Visita a Bucareste: a arte de bem servir.

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Experimentar o experimental

Os dias em Bucareste, na Romênia, é mais um relato da Aequitas sobre conexão e contato que o café estabelece e permite.

Trofic

Trofic

Explorar e embarcar rumo ao desconhecido é sempre um sentimento que fascina, pois não se sabe o que vem pela frente, e quando a experiência surpreende positivamente, acontece a magia.

Pela primeira vez no leste europeu, não imaginávamos o fato de que Bucareste tem uma das maiores taxas de concentração de cafés especiais per capita nesta área, somente atrás de Londres e à frente de Berlim . O que significa que a galera lá curte e entende de café.

Visitar a Romênia que

é considerada por muitos, um dos países mais enigmáticos do Leste Europeu. Esse país de língua latina que abriga 7 Patrimônios Culturais UNESCO guarda lugares tão belos quanto místicos, protagonistas de famosas lendas e histórias, como a Transilvânia e o Castelo do Conde Drácula.

proporcionou, além da atmosfera simbólica, o conhecimento do quão emergente e pulsante é o mercado e consumo de café especial por lá.

            Tivemos a sorte de conhecer a cena do café em Bucareste através dos olhos da equipe do Origo  & Trofic. Panfil, que criou o Origo Coffee há seis anos, e Lavinia, seu braço direito, promoveram esse encontro e nos proporcionou viver o ápice do conforto e regozijo que é comer comida boa e beber café do bom.

            Tudo, desde a seleção meticulosa de alimentos até a forma em que são apresentados, compõem o prazer de bem servir. É tanto amor e cuidado que o acolhimento te traz de novo e de novo a esses lugares, seja pela música delícia ou pelo café gostoso.

Fomos surpreendidos desde ao chegar lá, até ir embora. Surpreendidos no sentido de surpresa, aquela que causa felicidade inesperada no Outro, tão boa de se sentir. Pois bem, esperávamos que fosse uma visita interessante, como de costume, mas foi muito além de qualquer expectativa. Eles organizaram encontros entre a produtora, Yuki Minami, proprietários de cafeterias e consumidores, criando um ambiente perfeito para muita troca de conhecimento entre todos os setores da cadeia do café.

Na maioria das vezes, essa troca entre produtor e consumidor final é algo tão distante e inacessível, no entanto, essa distância deixou de existir em um ato simples, mas impactante: descrever os sentimentos. Os clientes do Origo deixaram mensagens para Yuki em cartões postais, onde compartilharam suas experiências, sensações e lembranças sobre o café dela e vice-versa.

Um deles mexeu direto com as emoções, pois dizia que o café da fazenda Olhos d’água despertava memórias sensoriais ligadas à natureza e ao sentimento de contemplação. Se isso não é sagrado, nada mais é.

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Fica a reflexão de que o Norte a se seguir é aquele que une e aproxima as pessoas, café é sagrado como são as memórias e as experiências trocadas. Muita gratidão por esse deleite e carinho no coração.

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October 1st: International Coffee Day

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COFFEE IS MORE THAN CONNECTION IS CONTACT.

Coffee is more than connection, it’s contact. Before becoming a beverage it’s a flower, a fruit and a bean. It’s life that encompasses other lives.

It sounds too poetic, but the development of this culture is poetry itself:

“Flowering is the most important phase of coffee, at this time each branch of the plant becomes a jasmine-scented white bouquet. The flowers bloom in one morning, grouped in a small bundle ... ”From the flower comes the bean.

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Every year on October 1st, the world gathers to celebrate coffee, but for us coffee lovers, every day is its day. The act of drinking coffee is so natural - in the sense of tradition - that sometimes we forget that it is a ritual that is part of human nature, and carries different contexts and meanings since its discovery.

The history of coffee began in the nineth century, it originates from the highlands of Ethiopia (possibly with crops in Sudan and Kenya) and it has spread to the world through Egypt and Europe.
Coffee in Palestine 1900. Stereoscopic image of Keystone View Company.

Coffee in Palestine 1900. Stereoscopic image of Keystone View Company.

Note that we live around tables, and coffee is present when you wake up, when you work - the warriors' drink - it precedes meetings, make business works, comforts on cold days, wakes up on hot days, it is also a grandma's treat, a laugh among friends, a long hug, and more than that, it's talk and it's silence.

Thus, coffee is art, history and culture. Awakening pleasure, whether in a porcelain cup or an American cup, the secret is love, ‘cause we all know that magic lies in simple things in life.

Allegory of Peace and Happiness Of The State, by Nina Beier

Allegory of Peace and Happiness Of The State, by Nina Beier

We take great pride in being part of the coffee chain, and we want more and more tighten ties - from producers to consumers - and for all relationships around this plant to be balanced and happy.

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ps. Yes, it's not just us humans who enjoy this drink, bees are also addicted to coffee. Pure honey, isn't it ?! LOL...

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It's all about sharing magic experiences.

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AEQUITAS COFFEE CONNECTIONS

One of Aequitas' main goals is to foster connection and strengthen ties in the coffee chain, from production to the market. It is to bring those who are far away, near, and together get to know the story not only of coffees, but of those who produced it.

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For us, specialty coffee is more than just a product, it's a lifestyle that carries a story in every bean, so showing to the world “how” and “where” they are produced is a way to share the magic around this universal drink.

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To that end, we were pleased to welcome and guide the visit of ZAB CAFE a roaster from Montreal - Canada and the importer CROP TO CUP, New York - United States, represented by the dear ones: Sam, Edwin, Simon and Maya.

In addition to the experience of exchanging knowledge and flavors, they came looking for new and different coffees; different because special, new because the world of coffee is a ceaseless pursuit and improvement.

This is how together we embarked on an adventure into the Cerrado Mineiro Region. We visited farms, met producers, exchanged experiences, tasted coffee and local food, because in each corner we were greeted with a banquet and cuddle from Minas Gerais people.

Along with field visits, we promote chats between producers and the visitors in the cities of São Gotardo, Monte Carmelo and Serra do Salitre, all of them with the purpose of teaching and learning. In a relaxed atmosphere followed by a good old beer and barbecue, we all felt grateful and connected.

We also had the opportunity to meet a 91-year-old producer, Mr. Jose Marson, who still produces coffee and his own wine. We were all impressed by the liveliness, joy and peace in which he lives with his wife on the farm. Of course we tasted his wine, and I'm sure it was a very special time for them as well as it was for us.

Knowing where coffee comes from and how it is brewed arouses passion, and a new look borns into what was once just a drink, and now it is sacred. Okay, coffee connects people because there's so much love involved.

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Gratitude to this meeting and we will continue sharing and discovering worlds to cheer up the spirits and scare away sleep and monotony with coffee.

Photos by Sam, from ZAB CAFE.