Somewhere in the middle of the nippy Atlantic Ocean, a quick little four hour flight from Boston no less, is where the subtropical volcanic islands of the Azores truly hide out. Magical, mystical green lushness, oversized volcanic craters now reimagined as lakes, steaming natural hot springs that puff out from the earth, blue hydrangeas in the thousands and more cows than humans - well, that's the Azores for you. A sheltered escape ready for the taking, some might say - like Henry the Navigator who was the first European to stake his claim right here. So besides for belonging to Portugal for most of its modern life - minus that Spanish moment in 1580 - the islands haven’t received their deserved love. Until now that is.
Luis Nunes, founder of Azores Getaways, has recently started bringing American tourists interested in an alternative to the Caribbean - some deeply interested in sweet beaches, remote beauty, fine Portuguese farm cuisine, whale watching but also the lovers of coffee interested in this little exclusive offering on Portugal’s secret island. “The islands are perfect for the traveler keen on something a little different, off the usual track of travel - and, of course, the coffee aficionados will now have their own little hush-hush place to discover.” And so Azores Getaways has launched a travel program for the coffee adventurer starting in 2017.
Aside for the nine islands that make up the archipelago, there are a few small towns with a burgeoning dining scene and some boutique hotels, hot springs (similar to what Iceland has except that these are truly natural), endless adventure activities (think horses, diving, kayaking) and of course one small island, São Jorge, with a marvelous coffee plantation. “The Azores has been waiting to be taken seriously as a perfect getaway destination - it has everything Europe has, but it’s just a little easier to navigate,” says Luis. Just a quick hopper plane from the main island (where Porta Delgado is the capital in case you’re wondering) - and you’ve arrived minutes later.
So what’s the big deal here? What makes these plantations so marvelous is the difficult to reach São Jorge fajãs. These are flat lands that are at sea level on the island and are very steep - a coffee bean’s dream haven. “These are results from the accumulation of debris, following earthquakes, or lava flows from volcanic eruptions, and their flat and fertile soils, creating a very specific is a microclimate, and were eventually used by the population over the centuries for agriculture,” adds Luis.
“Unfortunately there are no bibliographical references that accurately state the introduction of the coffee plantation in São Jorge,” says Dina Nunes, who’s father is the farmer and owner of Cafe Nunes and the small plantation on the island. “However that are some experts in the field who have likened the characteristics of the plants (Arabic coffee) to actually have come from Brazil.” So, if you start digging deeper in some of the existing bibliographical references to the Azores and Brazil, it is verified that around the XVII and XVIII century there was a strong emigration of Azoreans to Brazil - after the great earthquake of 1757 that shook, among other islands, the island of São Jorge.
“So in the late eighteenth century transition to the nineteenth century possibly someone who worked on some coffee farm will have returned from Brazil to São Jorge, bringing coffee beans,” says Dina. “The origin of our Fajã dos Vimes® Coffee Café, came simply by chance, through the Nunes Handicraft House that belongs to my mother and aunt.” In the 90s, when the island had no tavern (or coffee shop for that matter), the craft shop located in the fajã ordered coffee to captivate the customers coming to buy the famous bedspreads made by the family. By 1997 they had set up a proper cafe - basically just to serve their own customers. Maybe the most exclusive coffee set up in the world, right? And not a bearded hipster in sight.
“So this coffee here São Jorge, the only in Europe, checks out with all the fundamentals for great coffee production: a perfect climate and the soil richness that comes from the fajãs specific to the island of São Jorge,” says Dina. And to geek out a little, Dina explains that the plants grow at this super low altitude with this perfect climate that is in fact very similar to what Brazil has: “we are here below 300m (1000 ft) to almost sea level with average annual temperatures ranging from 12ºC (54F) in winter to 25ºC (77F) in summer plus a relatively average air humidity.”
But what will really strike you as interesting - and booking a trip - isn’t just the discovery of coffee in Europe, but the tiny volume that Manuel Nunes (Dina’s father) who is in his 60s tends to. The family bought the land almost 40 years ago - with only a small handful of plants. Today they have 800 coffee plants and in the last year reached a final product of around 770 pounds of beans - from roughly double that as the gross product.
“We exclusively have Arabica but we are totally biological - we do not require any chemicals to fight pests since they just do not exist here,” shares Dina. “And we also fertilize with the husks, leaves and also the coffee grounds.” The harvest season is between May and the end of August - the beans are all picked by hand, dried on a rack for three to four weeks. Even the shells are manually removed with some simple stone rubbing. But the highlight is Nunes’s grandmother, Elvira Nunes, who at age 92, is in charge of making sure all the impurities are removed from the beans. “The roasting is done the old fashioned way: to the fire in an iron frying pan and stirring until desired color is obtained,” smiles Dina.
But as Miguel will say - he’s not interested in exporting. If you love coffee and are interested in his little piece of heaven - well he suggests that you need to come see it for yourself to believe it. In the summer he serves around 200 espressos per day - and the customers are always falling in love with what he has on offer. He’s even willing to sell you a small bag of beans. But first, sit down and enjoy an espresso.
Make sure to visit azoresgetaways.com who will facilitate a trip out to the Azores to find some coffee, and remote beauty to boot. Cafe Nunes is located at Faja dos Vimes, Sao Jorge island, The Azores, Portugal - and they don’t have a website or Facebook page for good reason.