Jordan Dabov’s year is marked by his trips around the world visiting coffee spots. While he is searching for great coffees, he finds out what is the state of the new crop. After the cherry picking, he can taste the currect coffee production. And the same way he cups the newest Brazilian coffee, he cups Ethiopian coffee or Panama Geisha, depending on the region he is at.
Some of his trips bring him to serious international events such as Cup of Excellence and others that define and help the specialty coffee industry expand.
Not because he only visited Brazil. But because Brazil is a special spot on the specialty coffees map and has an equally special place in Jordan Dabov’s heart. It was there in 2013 that he participated in the Cup of Excellence for the first time as part of the international jury. And in 2019 he returned there to participate in the 20th anniversary edition of the competition. In this country only he has already judged 4 times.
Jordan Dabov: “This coffee is a mother who can embrace absolutely any child.”
Five years ago, in 2015, Jordan Dabov discovered in Brazil one DABOV Specialty Coffee’s fans favorite coffees – Brazil Alianca. It continues to be part of our catalog to this day, always extremely tasty and with high quality. The coffee we offer you now is “multidimensional chocolate flavor” – in the words of Jordan. “It has notes of milk and dark chocolate, with a tough of almond; it’s creamy, with a hint of biscuits and toffee finish. This coffee is a mother that can embrace absolutely any child.“
In 2019, Jordan Dabov took chef Andre Tokev and the culinary TV show “Food Hunters” in Brazil to Fazenda Alianca. This is a unique place that combines tradition and innovation in the most positive way possible.
The place was suggested by Jordan Dabov because, as he says: “In Brazil, there is more than anything from the things that are important to me. I think the same way about coffee as they do. Brazilians are unique in their motivation to select the best coffee from the better coffee. They are not only the largest coffee producer in the world, but also the most motivated. Brazilians invest the most in process development technologies. They think how to create more resistible varieties. How to reduce costs. How to make better and better coffee.”
The Fazenda Alianca plantation is built on the philosophy behind special coffee. Why? Because the farm owner is committed to the people who make coffee and make sure its team follows the path of sustainable development.
Fazenda Alianca was funded more than a century ago, in 1880s in the state of Sao Paulo, in the middle of the jungle. Thanks to the labor force that was necessary for its functioning, a settlement was gradually formed. And today it has grown into a town.
The history of the entire state of Sao Paulo and its transformation into the most developed in Brazil is connected with the coffee industry. As it flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and thanks to the production of ever-increasing quantities of Brazilian coffee, many locals and immigrants found work there.
Fazenda Alianca has been through different hardships until Renato Ishikawa, the son of Japanese emigrants, came to it in 1996. Brazil, by the way, is home to the largest Japanese emigrant community in the world.
Renato San bought the farm because he was looking for a place to spend the weekends with his family. After retiring as president of a telecommunications company, Ishikawa gradually became interested in growing coffee. That is why he undertook a long process of renovation, development and modernization of coffee growing technologies within the framework of sustainable development and social responsibility.
Today, Fazenda Alianca includes much more land than the original territory of the plantation. Renato Ishikawa has understood that the only way to develop was to use natural resources rationally. Each change is monitored and analyzed in order to take the necessary measures. The flora and fauna in the region are strictly protected, and wastewater is treated and recycled.
In Fazenda Alianca they grow a variety of crops and many animals. The coffee quality has gradually become better and better and today the production consist of specialty Brazilian coffee, part of which is certified UTZ Certified and Rainforest Alliance.
In Fazenda Alianca, Andre Tokev and Jordan Dabov were welcomed by Renato San in July 2019. And you witnessed their meeting in “Food Hunters”.
With Andre Tokev, our coffee hunter also went through a series of cuppings of the latest Brazilian coffee at the office of our partners from Qualicafex. This is how Jordan Dabov finds out everything he needs to know about the quality and the flavor of the new production. This is extremely important when choosing coffee for our catalog. In the Latin American country alone, there are 900,000 Brazilian coffee producers. Read this figure again – nine hundred thousand!
Of course, it includes not only specialty coffee producers but also mass coffee producers. Buyers are not few either. Therefore, to provide something special for a small market like ours, we must be resourceful in demand. We also need to quickly persuade farmers to entrust their coffee to us.
Chef Andre Tokev successfully passed the quick but intensive coffee cupping course with flying marks. Jordan Dabov told us about their Brazilian trip: “Andre is a special person. When you are with him for a longer period, you have to adjust to his pace. He is extremely organized in everything he does when he is not being filmed by the camera. This motivated me. I’ve learned that it always good to be organized.”
Last year in Brazil took place the first cupping of selected coffees from DABOV Specialty Coffee’s catalog. A few curious customers of the Um Cafe chain in Sao Paulo had the pleasure of participating. The cupping also provoked interest among professionals in the area of specialty coffee in the largest Brazilian city. That is why Jordan Dabov predicts that there is a possibility of DABOV Specialty Coffee setting foot there with its catalog.
For Jordan Dabov and for us was extremely exciting his participation in the international jury of the jubilee edition of the Cup of Excellence. It took place in the town of Lavras, Minas Gerais in October. There he had the pleasure of cupping along with some of the most important figures in the founding of the Cup of Excellence program 20 years ago in Brazil. From Lavras our coffee hunter returned with the tenth best coffee in the country for the year – Brazil Fazenda Aterradinho COE # 10 2019.
We remind you that there are about 1 million coffee producers in this Latin American country. Just think about the great qualities that a coffee should possess to enter the top 10 of this country! And what a rare chance it is for this coffee to be brought to the small market of Bulgaria!
