The luxurious Brazilian coffee extracted from the droppings of a bird

Previously considered a pest in coffee plantations in the southeast of Brazilthe wild jacu bird – and its prodigious digestive system – became the main ally to produce one of the cafes most expensive in the world.

The jacu – jacuaçu, or dark turkey – looks like a pheasant and has a fine palate: “choose to eat the best, most mature grains”explains Agnael Costa, 23 years old, while delicately collecting the valuable excrement between two trees.

On the Camocim farm, nestled in a bucolic valley in the Domingos Martins community, Espirito Santo state (southeast), coffee bushes grow in the middle of a lush jungle.

“This agroflorestal cultivation model created the necessary conditions to produce Jacu coffee,” explains owner Henrique Sloper, an adherent of biodynamic agriculture, without chemicals.

The product sells for 1,118 reais (US$228) per kilo in Brazil, and even more expensive abroad, in luxury stores such as the British Harrods.

From enemy to ally

But the jacu, a black-plumaged, scarlet-throated species native to other regions of South America, was not always welcome on the Camocim property. At first it was seen as a pest that threatened crops and caused problems.

It was when he discovered coffee “Kopi Luwak” in Indonesia, made from civet excrement (an Asian mammal similar to a mongoose), that Henrique Sloper had the idea of ​​transforming the jacu from an enemy into an ally.

While the reputation of “Kopi Luwak” – also sold at a price of gold – is burdened with complaints of mistreatment of civets in captivity, the Brazilian jacu grows in freedom.

“It is completely in its natural habitat”the Atlantic forest on the Brazilian coast, says production supervisor Rogério Lemke.

“It is a protected area (…) and we do not use any chemical products” in the coffee plantation, he adds.

Jacu droppings resemble a cereal bar in appearance, with coffee beans embedded in a blackish paste.

Once harvested, the feces are put to dry in a greenhouse. They then carefully classify and peel the coffee beans, before placing them in a cold room.

They leave there only on customer demand, to avoid any waste.

“It requires a lot of work, which is why it is expensive. It is impossible to produce jacu coffee cheaply. It is a scarce product, and production is uncertain, because it depends on the appetite of the jacu.”says Henrique Sloper.

The coffee extracted from the droppings of these birds represents less than 2% of the farm’s production.

“It also helps us identify the best time for the conventional harvest. Where he eats, it means that the grains are ripe,” Explain.

luxury and sustainability

“Jacu digestion is extremely fast, it lasts just seconds,” explains coffee analyst Ensei Neto.

It is much slower in civets or elephants, whose droppings are also used to produce this type of coffee in Thailand.

“In terms of flavor, it doesn’t add anything in particular to it. It is above all a good story to tell. The main difference is that (the jacu) selects the best grains, guided by its survival instinct,” Neto assures.

Well-ripe beans give the coffee “sweet notes, with good acidity.”

“It is a delicious coffee and the story behind its production is very original. It is a new experience for us”says tourist Poliana Cristiana Prego, 37, who came to the farm to taste Jacu coffee.

“Our clients are lovers of exotic products, but also those who value the idea of ​​sustainable development”says Henrique Sloper.

For him, “the future of coffee is in Brazil”. First world producer, the South American giant “It is beginning to sell its image better, to show that it is capable of producing coffee like nowhere else.”

Source: AFP