Brazilian Coffee vs. Climate Change

Brazilian Coffee vs. Climate Change - Using Fermentation to Rescue Quality

During a recent visit to our long-term Brazilian green coffee partner, Mió, Assembly Co-founder Nick Mabey sat down with coffee scientist Professor Lucas Louzada and neuroscientist Dr Fabiana Carvalho to discuss the impact of changing weather patterns on the farm's most recent harvest.

Extreme weather events have become the norm for Mió but this year is an acutely damaging milestone for a farm that sends 70% of its coffee to us in Brixton, South London.

A sustained period of higher temperatures, driven by the El Nino weather pattern, has resulted in up to 80% of Mio's harvest this year not being ripe, with the vast proportion overripe.

While ripe cherries carry plenty of the flavour-carrying sugars that can offer a delicious cup of coffee, overripe cherries consume these compounds in an attempt to survive difficult growing conditions. The result? Decimation of quality.

Mió's Professor Lucas Louzada is at the frontier of research into the potential of fermentation to rescue harvests such as these and is creating a library of data-driven fermentation protocols, anchored to three divergent methods: aerated, carbonic and yeast.

It is proposed that the activation of these protocols will be informed by the prevailing climatic conditions during the growing and harvest periods. That is to say that if X happens, Y is implemented.

This work is already bearing fruit. During our visit we cupped a number of coffees that had been harvested as overripe cherries and processed with Professor Louzada's nascent techniques. What we tasted was remarkable - the coffees offered extraordinary flavour experiences that belied their health when picked.

Those same coffees will be roasted by us in London and made available to purchase via our website very soon.

You can watch the extended discussion that builds on the subject via the video above.

Our thanks to Mió's Ana, Alex, Carlos, Lucas and Fabiana for their continued hospitality, passion and expertise.