# Trip report - specialty coffee in Rio de Janeiro & Brasilia



## dabac (Oct 2, 2013)

Hi all,

I recently did a trip around Brasil, where I've spent most of my time in Rio and Brasilia. Prior to going there, I've tried searching on this, as well as on other english-speaking coffee forums, for some information on the state of the specialty coffee in Brasil, but to no avail. I've thus decided to put together a bit of a trip-report (hopefully not overly TL;DR) for whoever might come to these two cities looking for a good coffee.

Both of these cities have turned out to have a few 3rd wave/specialty coffee bars serving good, and at times even excellent espresso. Seemingly, 3rd wave espresso culture started booming in major Brazilian cities over the last few years, so it is reasonable to expect there is more to follow in the next years. I have come across some of these places (majority of the good ones, anyway) by going through the Brazilian coffee connoisseurs forum (http://forum.clubedocafe.net/), and made an effort to visit them. The others I've discovered myself accidentaly - these however mostly turned out to be disappointing.

An important note to you coffee lovers is that what is called „espresso" in the majority of the Europe, has a different meaning in most of the coffee bars (even the specialty ones) in Brazil. I've come to learn this the „hard way", after being disappointed time and again by the underextracted watery „espressos". Then, finally a barista in one of the specialty bars explained to me that most of their day-to-day customers would complain if they were served only 30ml of coffee in a 60ml cup, hence they had to adjust to their needs. Supposedly, it is part of the Brazilian „I need to get what I paid for" mindset. They however like the word „espresso" because it sounds Italian, and is thus very fashionable - seemingly, everything „Italian" (and „European" in general for that matter) is very highly regarded in South America.

Hence, if you want a cca. 30ml extraction (single shot), you should ask for „espresso corto". This will typically result in a drinkable, although often somewhat underextracted espresso because the grind settings are usually set to produce about 50-60ml in cca. 25sec, hence they will simply stop the extraction short as they can't be bothered to change the grind setting just for you. There are exceptions to this of course, as detailed in the description of the places.

I think it's also worth mentioning that many of the „specialty" bars only have 1-2 trained baristas who really know what they are doing, the rest of the staff there typically just know how to dose and press the button and don't seem very interested in coffee in general. Seemingly, this is due to the fact that many places refrain from educating their staff more-than-necessary, as trained staff is in shortage and they end up leaving the place for something better paid sooner rather than later. So, if you want a nice, more-or-less properly extracted coffee, make sure to ask whether there is a trained barista there, and if he/she can prepare your coffee. This might be easier said than done if you don't speak Portuguese, as most of the waiters don't speak English well enough/at all (wasn't a problem for me thanks to my SO who is a native speaker, and who thankfully didn't mind incorporating visiting all these coffee places into our schedule). Many baristas (some with international experience) did however turn out to speak English quite well.

The prices were typically around 4-5 BRL (1-1.3 GBP) per single shot.

Anyway, here goes the list of the places to visit and to avoid, ranked according to my own personal preference and experience.

*RIO - to visit:*

1) Curto cafe - this was a definite no. 1 in Rio and a must-visit for any coffee lover. Located in the centre of the city, it seems to be a current „hip" place to hang out, while serving excellent self-roasted coffee. On the day when I was there, they were serving 3 types of beans, labeled according to the taste notes as „lemon", „almond" and something I don't remember. I've tried the first two, and have found the „almond" (medium roast) pretty decent , and „lemon" absolutely great (I'd say light/medium roast, just enough acidity to my taste).

Aside from the great coffee, the place itself in concepted in a very interesting way - to start with, it isn't structured as your everyday cafe:









Also, there is no standard price for the services - sketched on the board are the prices of the „raw material" and other expenses, and you pay (put in the pot) whatever you feel is fair. The place is run by a couple of young guys, operating on the top-of-the-line La Marzocco. The overall feel is quite cool and relaxing, although you should probably try to avoid visiting it during the lunchtime (12-14) as it supposedly gets pretty crowded.









2) Sorelle - located in Botafogo shopping mall, not roasting their own however they were serving two blends (Gourmet Orpheus and a Suplicy) plus a special Jaku bird single origin that was 2x the price so I didn't try it. The barista (Raphaella) was quite nice and seemed pleasant and knowledgeable - she was the one that explained to me the difference between „espresso" and „corto" is Brasil. I went for an Orpheus twice, as I found it quite good (chocolatey)









3) Grao cafe - located in center, this was the only bar that I've seen offering alternative brew methods (aeropress and chemex if I recall correctly). I've decided to stick to espresso though - the barista spoke excellent english, seemed passionate and definitely knew what he was doing. They were also offering Gourmet Orpheus at the time which seems to be one of the most popular choices in the specialty bars that didn't roast their own coffee.

