Crown Jewel Colombia Circasia Edwin Noreña Triple-Anaerobic and Galaxy Hop Co-Fermented Pink Bourbon CJ1551

Taste

Taste Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Our favorite alchemist, Edwin Noreña is back with this coffee that is as playful as it is meticulous. “IPA processing” a term devised by Noreña, is the process of adding Galaxy hops to the anaerobic fermentation of coffee. In this version of a Pink Bourbon variety it has turned into an explorative, but not overwhelming cup.  

The base of this coffee is full of tootsie roll, rose, raspberry jam, cherry juice, caramel, and black tea. Extremely silky and soft on the palate with overtones of the profile leaning towards champagne-like, orange zest, ginger, and a touch of pine. The pine flavor comes off a bit like menthol in its refreshing and light aftertaste. While the base remains a bit mellow and deliciously sweet the processing flavors are clear but not meant to take over completely.  

On espresso, this style might remain in the realm for those who like things a little wild. On pour-over, however, I’m convinced that although it is easily identifiable as not-your-average coffee you can get any coffee lover to appreciate this cup.  

Source

Source Analysis by Charlie Habegger 

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 Pink Bourbon microlot was processed using three distinct fermentations and the addition of Galaxy hops, which give the final coffee a candy-like structure and flavors of lychee, rose, pear, and anise.  

Quindío Department and Finca Campo Hermoso 

For such a naturally gifted department as Quindío, it tends to receive less recognition than others for its coffee. Quindío is Colombia’s second-smallest department by size, making up only about 0.2% of the national territory. It’s location, however, right on the central cordillera of Colombia’s vast Andes divide, and centrally between the country’s largest and most influential cities (Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali), give it a high volume of tourist traffic, coffee industry, airline commuters, and idyllic getaways in the form of brightly painted mountain towns, natural reserves, and high elevation tropical landscapes throughout. Almost the entire department is mountainous, its lowest elevations still over 1000 meters, and many parts are dense with coffee plantations, from the small to the large and ambitious. 

Finca Campo Hermoso is a 15-hectare farm outside of Circasia, only a few kilometers north of Quindío’s capital city Armenia. Its owner, Edwin Noreña, is an agro-industrial engineer by trade with graduate-level studies in biotechnology. Edwin is a well-connected and highly aspirational coffee producer who focuses on cultivating very specific varieties paired with very specific processing methods designed to express the most surprising, memorable, and delicious coffees possible within his resources. Finca Campo Hermoso concentrates on growing a wide variety of coffee cultivars, including Pink & Yellow Bourbon, Yellow Caturra, Bourbon Sidra, Gesha, and Cenicafé 1, a resistant hybrid developed by Cenicafé, Colombia’s national coffee research institute. The resulting coffees are often marketed under “El Alquimista”, Edwin’s personal brand for his microlots, which have featured in barista competitions and choosy roasters around the world (and Royal Coffee’s own inventory from time to time). 

Edwin is a third-generation coffee grower. Processing, particularly the fermentation step, always interested him because of its potential to transform raw coffee seeds into a remarkably unique sensory experience for coffee drinkers. A breakthrough moment for him was realizing that the sugary, residual liquid produced during whole cherry fermentation could be used again in subsequent fermentations to add natural sugars, and also serve as a solvent for flavoring agents. Over the years Edwin has used chiles, ginger, various fruits, and, in this case, brewers hops to develop unique flavors in his microlots. 

“IPA” Processing 

Edwin’s processing for this particular lot involves a three-step fermentation, followed by raised bed drying. The first is a kind of pre-fermentation in cherry, just after picking, and lasts 32 hours, allowing the fruit to soften and the sugars to peak. The fermented cherry is then depulped and the parchment is fermented in an open tank for another 32 hours. Once the parchment fermentation is complete, the parchment is moved to an anaerobic (oxygen deprived) tank where it is combined with the sticky, sugary runoff from the first whole cherry fermentation (a process known as “back slopping”), as well as galaxy hops, and ferments again for 32 hours in this final environment. Once all fermentations are complete the coffee is sundried on raised beds for 10-15 days. 

