Assembly Coffee’s latest Brazilian roast puts to bed any assumption that altitude is everything when it comes to producing outstanding specialty coffee. Florentino Meneguetti’s farm Sitio Rancho Dantas sits at less than 1000MASL in Brejetuba, Espirito Santo. This coastal state produces around a third of the coffee that neighbouring Minas Gerais does, but has become renowned for exceptional quality coffee from smallholder producers.

Florentino inherited his 9.6 hectare farm from his father Firmino, but it’s only since 2007 that the site has switched its focus to specialty coffee and sustainable coffee cultivation.

While higher elevation does generally mean lower temperatures, the temperature at Rancho Dantos is below average for the region so the coffee fruit still ripens more slowly and later in the harvest season. There’s also evidence that the complex flavours thought to be tied to slow maturation at elevation may have more to do with the biodiversity and health of the surrounding ecosystem and soil! We’ll be thanking Florentino’s efforts towards preserving native forest for this washed coffee that’s rich with blackberry flavour and a silky smooth body.