4) Terzetto cafe - the only „specialty" bar located in Ipanema, this was the place the closest to our apartment, so we went there pretty much on a daily basis. The first time I was there I've asked for the main barista to prepare my espresso (didn't know that I had to ask for „corto" at that time), and naturally got pretty dissapointed by the watery 60ml shot I was served. As we were preparing to leave, the barista saw my dissapointment, halted me at the exit and prepared me a ristretto free of charge. It was quite good although for a ristretto still a bit underextracted. I however felt this was a really nice gesture, and really appreciated barista's efforts. Besides good coffee, the bar also has some delicious pastries and cakes and is definitely well worth visiting.

5) Besi cafe - located in the center, I stopped there for a quick morning shot. Ordered a ristretto, and really liked what I was served. The place was very nicely decorated and also looked like they had some nice cakes. Unfortunately, at the time when I went in, it was very busy so I didn't want to try to hold the baristas back with any questions.

6) Cafe do Bom Cachaca da Boa - located in the center, the place offered an above-average espresso, although perhaps fell somewhat short of the above ones. It does however have an amazing list of cachacas (brazilian rum) and it does deserve stopping by if you find yourself around.

*RIO - to avoid:*

1) Kopenhagen - located in one of the shopping malls near Copacabana, I visited the place as I was looking for a quick caffeine kick and I've seen it had some really nice reviews on tripadvisor. A complete dissapointment, the „baristas" seemed to have had no idea what they were doing and served something that I had to fill with sugar in order to be able to drink (which I normally never do). They also sell a bunch of overpriced chocolates that come nowhere near the good artisan things that you can find in Europe (and UK in particular).


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## dabac (Oct 2, 2013)

BRASILIA - to visit:

1) Cristina Cafes Especiais - this turned out to be the best place in the city, and once I found out about it, I started going on a daily basis. It is a very small place, serving nothing but coffee, which is always a promising sign . The owner spoke very good english, and explained to me how they really cared about serving top-quality espresso, with beans sourced from the microlots that he personally knew. The place has 3 baristas that all seemed very passionate about espresso, and were very eager to hear my opinions. They are roasting their own coffee (they were offering 2 blends and one SO when I was there, but serving only one type of beans per day), leaning a bit towards the dark side. Each barista was permitted to serve according to his own style, however I found it interesting that they were all way overdosing compared to the general rules of thumb, using 25-28g for a double shot (I guess that's what scandinavians are also leaning towards these days). Anyway, I wholeheartedly reccomend this place (coincidentally it is also by far the cheapest place serving specialty coffee, charging only 4,50 reals for a double shot); I've bought a pack of Gran Cru blend for myself at home, which I've just went through and thoroughly enjoyed (also turned out to be one of the most forgiving coffees I've had so far).









2) Objeto Encontrado - a close runner-up, also run by people who really seemed to care about the coffee, so I also kept returning there whenever possible. They were the only place I've encountered that stuck to calling „espresso" what it is - about 30ml exracted in 25 sec (single dose). Everyone spoke very good english, and were very open to discuss coffee. They didn't roast their own coffee, but were serving a blend from one of the roasteries in Sao Paolo; they said however that they change the coffee they offer fairly regularly. Great pastries and cakes - I've had perhaps the best brownie of my life there.









3) Grenat cafes especiais - located in one of the shopping malls, they are roasting their own coffee and offering a couple of varieties every day. I had a really nice shot of Red Bourbon (I took a bag for home which I am currently enjoying) and have tried my girlfriend's unimpressive shot of another single origin they were offering (I suspect the beans might have been pretty old). The waiters/baristas seemed somewhat grumpy and not too interested in discussing coffee though.









4)Cafe Ernesto - A few „connoisseurs" have advised me that this was one of the best places to have specialty coffee in the city, however I wasn't overly impressed by it. In all fairness, I went there at the beginning of my trip (before knowing that I should ask for „corto" instead of „espresso"), so I was pretty dissapointed by the taste as a result of an extraction ratio. I was later told it that would have also helped if I had specifically asked for a barista, as there were supposedly only a couple of trained baristas among the staff. So even if my experience was not that good there, I'm inclined to ascribe it to not knowing what to ask for exactly.


