I wouldn't bother. FWIW I like my coffee dark and strong without sugar. Have found the supermarket brands mentioned above to be dark and bitter i.e. need sugar. Typically I'll bring down a pack of Starbucks Dark French Roast or some Java to brew at home when going to Brasil. If I'm out I'll have a cup of espresso at a lanchonete which is okay but nothing special.

If you were in Jamaica by all means stock up on packs of Blue Mountain but not worth a run to Brasil for Pilao etc.

P.S. Hope to see you at Cow Do.

I don't think you understand how pathetic most widely-available coffees are in Argentina. Even the more "premium" brands without the toasted sugar "filler." And if you want to splurge on Starbucks (which is a last resort coffee back home, but here, it is almost a treat), then you'll pay a fair chunk more for the same stuff than you would in the US.

That's actually how people like coffee here. Putting sugar or sweetener is a must. Anything else is not coffee for Brazilians.

And I drink the Pilao dark and strong and don't find it bitter. YMMV

Indeed....even a Buenos Aires wine seller I know doesn't seem to understand how awful the over priced coffee is here.

I managed to get some Gimoka Gran Festa coffee beans (Italian import) from the Disco supermarket for 110 pesos a kilo which isn't too bad but not as nice as something the Starbucks French Roast I got in Costco Vancouver last year.

You're right I don't. I live in the Caribbean so US brands dominate. Aside from expensive Blue Mountain I'll take Starbucks French Roast over the likes of Folgers, Maxwell House, Cubita and various flavoured abominations.

Oh I know. Sometimes I see people put so much sugar into their coffee that I wonder whether the cup has got a false bottom. I get enough sugar through the copious amounts of caipirinhas I drink without adding it to my coffee as well.

Given you're Pucci's other half and I enjoy your posts on FT I can bring some decent coffee down if I make the Cow Do. You'll need it if you're listening to me over lunch.

Do you have room for 15 kilos?

Possibly, if I'm going to transport Colombian stimulants into Argentina I may as well do it in bulk.

We'll talk in August if/once I'm confirmed although if our host wants a piece of the action I'll have to accommodate him as well.

^

I'll get the other Irish attendees to bring the tea bags.

Not exactly a must. I do see people drinking coffee without sweetner, but we are definitely in a minority. I've at least learned to know that if I see free coffee, such as in a store or doctor's waiting area, and there's no containers of sweetner sitting with it, it's already sweetened, probably with sugar. I can tolerate almost any coffee in Brazil without sweetener, and never pay the high prices of Starbucks when I'm in the States.

Mrs jbc and I are coffee fanatics, a species that is rare in brazil, but rapidly growing. We have Jura machines (four of them!) that grind the coffee beans directly and search constantly for the best beans. Two of our family members grow coffee commercially, but are of the typical low quality brazilian beans.

really serious coffee drinkers in Brazil often do not use sweeteners, but the ordinary coffee is usually loaded with lots os sugar or sweetener, even more so in major cane producing areas.

The generic Brazilian supermarket coffee brands (e.g. Pil�o, Bom Dia, etc) are fairly low quality and roasted almost as espresso. Most of them have a mixture of arabica and robusta beans. Robusta beans are used worldwide mostly for instant coffee and coffee flavorings. Directly the stuff is unpleasant to drink.

During the last few years there has been a steadily growing trend to producing higher quality and organic coffees in Brazil. There are still few growers that have enough capacity to sell in supermarkets, but the supply is rapidly increasing as new plantations in Rio de Janeiro (reestablished 17-18 century ones, mostly) and Minas Gerais are becoming mature.

Three seriously good, world standard, Brazilian coffees are:

Native Org�nico- this one is distributed nationally in both beans and ground versions and is also sold in some other countries. They also have several non-coffee products. The website is in English and Portuguese. http://www.nativealimentos.com.br/en/

Taeq Org�nico- this is produced for P�o de A��car, a Rio de Janeiro based supermarket chain that is affiliated with Casino of France. Taeq is the Casino house brand and there are a wide variety of high-quality low-price organic products available there.
http://www.taeq.com.br/data/Pages/LU...4941PTBRIE.htm

Verdemar Org�nico Sul de Minas- Verdemar is a small supermarket chain in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. They buy green coffee, roast it in their stores and sell in both in bulk and in prepackaged versions. The Sul de Minas varietal is quite famous in France and italy and is widely available in those countries in high-end coffee sellers. We discovered it in France and it has been our favorite coffee for soem years. Recently Verdemar began selling it.
http://www.pastadellamammaverdemar.com.br/

Beware, if you want excellent Brazilian coffee do not buy the generic supermarket brands that are widely sold. Those have the sole advantage of being cheap, but will disappoint any serious coffee aficionado.

In most high-end Brazilian restaurants the coffee sold will be Nespresso or Illy and will use the worldwide ubiquitous coffee capsules that are very, very good, but imported to Brazil. Illy even has Brazilian coffee exported to Italy, repackaged and exported to Brazil.

Very interesting and informative post jbcarioca. ^

Just remember not to buy it at the airport on your way back! (we're talking arms and legs).

As for brands, I'm convinced the difference in coffee has a lot more to do with how it's brewed.

I've just got back from SE Asia with coffee beans collected from the droppings of weasels and civet cats. Quite what difference passage through a feline alimentary canal makes, I do not know. Though it certainly has an upward push on the price.

If Argentina coffe tastes like sh*t, perhaps they are employing the wrong beasts in the production process