Spotlight on the smooth one... Pato
Welcome back to our Spotlight series, where we are taking the time to introduce you more closely to our range of independent specialty coffees, all of which are hand-roasted in small batches in Yorkshire to ensure ultimate freshness and a truly unique drinking experience. Today, it is time for our most smooth-talking blend, Pato.
Pato, which means duck in Portuguese in case you were wondering, is a duo combination of El Salvadorian and Brazilian beans. While it only consists of two different beans, it still offers a complex flavour sensation which is down to the careful balance between the wine-toned flavour of the El Salvador origin and the richer chocolate notes from the Brazilian beans. While there are more El Salvador beans within the blend, the distinct and popular taste of Brazil’s coffee still shines through.
Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee, producing approximately a third of the globe’s coffee. Brazilian beans are known for being a great foundation for blends, due to their earthy, chocolatey, low acidity taste that pair well with different flavours. However, with nearly 300,000 different coffee producers, there are plenty of variations to try, all with their unique taste. While it is now seen as the powerhouse of coffee (the country has been #1 in coffee production for the past 150 years and recently overtook the US to become #1 in coffee consumption too), in the past, coffee was not so easy to come by in Brazil.
As we know from Kaldi and his trusty goat, coffee originated on another continent and was not native to South America. As it started to make its way over to South America, Brazil was struggling to get in on the action. Their European-supported neighbours in French Guiana were already growing coffee but were reluctant to share the buzz; the governor at the time prohibited the export of coffee bush seeds entirely. Enter Francisco de Melo Palheta of Brazil, who travelled to French Guiana on an unrelated diplomatic mission. Legend has it that he took a pit-stop on the way back to Brazil at the home of the governor. He seduced the governor’s wife, who sent him on his way with a bouquet of flowers, spiked with coffee seeds. Thus, the first coffee bush was planted by Palheta in Para, Brazil in 1727.
Divine Coffee Pato blend is as smooth as Palheta’s chat up lines. With its incredibly smooth finish, Pato is like the more laid back sister to our Fortuna blend. While it still has a delicious complexity of flavours, it is a smoother brew, making it perfect for that afternoon pick me up. Pato is so easy-going that it doesn’t mind which brewing method you use, it tastes utterly divine whether you use a coffee dripper or a hand-grinder and cafetiere. Whatever method you choose, we would suggest serving Pato with milk to get the most out of this super-chilled coffee.