Spella's Roaster Visits João Marcos: 2026 Crop

Spella’s Head Roaster, Chelsea (overalls), visiting Joào Marcos (Espresso) on a trip with Atlas Importers.

João Marcos Espresso

Coffees arrive at our roastery as green beans in burlap sacks— with their arrival comes stories that stay with us forever.

João Marcos Espresso is one of our most treasured coffees — a living legacy we are deeply honored to share with you, and a personal connection you taste in every cup. 

This beloved crop returns this year not simply as a seasonal offering; it is the continuation of a longstanding relationship rooted in land, family, tradition, and a shared devotion to craft. Andrea Spella met João years ago and instantly fell in love with this wonderful family’s legacy through the coffee they carefully curate and produce. Read more about Andrea’s adventures here.

Roaster’s Journey into the Heart of Brazil

In October 2025, our Head Roaster, Chelsea Blackwell, was sent by Andrea to Brazil to stand on the very soil where this beautiful coffee is grown. What she discovered deepened not only her appreciation for João Marcos, but allowed for firsthand educational experience of João’s coffee from farm to cup. Keep reading to learn more about the land, the people, and Chelsea’s highlights from her journey into the heart of Brazil.

Chelsea ventured to Brazil with Atlas Coffee Importers led by Senior Trader, Evan Stockdale. The journey brought her to Fazenda Santo Antônio and neighboring estates, where she connected with small family farms and larger cooperatives — including the women-led organic producers of COOPFAM, the expansive COCATREL network, and our valued partners at SanCoffee, AFASA, and Santo Antônio Estates.

What left the deepest impression on Chelsea was not the scale of production, but the extraordinary warmth woven throughout the region.

Visitors are not treated as clients. They are received as family guests — welcomed into homes and cupping rooms alike, fed generously, and hosted with thoughtful care.

Here, coffee and hospitality are inseparable!

Campos Das Vertentes

Where Coffee Is Culture

Brazil has led the world in coffee production for more than 150 years, supplying roughly 40 percent of global demand. Yet statistics alone cannot capture the spirit of Campos Das Vertentes in Sul de Minas — the traditional region where João Marcos is grown.

Brazil’s coffee is not a commodity. It is a cultural identity, lifestyle, and legacy. Its foundation is built on family ritual, connection, and a generational commitment to farming in partnership with the land.

Rolling hills unfold in waves of green. Red earth clings to boots. Morning mist lifts from the mountains, revealing meticulous rows of coffee trees stretching toward the horizon. Biodiverse canopies offer protection and ecological balance for both land and community. Generations have cultivated this terrain, their legacy etched into every hillside, terrace, and drying patio.

Fazenda Santo Antônio

Legacy in the Land

João Marcos Botelho is a third-generation grower and Head of Quality Control at SanCoffee, a collective of producers in Campo Das Vertentes. He carries more than a title — he’s rooted in traditional practices honed by decades of family devotion. 

Fazenda Santo Antônio (FSA), named after Saint Anthony, is where the exclusive Topázio varietal for this espresso is grown. The farm is proudly Rainforest Alliance Certified, reflecting its long-standing commitment to biodiversity, environmental stewardship, and careful land management. Natural drying methods honor tradition, and microlots are handled with painstaking attention and integrity.

Chelsea highlighted walking the city streets of São Paulo during a local festival with music and street vendors followed by a visit to a coffee house in the vibrant art zone called Batman Alley.  The venture continued into rural regions laden with breathtaking views of farms flowing over hillsides, orchids and giant monsteras casually growing everywhere. The locals and travelers exchanged stories and lessons learned while standing on drying patios where beans are still carefully turned by hand. Chelsea toured warehouses and production facilities where innovation meets craftsmanship, and joyfully participated in generously curated cuppings — slow, intentional evaluations, engaging all the senses, and honoring the immense work behind every harvest.

As she returns to Rosie the Roaster, placing her hands in each batch, she now carries with her the memory of the hands that held the beans first.

Everywhere she went, one theme remained constant: excellence without ego. Precision without haste. People and promise before profit. Land, history, and hope held together in every harvest.

Women at the Table

At one of the smaller farms, COOPFAM, Chelsea witnessed something especially powerful — the visible leadership and ownership women hold within the coffee process. Meeting João’s wife and daughter, who share his deep commitment to the farm, felt like sitting with both the present and future heart of the harvest.

