BRAZILIAN JACU BIRD COFFEE

One of the rarest coffees in the world, Jacu gets its name from the native South American bird. The Jacu birds are herbivores that inhabit the surrounding areas where the coffee is grown on the famous Camocin Estate. The estate has been farmed organically for three generations by the Sloper de Araujo family, with the current head of the farm Henrique Sloper developing the environmental sensitivity of the farm still further using bio-dynamic practices. It was Henry discovering the unusual behaviour of the Jacu bird through the window of his house that led to the development of one of the world's most sought-after coffee beans. The Jacu have an excellent eye for selecting the ripest berries to consume, passing over those considered perfectly ripe by the human eye! Their herbivore diet and fast digestion help to further develop the exquisite flavour that Camocin coffees are already renowned for. The aroma has a nutty sweetness with a flavour of molasses, notes of black pepper, macadamia and nuances of sweet aniseed. Camocim is one of the smallest plantations in Brazil at under 50 hectares. It is located in Espirito Santo region, near Pedra Azul. Like its famous counterpart, Kopi Luwak, Jacu Bird coffee is partly processed by the digestive system of the animal. Having been eaten and the cherry fruit digested, the local villagers, who are paid handsomely for the task, collect the odourless droppings, composed of the indigestible hull which contains the coffee bean itself. They are then cleaned, dried and processed by the same impeccable methods used for all Camocim coffees, which regularly register world high scoring in the SCAA competitions, and are then stored in their parchment for up to three months. The result is a sweet, full-bodied coffee more acidic than typically found in the regular Camocim, with a clean, smooth aftertaste and no bitterness. Henrique is understandably proud of this fruitful interaction between wildlife and farming and says "rather than thinking of the Jacu as a pest, eating our finest coffee cherries, we saw the opportunity to employ the Jacu as one of our most effective coffee pickers."