Morettino: the first 100% Italian coffee comes from Sicily

The planet has got so hotter than it is now coffee is produced with excellent results even further north of the Tropics: in Sicily, to be precise, where the historic Palermo roasting company Morettino he has just harvested the fruits of his small plantation started thirty years ago for experimental purposes who, for the first time, have donated a coffee you should not only study but you can also drink. Thus it was born the first coffee grown and processed in Italy.

It is a sweet coffee, with a balanced acidity and a taste never tried: “a coffee native to Sicily of the highest quality, with particular and unique scents, typical of the Sicilian land, such as notes of zibibbo grapes and carob and sweet hints of white pomelia flowers and panela sugar»Say the company’s expert tasters.

HISTORY
Everyone was hoping for it, but perhaps no one believed that 60 Coffea Arabica plants born from seeds donated in the nineties by the Botanical Garden of Palermo, and planted at approx 350 meters above sea level in the hamlet of San Lorenzo ai Colli (in the garden of the company), they could give a coffee like that. This, which is a plantation further north than the typical tropical lands, born from the passion of the founder Arturo Morettino, it was to serve academic purposes only.

NATURAL CULTIVATIONS
In addition, everything happened without the help of chemistry: Morettino plantations are not in greenhouses but in the open air plants grow with exclusively natural methods of cultivation and plant care (technically not yet organic for certification reasons) also to fight dangerous insects such as scale insects. Once ready the drupes (fruit of the coffee plant) come manually harvested between July and September, pulped by hand to extract the beans, then fermented for 48 hours and dried in the sun before being toasted and finished in the cup. A ritual that has been repeated for thirty years but for the small harvest of just 30 kilos in 2021 nature has decided to give a signal.

CLIMATE CHANGE
“We were surprised. The sensory characteristics of this native Sicilian coffee are a unique result»He comments Arturo Morettino, fourth generation of the family of Palermo roasters who this year celebrates a century of history. “We are witnessing severe climate changes that must make us reflect on the present and the future of our land, which has shown signs of intolerance and risks for traditional crops such as citrus fruits, but also unexpected potential as evidenced by the success of tropical fruit cultivation in Sicily such as Sicilian mango, papaya, avocado, kiwi or lychee ».

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FUTURE
Now Morettino wants to turn all this into an opportunity to replicate a model already widespread for some tropical fruits produced in the deep south, often biologically. He wants to understand if and how coffee can be produced on a larger scale also in other lands of Sicily, to offer cups Made in Italy and sustainable not only because they are naturally produced, but also because they shouldn’t travel kilometers before arriving in our homes: for this reason the company is conducting experiments on other terroirs in collaboration with the University of Palermo, the Botanical Garden and specialists in processing processes, and in its Coffee Museum (which is also the first in the world) has just inaugurated the “Mediterranean Food Science and Technology” master’s degree course.

“Our small plot – continues Arturo Morettino – will not change the balance of the world of coffee, but pFor us, this harvest was a signal that we want to turn into an opportunity, making our contribution. We believe in returning to the land, it would also mean giving a future to many young people ». In the gallery above some photos of the Morettino plantations