Lot DT 10 - 02/02: João Grilo (LOT 02)

JOAO GRILO is a curious case of a character that appears both in Portuguese and Brazilian regional literature – most likely one of the many cultural exchanges between the countries during colony times. He is always portrayed as a sagacious trickster that gets by in life cheating and making up glorious stories about himself. He is always funny, smart and impossible to win over an argument. His bright personality inspired this bright, phosphoric cup.

Arara is a natural hybrid between a Yellow Catuai and Obatã varietals. The natural hybrid was first observed by IAC, when they noticed two coffee trees with yellow cherries among the red Obata field – these odd trees were vigorous, tall and produced large beans, presented good resistance to coffee leaf rust and a great drink profile. Needless to say, they were keepers. The Arara seeds arrived in Daterra for research purposes and adapted very well to our climate - this is the first year it is produced by Daterra!

Our Arara trees are very young, so we hand-harvested them to select cherries at peak ripeness. We placed these ripe cherries inside a fermentation 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 Arara
Process: Natural Anaerobic Fermentation
Screen size: 16/18
Harvesting: Handpicking
Drying: Patio
Plot: TB 40