While women have always been essential behind the scenes, cooperatives like COOPFAM and programs like Nascentes at SanCoffee actively support training, empowerment, and leadership in production and quality control. Chelsea was humbled to participate in a panel of women reflecting on the beauty and challenges of female leadership and presence in the coffee industry; a global industry still visibly dominated by men. It struck Chelsea’s core sitting alongside these women… Women are not auxiliary to the system — they are foundational to it.

Seeing this firsthand reinforced something Chelsea has long embodied in her own leadership: when more voices are honored at the table, the coffee becomes richer — not only in flavor, but in meaning and influence. As the heart of our roasting operations, she understands the responsibility and impact of her role- not only as a leader, but as a craftswoman with deep insights through skilled experience. She displays dignity, capability, creativity, and longevity in the field paving the way for other female roasters here at home. To see that same reality reflected at origin deepened her sense of connection and gratitude as she walked confidently into her future back at Spella.

Two Artisans, One Craft and Calling to Connect

When Chelsea and João Marcos cupped coffee together, there was a palpable respect and recognition between them felt in the room.

Both approach their craft with passion, deep emotion, and precision. Both care immensely about every detail that supports the greater vision of quality and connection. They understand that coffee is never just about the product or the tasting notes — it is about honoring and lifting up every hand and heart that shapes the journey from seed to cup.

They spoke of process, risk, and trust. Of stewardship. Of the responsibility of guiding something fragile and extraordinary through each stage of its transformation.

There was a deep mutual respect that’s hard to express in mere words- but we know you will feel and taste it in Chelsea’s roasts.

Chelsea has always valued the many hands our coffee passes through before reaching your cups. But standing together on the farm, placing faces to names and stories, transformed respect into personal relationships.

We are nothing without the farmers. They are the foundation of everything we do in our roasting and bean to cup process.

Note from the Roaster

“To be a coffee roaster is to carry the weight of trust from the farmers because you are quite literally caring for the fruit of their labor. My trip to Brazil really brought the full scope of the whole coffee operation into view. My biggest takeaways revolve around connection, humanity, and a reinforced gratitude for the people behind the beans. The legacy of coffee in Brazil is something to marvel at in that whole communities have been created and brought together through coffee. The feelings of passion and tradition are palpable because people have been doing this for many generations. It’s this lineage that’s makes me want to uplift and amplify their product to the best of my ability. We encountered so much kindness and generosity, which was humbling, to say the least. To be able to meet Joao, sit at his table, and drink coffee he made for us was unbelievably meaningful because at the end of the day, coffee is about connecting people. We’re all pieces of this greater coffee puzzle and when we come together, we create an image that transcends language and borders. It’s an honor to have met Joao and to continue roasting his coffee, and hopefully the reverence for this bean translates to the final cup.”

~Chelsea Blackwell

Head Roaster / Roastery Manager

A Complete Cup

While our espresso program often features blends, this year’s João Marcos crop is so harmoniously structured that it stands beautifully and powerfully on its own.

Rich and full-bodied, it offers notes of drinking chocolate layered with starfruit and a subtle spark of black pepper. A refined minerality runs through the cup — expressive yet grounded.

As espresso, it pours with velvety crema and a dessert-like depth, embodying the complexity we seek in a traditional Italian-style profile.

It also shines as a Moka pot, Melitta pour-over, or Aeropress, each method revealing new dimensions of its character.

When Chelsea tastes it now, she doesn’t just taste chocolate and star fruit. She remembers the red earth beneath her feet, the rhythm of the people, the sounds of the land and culture, the unforgettable faces of the farmers, and the laughter and camaraderie shared over meals.

João Marcos is rich and full-bodied with smooth and buttery crema and gorgeous minerality— it evokes the sweetness of drinking chocolate balanced perfectly with notes of Carambola (star fruit) and a pinch of black pepper.

A Global Family

Coffee is more than a product. It breeds connection, history, community, and legacy.

From Santo Antônio do Amparo to our flagship caffè, João Marcos Espresso carries the imprint of every heart and hand involved in its journey — and the resilience of families who have cultivated this land for generations.

We are honored to serve João Marcos Espresso in place of our Signature espresso at our caffè downtown until this beloved limited crop is gone.

For an especially indulgent experience, pair it with our Stracciatella or Nocciola gelato — the combination is truly transportive.

This coffee began as a seed in Brazilian soil.

Now it is part of our shared story.

We can hardly wait for you to taste it!

Squisito!

Who is ready for a João affogato?

João Marcos Espresso pairs perfectly with Pronto Gelato’s Stracciatella and Nocciola served in our caffè. João is available at our Alder Street Caffè behind the bar and retail bags beginning 2/16, and sold online starting 2/13!