in this move to coffee production and it took 10 years to restore the flora, fauna, soil and water springs needed to support the sustainable coffee growing we now see. With the specialty coffee industry often looking to adopt new sustainable initiatives, Daterra has consistently pushed these ideas further with a unique ability to invest in their own bespoke solutions. Partnering with leading universities, Daterra is on a mission to naturally re-purpose all water used in production whilst discarded coffee fruit becomes the basis of their organic compost. Of their 6,500 ha, more than 3,000 ha is now considered conservation land to protect the native trees, animals and delicate ecological balance that makes coffee possible. Daterra’s belief that a sustainable supply chain will reflect in quality coffee has now proven true for decades and is considered a model of excellence. Daterra became the world’s first B Corp coffee farm in 2016 and continues to review and improve their practices. This has led to widespread recognition with the notable achievement as the first farm in the world to receive the Level A certification from the Rainforest Alliance.The Baron is comprised of Catuai and IAC125 varieties from the Boa Vista side of the farm. Even at 1,150 masl the landscape here is generally flat allowing for the mechanical harvesting of cherries. Whilst this speeds up the picking process it does mean there are varying degrees of ripeness from each plot when delivered to the wet mill for processing. Daterra have developed their own Smart Wet Mill where all incoming cherries are sorted into 7 degrees of ripeness which will then determine their processing method. With a full-bodied espresso in mind, we gravitated to the natural process implemented using the almost dried raisin stages of ripeness. Allowing some natural drying on the tree is a technique unique to the Cerrado region and its consistently hot and dry microclimate. The resulting coffee is the ultimate crowd-pleasing espresso and a testament to continued investment in sustainable practice and innovative methods.