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## dabac (Oct 2, 2013)

5)Monardo Gastronomia e Cultura - run by an Italian guy who claims to be „crazy about coffee" (advertising it all over the bar), the place serves standard italian espresso - by all means okay and drinkable, but some way short from the specialty grade. The barista was advising me to try „coffee mocha" (espresso with some sea salt), but I've decided to stick to a standard „corto". They are roasting and selling their own beans, but I didn't think they warranted purchasing as there are imo superior options out there.









BRASILIA - to avoid:

1) Kopenhagen - It seems that this is in fact a chain of „gourmet" sweet shops, and a fairly successful one judging by how busy it was. Even after my bad experience in Rio, I've decided to give it a second chance, and visited their shop in Brasilia (also located in one of the shopping centers). It turned out to be a big mistake, as this was one of the worst espressos I've had in my life - I asked for a ristretto, but the woman working there seemed completely unqualified, and filled up the cup (60ml) completely in some 15 seconds (turning her back to the machine for a few seconds in the process). It tasted horrible; I couldn't even tell if the beans were any good (I doubt so though). In the meantime, as I was sipping my „shot" at the counter, I've witnessed her making another „espresso" ordered by someone else - after extracting it, she wanted to put the accompanying candy next to the cup, however she dropped it right inside the cup. She proceeded to take the spoon, trying to fetch the candy from the cup, and in the process took out a few ml of the coffee itself. She then put the shot back to the machine, and pressed the button (the portafilter was still locked inside the machine, along with the used puck in it), letting it run for a few more seconds in order to fill up the cup before going to the table to serve it. Disgusted, I turned away, paid and left the place.

2)Belini Paes e Gastronomia - found myself there for a breakfast one day and saw that they were advertising a few different types of beans, so I figured out it might be worth a try. I've asked the waitress what their „espresso" meant, in terms of extraction ratio (she didn't know) and volume (she claimed it was „half of the small cup", showing me the supposed quantity by hand). That sounded about right to me, so I've asked her to ask the barista to prepare me a double espresso. She proceeded to bring me a large (cappuccino) cup completely filled in, and obviously completely watered down and tasteless. I tried explaining to her that it is not possible that two times half of the small cup equals one large cup, and asked whether I could get a ristretto instead. She claimed that they didn't have ristretto (?!), and only after we asked to remove the coffee from the bill, she invited the barista to come over. The barista looked at the „coffee" that was still sitting on the table, asked the waitress „who made that?", to which she admitted that she couldn't find the barista so she juts asked someone random to prepared it. The barista apologised and proceeded to bring me a more-or-less properly extracted double ristretto. It turned out to be fairly decent, although I didn't find it anything too special.

3) Universal Diner - one of the „cool" places in the city to have dinner, it also has a dedicated cafe upstairs. I've decided to visit it after I've seen it recommended on the „cafedobrasil" forum. The place looked very promising, they roast and sell their own coffee, and were even advertising in the menu that they serve a „normal" espresso/ristretto and „espresso/ristretto selected by barista (insert Barista's name)". So I've asked for a double ristretto, made by barista. The girl working there was fair enough to explain that the barista was currently away, and whether it would be okay if someone else made it, so I said agreed. Unfortunately, what came first was definitely not a double ristretto, as it was way too watery and tasted bland. I pointed it out, she apologised, took it back, and came back with something that - judging by the volume was not even a single ristretto by any means - I asked what it was and she said that „it is a double ristretto". Seeing that the girl was quite confused and not wanting to go into further discussions, I thanked her and sipped it - turned out to be way overextracted but I decided not say a word. Five minutes later, the girl - on her own initiative - brought another shot (I have no idea what it was supposed to be, perhaps a second part of a double ristretto, or she felt that I was not happy with what I was originally served), which was the best out of the three shots I was served in total, but definitely still somewhat underextracted. It could have well been a different story altogether had the barista been there, but my experience was confusing and I found the service unacceptable for a cafe that seems to consider themeselves as a bar offering „specialty grade" coffee. On a plus side, the place is really nicely decorated, and has an interesting „alternative" vibe to it.









There it is; I know the post is quite long and probably makes for a not-so-interesting read, but I hope it could serve as a good starting point for anyone traveling to Rio/Brasilia, wanting to have a good cup of coffee.


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