How to Brew Brazilian CamoShim Estate Jacu Bird Coffee Pour-Over_Why Pour-Over Bird Coffee Tastes Bitter

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Brazil Jacu Bird Coffee

This coffee comes from Brazil and is extracted from the digestive waste of a bird called Jacu. It is said that this coffee is more expensive than civet coffee, with a rich, thick, and sweet flavor. Well, following this logic, various animal-processed coffees will continue to emerge endlessly.

The Jacu is a bird native to South America that loves to eat coffee cherries. The quality of coffee beans that pass through their digestive system is exceptionally high. However, finding bird droppings that happen to contain undigested coffee cherries is understandably challenging.

Therefore, the production of Jacu bird coffee is even lower than that of civet coffee. It's said that the price reaches over 10,000 yuan for a small package that can only brew a few cups. Unlike civet coffee, this variety currently seems to have no artificial cultivation.

Many people have heard of "civet coffee" and thought it was the most expensive coffee, but that's not the case. Many places in Southeast Asia (including Yunnan, China) produce civet coffee. An even rarer animal-fermented coffee is "Jacu bird coffee," which is currently only produced by Camocim Estate farm in Brazil.

History

In the 1960s and 1970s, when Brazil's Camocim farm was still owned by the elderly Sr. Olivar Fontenelle de Araújo, he thought of various methods to protect the farm's forests, such as introducing exotic tree species like slash pine and eucalyptus, planting Jacaranda trees from the Bignoniaceae family, and building small reservoirs. This marked the beginning of Camocim's transformation into a modern organic and biodynamic farm.

By the 1980s and 1990s, these efforts began to show results. The farm's ecological environment improved, and wildlife increased significantly.

In 1999, to carry on the pioneering spirit of his 92-year-old grandfather, farm owner Sr. Henrique Sloper Araújo decided to introduce organic coffee cultivation methods, planting coffee on the more suitable mountain slopes.

The coffee cultivation area at Camocim farm covers approximately 123.5 acres (50 hectares). Although some slash pine trees were cut down, the farm's biodiversity was preserved. Initially, coffee was mainly planted in forest clearings and shaded woodland areas. Today, coffee is only grown on terrace slopes with natural vegetation. The farm regularly prunes coffee trees, with leaves and small branches returned to the soil as compost to improve organic matter.

Today, this organic cultivation method that balances natural forests and vegetation has become a model for future environmentally friendly coffee production in Brazil.

Jacu Bird Coffee

Camocim farm, located in Pedra Azul, Espirito Santo, Brazil, is famous for its Jacu bird coffee. These birds live in shade-grown coffee forests and selectively eat ripe coffee cherries - this is the natural selection processing method that produces high-quality coffee.

Farm owner Henrique Sloper doesn't view these cherry-selecting birds as pests, but rather as a natural complement to the farm's flora and fauna. Therefore, Camocim farm welcomes these Jacu birds, considering them members of the farm's agricultural ecosystem and treating them as the most effective coffee cherry "workers." Once the birds eat ripe coffee cherries and defecate under the coffee trees, farm workers collect these odorless bird droppings, send them to special drying areas for drying and cleaning until they reach parchment stage, then store them - a process taking about 3 months. Jacu bird coffee has a pleasant, smooth flavor with subtle nutty sweetness, gentle syrup and black bread aromas, leaving a hint of black pepper in the aftertaste.

Jacu bird coffee has a sweet, full-bodied flavor and is slightly more acidic than traditional Brazilian coffee produced at Camocim farm. Without a doubt, this is the rarest coffee in the world.

Key Information About Jacu Bird Coffee

Farm Name: Camocim Estate (Jacu Bird Coffee)

Farm Founder: Olivar Fontenelle de Araújo

Current Farm Owner: Henrique Sloper

Major Region: Espirito Santo

Sub-region: Pedra Azul

Altitude: 400-500 meters above sea level

Annual Rainfall: 1500-2000 mm

Coffee Varieties: Bourbon, Icatu, Catuai

Processing Method: Bird-processed

Drying Method: Sun-dried on drying beds

Flowering Period: August-December

Harvest Period: May-September

Additional Information: Camocim Estate has been certified as an organic ecological farm by Brazil's Instituto Biodinamico do Brazil

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations:

How to Brew Brazilian Coffee [CamoShim Estate Jacu Bird Coffee] Well?

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-over Reference: Weigh 15g of CamoShim Estate Jacu bird coffee powder, pour into a grinder for medium grinding. The ground particles should be slightly coarser than table salt - we use BG grinder setting 6A (standard sieve pass rate 50%). Water temperature at 88°C, extracted with Kono/Kalita dripper, recommended coffee-to-water ratio around 1:14.

With the hot water in the pour-over kettle, draw circles clockwise around the center of the dripper. Start timing when brewing begins. In 15 seconds, brew the coffee to 30g, then stop pouring. When the time reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour. Like before, draw circles clockwise around the center of the dripper, making sure the water flow doesn't hit the connection between coffee powder and filter paper to avoid channel effects.

Leave a circle of space when reaching the outermost edge of the coffee grounds, then continue brewing circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes 10 seconds, brew the coffee to 210g to complete the brewing process.

Japanese-style Ice Pour-over [CamoShim Estate Jacu Bird Coffee]

FrontStreet Coffee Ice Pour-over [CamoShim Estate Jacu Bird Coffee] Reference:

Brazilian coffee [CamoShim Estate Jacu bird coffee], medium-dark roast, BG grinder setting 5R (standard sieve pass rate 60%)

20g coffee powder, 150g ice cubes, 150g hot water. Water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal recommended 88°C for pour-over. Normal grinding uses Fuji 3.5 setting, while ice pour-over uses slightly finer - Fuji 3 setting. Recommended coffee-to-(water+ice) ratio is 1:15.

Bloom with 40g water for 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: first segment 60g water, second segment 40g water. Use a relatively fine but high water column to stir forcefully, ensuring the coffee powder rolls fully. However, be careful that the liquid level doesn't get too high and don't hit the edge filter paper.

The entire extraction time should be approximately 2.5 minutes (similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of powder).

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