The fully dried coffee is conditioned for 8 days in a warehouse, allowing for humidity to stabilize inside the seeds, and then moved into GrainPro bags for long-term storage, where it is cupped numerous times over the next few weeks for quality analysis. 

Oxygen-deprived, or “anaerobic” fermentation environments like the above have gained traction among processing wonks in coffee for the unique flavors and tanginess they can add, as well as creating exaggerated lactic- or phosphoric-like characteristics in the cup compared to what we’re used to. Edwin, by investing in his processing knowhow, and in this case, a drive for flavor enhancement, is able to produce a wide variety of cup profiles from a small parcel of land, further expanding cuppers’ expectations of Quindío coffees and evolving the standards of his peers, not to mention boosting the notoriety of Campo Hermoso and the 30 families that contribute work to the farm. 

Green

Green Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Considering the name alone, one might expect the green specs of this coffee to be slightly wonky. You won’t find this to be true with the watchful eye of Edwin Noreña. As experimental as he is meticulous, the flavor is out of this world (in a hopped galaxy, perhaps?), and the green specs are in ideal ranges.  

A standard density range and water activity range paired with high cup quality reflects the work Noreña, and his team have put into the coffee. The moisture content is only a little above average and the combined standard specs a roaster should be able to figure out what suits this coffee best with ease. 

Diedrich IR-5

Diedrich IR-5 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

We are starting the year with both delicate and tasty coffees, now with a Colombia Pink Bourbon. I have roasted a co-fermented coffees from Edwin Noreña, a Colombian coffee producer who make incredible tasting coffees with amazing fermentation techniques.  

I looked for around 10 minutes of roast, a little long drying stage with air, long yellowing, and a minute and a half of development. 

Charge the coffee at 400.9F with 50% airflow. I highly recommend starting with air, as I notice it will help with the finished taste. This was my first batch of the day and being this a low-density coffee, I wait to read the turning point temperature to decide how much gas to apply.  

I was expecting to run a little fast since I warmed the drum for about 50 minutes; usually, I get it a little extra hot. The turning point was marked at 182.2F and I decided to add 70% of the gas. My gas inputs were simple, just leave the gas for 4 1/2 minutes and drop to the lowest flame which is 30%. The yellowing started at 303F, and the roast went smoothly during Maillard, reaching the first crack with a rate of change of 14 degrees per minute. I forgot to mark the 100% air at first crack but that is my automatic next move to clean out the drum from smoke during development, but I am sure I did it. I got a nice development of 1:22 and dropped the coffee with a temperature marking 400.9F exactly my charge temperature.  

Nailed the roasting plan! As soon I ground some beans to run the color track the aroma was showing great. On the cupping table coffee was well-rounded, with the clean herbal of the hops, chamomile, rose, and black tea. On the sweetness, hard candy, bubble gum raspberry jam, and cherry cola, on acidity I was having a tasty cranberry juice and a sweet pink grapefruit. As is noticed by the tasting notes, the complexity of flavors is surrounded by the excellent quality of the beans, it is a well-processed co-fermented coffee, and its deliciousness starts form the hot cup, and you can enjoy it till long after cools down. Edwing Noreña did it again! 

Aillio Bullet R1

Aillio Bullet R1 IBTS Analysis by Evan Gilman 

Unless otherwise noted, we use both the roast.world site and Artisan software to document our roasts on the Bullet. You can find our roast documentation below, by searching on roast.world, or by clicking on the Artisan links below.  

Generally, we have good results starting our 500g roasts with 428F preheating, P6 power, F2 fan, and d6 drum speed. Take a look at our roast profiles below, as they are constantly changing! 

Pink Bourbon coffees have quickly become a favorite around these parts, and for good reason. We’ve had successive arrivals of stunning, crisp, sweet, and juicy coffee — all with the Pink Bourbon name attached. Today’s offering adds a little extra verve into the mix, having been cofermented with Galaxy hops. For all of you who aren’t beer heads, Galaxy is a very rare hop with extreme levels of Alpha Acid (one component of hops that gives them their signature bitterness) essential oils, and terpenoids (which contribute many of the ‘top notes’ in beer when hops are added later in the boil). In particular, Galaxy hops tend to have higher concentrations of such prized terpenoids as linalool, geraniol, and Rare varieties of both coffee and hops? Turns out 2+2 does indeed equal 5 in this case! 

