Food, drink and travel writer + sommelier | Argentina + Latin America
(The Drinks Business) Hollywood director Steven Soderbergh has launched his Singani 63 brand – a Muscat of Alexandria-based spirit made in Bolivia – in the UK. The film director turned spirit purveyor was in London on Monday to launch his pet production – Singani 63. After falling for the Bolivian spirit 11 years ago while […]
“The stories behind the beans are only just emerging: landmine victims, women and former Farc guerrillas have set up co-operatives, teaming up for their bite of the cherry.” Check out page 22 of Barista Magazine for my article on how Illy Caffè is contributing to Colombia’s peace process.
(The Independent) “I want Colombia to be different,” says Jhon Benavides, an aspiring barista and, from the age of 14 until last year, a guerrilla in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). He’s just prepared a brew, carefully weighing out freshly ground coffee beans before making some cups of arabica grown here in Popayán, […]
CAUCA, Colombia — Plenty of positive coffee-related stories are coming out of Colombia; this one, however, pre-dates the start of November 2016’s peace process. The meeting-place has been set but for our own safety, we won’t be gathering at Luis Fernando’s homestead in the department of Cauca. Instead, this group of journalists and a team […]
CAUCA, Colombia — The landscape that makes up Colombia’s fourth-largest coffee-producing department wildly varies from that of Paraná and São Paulo states in south-west Brazil (Buenos Aires Herald, July 7 and July 14, 2017). Scattered across a rolling altitude that soars up to 2,100 metres above sea level, Cauca has the Andes to thank for […]
JACAREZINHO and SÃO PAULO — Did you accept my suggestion and try your daily caffeine injection naked: no milk, no cream, no sugar or sweetener? Any surprises beyond the aromas of actual coffee? When it comes to cupping, or tasting, coffee, it’s a complex ritual. Preparation is elaborate and assessment involves more than a simple […]
PARANÁ, Brazil — “When people think of Brazilian coffee, they think of a dark-roasted drink but the truth is, that heavy roasting covers up a lot of defects, starting with the fact that unripe beans are being used. We’re trying to change that perception, microlot by microlot.” Former diplomat Edgard Bressani, a co-founder from boutique […]
(Wallpaper*) TARIJA, BOLIVIA – Film director Steven Soderbergh and Hollywood concept artist Joanna Bush have given Soderbergh’s Singani63 spirit brand a cinematic redesign. Singani is a little-known Bolivian spirit made from aromatic Muscat of Alexandria grapes distilled at altitude, in Soderbergh’s case at Casa Real distillery, 1,800m above sea level. He wanted the new design […]