Free Coffee Tastings in São José on Saturday, and It Is Not the São José You Think

Brazil hosts at least three Sao Joses, but the free coffee tasting event taking place on Saturday, 22 August, is not in São José dos Campos or São José dos Pinhais. This is São José in Santa Catarina, located in the Kobrasol district on the mainland side of Florianópolis. The event runs from 9 am to 4 pm at the Fort Atacadista, situated at Rua Cassol 1199.

The festival, now in its second edition, is a wholesaler's in-store event featuring coffee tastings and a recipe workshop by chef Mauri Miranda. As São José does not grow coffee at any scale, the event capitalizes on the region's strong coffee consumption market. Consumer-facing coffee events in Brazil have recently moved towards the south, where the audience for specialty coffee has grown rapidly.

Tastings of different coffees aim to help attendees notice the differences between varieties, rather than identifying a single favorite. Upon arrival, visitors should follow the same temperature and order for each tasting, refraining from adding sugar until the end. Arriving early is recommended, as the event tends to draw larger crowds in the late morning when tasting stations may run out.

Kobrasol, the commercial heart of São José, is located directly across the bridges from Florianópolis. The Fort Atacadista, where the event is held, is conveniently accessible via a short drive or bus ride from central Florianópolis. With over 250,000 residents and functioning as a single urban region with the capital, São José is easily reachable for visitors on the island.

For those outside Brazil, similar events have been occurring in Colombia, where the producing country has been gradually learning to appreciate and consume its own high-quality coffee.