Daterra Masterpieces Auction 2025 - Laurina in the Limelight

On 25 November 2025, Daterra held their annual Masterpieces auction - a highly anticipated event in the specialty coffee calendar, especially amongst low-caf fans. This year’s collection featured 15 lots, including an unusually high proportion of naturally low-caffeine coffees: five Laurina lots and two Aramosa lots. With such a strong focus on low-caf varieties, we picked up a sample set and had importer DR Wakefield bid on our behalf.

In this short note we look at the auction coffees, dive into the history of Laurina at Daterra, discover the advanced processing methods used, and finish with a quick summary of the auction.

This year’s theme celebrated Brazilian folk culture. Each coffee was named after a uniquely Brazilian word that captures a mood or feeling with no direct translation. A couple of our favourite coffees:

• Gandaia – “A wild night out / big party / joyful chaos”
• Bafafa – “A head-turning commotion”

This theme set the tone for the coffees: expressive, characterful, and rooted in Brazilian identity.

Alongside the low-caf selections, the non-low-caf varieties included Geisha, Ethiopian heirlooms (Kaffa and Harar genetic lines), Daterra exclusives such as Ceuci (a selection derived from Arara), and cross-breeds developed with Brazilian agronomic institutions:

• Ouro Amarelo (Mundo Novo × Yellow Caturra)
• Paraiso (Timor Hybrid × Yellow Catuai)

14 of the 15 coffees were processed as naturals using variations of anaerobic fermentation, with one exception: a natural processed with an aerobic fermentation stage. Lot sizes ranged from 48 kg down to just 7 kg - a shift toward smaller, more accessible micro-lots, designed to give more buyers a chance to participate (and increase the price per kg!).

Below are the low-caffeine coffees that were on offer with their processing methods.

The Laurina Journey at Daterra

Laurina is well known for its challenging agronomy and this is highlighted by the long road Daterra have taken with the variety. According to Gabriel Agrelli, Product and Marketing Development Director at Daterra, Daterra began studying Laurina 14 years before they released it commercially, sourcing initial seeds from the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC) and the Illy ‘University of Coffee’ Research Centre. Their aim was to understand whether Laurina could thrive in the Cerrado region's dry, warm climate and maintain its low-caffeine genetics and sensory potential.

Across more than a decade of trials, Daterra planted, observed, re-selected, and replanted different lineages. They also lost a staggering 200 hectares of Laurina while trying to adapt the variety to their terroir. Many trees failed outright; others produced fruit without the intended quality. But persistence paid off. Laurina is now an established part of their offering, and they’ve been selling it for over 10 years.

Why all the effort? Because Laurina offers a distinctly different profile to the normal Brazilian coffee. Rather than the country’s classic chocolate-nut profile, Laurina can show florals, fruity and a lighter more delicate body.

There was a breakthrough moment in 2018, when Emi Fukahori won the World Brewers Cup using a Daterra Laurina, challenging long-held assumptions about Brazilian coffee. Until then, Brazil had rarely been associated with filter coffee competitors; it was seen primarily as an espresso base or blend component.

This year, the yield of Laurina was small, but the quality was exceptional. Small harvests often lead to more concentrated flavour development in the fruit - and this year’s cherries were intensely juicy and complex.

Advanced Processing at Daterra

Across the collection, Daterra showcased a scientific, restrained, and terroir-driven approach to fermentation. Gabriel from Daterra explains their processing philosophy simply – ‘to use processing to unlock the coffee’s existing potential - never to mask it’.

Most of the coffees underwent anaerobic fermentation, a process that encourages:

• enzymatic activity inside the bean,
• controlled microbial interactions, and
• flavour development without excessive boozy or acetic notes.

Daterra’s anaerobic coffees tend to show complexity without funk - avoiding the overripe, winey, or “fermentation-for-fermentation’s-sake” profiles that sometimes dominate anaerobic lots.

Their typical process:

1. Whole ripe cherries are placed into airtight stainless-steel tanks with an airlock.
2. If using selected yeast strains, they are added at this stage.
3. The cherries release CO₂, pushing oxygen out through the airlock.
4. Anaerobic conditions develop naturally within hours.
5. Once fermented, the coffee is dried on raised beds.

Cryo-Anaerobic Fermentation

Some coffees underwent low-temperature fermentation (~5°C) - extending fermentation time while reducing the risk of over-acidic or over-ripe flavours. Slower fermentation = more time for enzymatic reactions = greater complexity.

Selected Yeast & Indigenous Strains

Daterra have spent almost a decade identifying native Brazilian yeasts that complement their coffees. These strains don’t add flavour but control how sugars break down - guiding the expression of fruit, florals, and acidity in a predictable way.

Unique Variations This Year

• Gandaia (Laurina) used a pre-drying phase to concentrate sugars before fermentation.
• Ziriguidum (Laurina) used refrigerated fermentation for deeper, slower flavour development.

These small twists gave each lot a distinct character while staying aligned with Daterra’s philosophy of clarity over hype.

Our Tasting Notes

After cupping all the low-caf lots, two coffees stood out for us:

⭐ Gandaia (Laurina)

This coffee was processed with a low-moisture anaerobic fermentation of 72 hours. This coffee was very floral, with some interesting tasting notes of blueberry, mint and cola, and a juicy body.

⭐ Xodó (Laurina)

This coffee was processed using an anaerobic fermentation of 72 hours with native Brazilian yeast. This coffee was more delicate than Gandaia, we tasted raspberry and grape in the cup with a brighter acidity.

Across all the low-caf lots, what impressed us most was the complexity of the coffees but how they remained somewhat restrained. These were not big, boozy anaerobic coffees. The processing accented the fruit but never overwhelmed the cup. Anyone familiar with Daterra’s low caf reserve (Laurina and Aramosa blend processed naturally) would recognise these coffees as more adventurous iterations.

The Auction

This year’s shift toward smaller lot sizes made the auction more accessible – but also led to higher per kg prices and record prices. Sadly, we were outbid for the four Laurina coffees we were hoping for.

The prices? The Laurina’s sold for between £70/kg -£170/kg.

Despite not ending up with any of the coffee, the experience of tasting them - and understanding the science behind them - has deepened our admiration for Daterra’s approach. We have also been left with 100 grams of each of these rare and wonderful coffees (to keep for future reference, or gift to a very lucky laurina lover?!)

This year’s Masterpieces auction illustrated the power of careful experimentation, storytelling, and an unwavering commitment to quality - even when that means losing 200 hectares and spending 14 years figuring out how to grow one variety.

Explore our naturally low-caf coffees here - they aren't Daterra Masterpieces but we still think they're pretty great!

References:

M-Cultivo Coffee (2025) Daterra | Unlocking the Flavor of Laurina. The Cupping Table podcast, 11 November. (Accessed: 17 November 2025).