Colombia Finca Campo Hermoso Quindío Edwin Noreña

Notes: Green apple, jolly rancher, apple, mojito, apple cider

Edwin Noreña is one of Colombia’s true processing obsessives. Known among friends as “El Alquimista” (the alchemist), Edwin has dialed in a wide repertoire of fermentation profiles, often using multiple fermentations in sequence to achieve a desired expression. This honey process microlot was made possible using two careful and distinct full cherry fermentations, the second of which was heavily fortified and infused. The result is a sparkling cup with flavors of citrus soda, lychee, sweetened matcha, and strawberry icing. It’s tart, richly sweet, and with a bit of a greenish bite—lots of personality, lots of energy.

Edwin’s processing for this particular lot involved two distinct whole cherry fermentations, both of which were oxigen-deprived to different degrees. The final fermentation was of the depulped parchment, accompanied by a carefully formulated solution of coffee cherry must (a biproduct of the first fermentation) pure glucose, dried fruit and fresh fruit pulp. Finally, the parchment is moved, un-washed, immediately to raised screen beds to dry, just like a traditional honey would be. Each stage adds a particular bit of uniqueness to the final coffee, so that by the end the coffee is truly one of a kind in the world.

The first two fermentation in this case were with fresh coffee cherry only, carefully hand-sorted for ripeness and consistency, and washed clean. The first fermentation was anaerobic, for 24 hours. The second was fully oxygen-deprived, also known as “carbonic maceration”, and lasted for 48 hours. During fermentations like these the coffee fruit becomes dramatically softer, sweeter, and more acetic, while also leaching out a concentrated sticky, sugary runoff—the mossto, not unlike the must from freshly smashed grapes and skins in winemaking.

After these first fermentations were complete, the fermented cherry was separated from its must and depulped. The must was then fermented on its own, along with brewer’s yeast to inoculate the process and ample quantities of both pure glucose (sugar solution) and fruit juices. The fermented and flavored must was then mixed into the fermentation tank with the parchment coffee, comprising about 30% of the mixture. This final blended co-fermentation lasted 72 hours.