Louis Pascoal, Daterra Masterpiece, Laurina

Louis Pascoal, Daterra; Cerrado Mineiro, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Arabica, Laurina; Anaerobic Natural; Daterra Masterpiece; 2025

Orange Candy | Lemon | Raisin | Brown Sugar

Daterra’s story begins in 1902, when an Italian family from Bari set sail for Brazil in search of a new life. They settled in Campinas, São Paulo, where the eldest son opened a small coffee booth at the city market in 1908, selling green beans and teaching locals how to roast them. Over the years, the family ventured into a range of businesses - from a gourmet shop to a gas station and later the auto parts trade. But in 1976, their entrepreneurial spirit brought them back to agriculture. They founded Daterra, meaning “from the earth”, and after experimenting with cattle and avocados, they returned to the crop that started it all: coffee.

Today, Daterra is regarded as one of the world’s most advanced and sustainable coffee farms. Located in the Cerrado Mineiro of Minas Gerais near Patrocínio, the estate spans 2,800 hectares, divided into 216 meticulously managed mini-farms of 5–15 hectares each. With automated irrigation, precision harvesting, and rigorous quality control, Daterra produces coffees across three tiers: Classics, Collections, and Masterpieces. At the pinnacle, the Masterpieces are rare, small-lot coffees scoring 88+ points, celebrated for their experimental varietals, innovative processing, and unrepeatable character.

The Laurina variety was first discovered growing wild on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean - historically known as Bourbon Island, an overseas region of France east of Madagascar. As coffee consumption spread across Europe in the 1600s to 1700s, the French sought suitable climates for cultivation. In 1715, colonists brought coffee plants from Mocha, Yemen to Saint-Denis, Réunion. Of the original 20 plants, only one produced cherries, but it thrived, and production soon expanded across the island. By the early 1800s, farmers noticed a new type of Bourbon plant: smaller, pointed and with oval-shaped cherries, earning it the nickname Bourbon pointu. The name Laurina is thought to come from its resemblance to laurel plants, while it was also known as Le Roy after the farmer credited with its discovery. Later research confirmed Laurina to be a natural mutation of the Bourbon variety. Recognizable by its Christmas tree-like shape, small leaves, and pointed cherries, Laurina is celebrated for its refined cup quality and exceptionally low caffeine content.

Laurina arrived in Brazil in the 19th century and was being studied at the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC) by the 1930s. Daterra began cultivating it in the 2000s in partnership with illycaffè and the IAC, dedicating around six hectares to the variety. Over two decades, the farm has carefully selected the most resilient plants to adapt them to the Cerrado’s climate at 1,200m - considerably higher than Brazil’s average 800m farms.

Still, Laurina is notoriously delicate: nearly 30% of new plants die within the first year, largely due to its low caffeine content, which makes it vulnerable to pests and disease. To counter this, Daterra employs close monitoring, insect traps, and shade cultivation. Despite its fragility, Laurina rewards with resilience against drought and a cup of remarkable vibrancy and clarity.

At Daterra, Laurina undergoes 65 hours of anaerobic fermentation before being sun-dried on raised beds, a process that enhances its sparkling acidity and expressive character. Its quality and uniqueness have won global recognition - in 2018, Emi Fukahori of Mame used a semi-carbonic macerated Laurina from Daterra to win the World Brewer’s Cup.

This coffee is part of our Touring Series. The coffee label bears our tagline "Savouring our world in a cup".

Roast Level
This coffee is roasted on Santoker Q20. It has a small size but yet dense, requiring a careful roast to prevent burning or under-roasting. The air roaster heats up the coffee rapidly at the start. With the strong airflow of the Santoker, we applied a level of power that can sustain the roast and also maintain a very low ROR after the first crack, aiming for its defining citrus notes with a balanced, non-sour afterflavour. The roast time is short as compared to a drum roaster. 

Brew Flavour
5 days after roast, the dry fragrance is citrusy. The immediate flavour notes are orange candy, like a Fox candy, on a sparkling acidity that tinkles the palate but without any sour taste. Behind this dominant note is a complex yet delicate array of lemon, pink guava, raisins, finishing off with brown sugar, hazelnut, walnut, and hints of orange peel and even honeysuckle. This coffee is exceptionally balanced - there is no obvious sourness or bitterness, but yet it is energetic and supports its display of aromas. On the ACF Coffee Appreciation Protocol (ACAP), the taste balance could be identified as L2 (low intensity - upper) for sourness, bitterness and sweetness. As it cools, mouthfeel develops more with the coffee turning oily (or fluffy) and smooth. When totally cold, there is even a hint of lychee and rambutan. From hot to cool, the coffee maintains its taste balance and smoothness. The afterflavour is citrusy, floral and balanced. 

This is our brew recipe, with Timemore Crystal Eye on a Mola Abaca paper, at 15g @ 750 μm to 250ml of 95°C water. To contextualise the grind size, its size is nearer to sugar than salt. 

0 sec - Add 50g of water
45 - 60 sec - Add 100g of water to 150g
1 min 45 sec - 2 min - Add 100g of water to 250g
2 min 30 sec - Finish
No need for bypass 


All coffees will be in whole beans. If you require the coffees to be ground, please inform us in the order notes whether you wish it to be: espresso, moka, filter or cold brew.


Savouring our world in a cup!
Enjoy!