Lot DT 06 - 01/03: Dora (LOT 01)

DORA is a character from Captains of the Sands (Capitães da Areia) by Jorge Amado. In the book, she is the only girl in a group of homeless kids who live together in an abandoned building on a beach. Because of Dora’s comforting and warm personality, she is seen as a mother for the boys, despite being the same age as them and being an orphan herself. During a police raid, Dora is taken by force to an orphanage – she becomes so sad that she grows ill, dying shortly after. The older boys comfort the younger ones by saying that Dora became a star. When we cupped this sweet coffee that tastes like starfruit, we knew we found our Dora: in the aroma, dried berries, spices and roses; and flavors of ripe oranges, papaya, and plums with milk caramel sweetness.

This lineage of Daterra’s best seller Laurina comes from the Agronomic Institute of Campinas, the research institute that developed the varietal in Brazil. It’s a very peculiar plant: short and cone-shaped, the tree doesn’t produce much caffeine, which makes it very fragile and difficult to grow since caffeine is a natural insecticide. Despite its low productivity, the cup has outstanding quality and presents low caffeine too. Daterra’s history with Laurina started in 1994 – that’s right, we’ve believed in the potential of this tricky little pl5zant for 25 years until we finally figured out how to make it thrive.

Because the Laurina is so fragile, we only harvest it by hand. To make Dora, we processed the ripest cherries under a fully natural anaerobic fermentation inside a steel tank equipped with an airlock valve: this system allows oxygen to get out of the tank but stops anything from getting inside. As the cherries ferment, they release CO2 and, because carbon dioxide is denser than oxygen, it pushes the lighter gas out through the valve. After a few hours, the tank environment becomes completely anaerobic and allows certain microorganisms the perfect conditions for fermentation and enzymatic reactions to happen inside of the beans.

Varietal: Daterra’s Laurina
Process: Natural Anaerobic Fermentation
Screen size: 13+
Harvesting: Handpicking
Drying: Raised Beds
Plot: BV 19 + BV 40