I started off my roast at P9 power and F2 fan as usual, and set to P8 power and F3 fan at what I deemed to be peak rate of change. Yellowing happened quite rapidly on this coffee, and I reduced power further to P7 at 3:30 / 322F to begin the gentle trajectory into first crack. This had an immediate effect, and I didn’t make further adjustments until just before first crack (F4 fan) and just after (P6 power). The rate of change trended very gently downward from 4 minutes onward, and I dropped this batch at 8:47 / 402F with plenty of time spent in Maillard, and just a touch over 13% of time spent in post-crack development.  

This coffee absolutely flipped lids. Undeniable hops, huge cocoa, and a tart plum and apple acidity really gave this coffee dimension beyond the hops. This coffee is no gimmick, and really rewards the adventurous taster. Get on top of these hops before they pop off (the menu)!  

You can follow along with my roast here at roast.world: https://roast.world/egilman/roasts/IPj6OU8eV-Q05WMvqNB8A 

Ikawa Pro V3

Ikawa Pro V3 Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Our current Ikawa practice compares two sample roast profiles, originally designed for different densities of green coffee. The two roasts differ slightly in total length, charge temperature, and time spent between color change in first crack. You can learn more about the profiles here. 

A little silly, a little fun, but well thought out. You get the best of both worlds from this galaxy hopped Pink Bourbon. On the cupping table we initially got notes of ripe berries, orange zest, cranberry, grapefruit, black tea, slight hops and bubble gum.  

On the low-density roast of this coffee, I was surprised by how aromatic this cup was in comparison to the high-density roast. I got lots of lime notes, apricot and coriander. It had some sweet herbal notes that kept things super interesting, and I kept on going back for more to see what was going on.   

The high-density roast was a little toasty and thin. I would liken this coffee to cacao nib or chocolate covered hops. It had a lot of zest but was lacking in body.   

I recommend trying this out using our low-density profile for best results. This aligns nicely with Doris’ results on her production roast. Either way, you are bound to have fun exploring what this galaxy has to offer (ha!). 

You can roast your own by linking to our profiles in the Ikawa Pro app here: 

Roast 1: Low Density Sample Roast 

Roast 2: High Density Sample Roast   

Brew

Brew Analysis by Joshua Wismans 

The bullseye of brewing co-fermented coffees, at least here at The Crown, is balance. With a wild world of new flavors to explore in this innovative process, we are still searching for harmony in all components of flavor. This was my true north for approaching this exciting “IPA Process” coffee from our friend Edwin Noreña.

Anaerobic and co-fermented coffees are never short on flavor, and my instinct was to “clean” up the profile by using the V60. From previous experience I also brought the dose down slightly and used a finer grind. This recipe highlighted the citric acidity of the Pink Bourbon and showcased the hops. I found myself coming back to that true north of ‘balance’ however, and wanted to find more sweetness and body to round out a coffee with plenty of high-end. 

For my second brew, I switched to a flat-bottom brewer to help round out the mouthfeel and flavor profile.  Keeping the ratio the same but making the grind a bit finer, I found that I was on the trail to what I was looking for. This brew tamed some of the grapefruit acidity of the last brew and brought forth a bit more Meyer lemon, coriander, and brown sugar. The pine-like profile from the process was rounded out to a sweeter more citrus like hops, maybe even a bit more marijuana-esque (the fruity stuff, not the skunky kind). 

Pursuing this direction further, and realizing this coffee may blossom at a higher TDS, I made the grind even finer and upped the dose slightly.  Pouring quickly, this brew resulted in a TDS of 1.41 at 2:45. As an observational sidenote, I’ve noticed a lot of anaerobic coffees brew fairly quickly. The resulting cup was exactly what I was hoping to find in this coffee: more toffee like sweetness, an intriguing and tasteful amount of hops and marijuana, delicate black tea, and beaming sweet citrus acidity. Balance. 

For this coffee we recommend a flat-bottom brewer, a fine grind, a moderate dose, and quick pour. Shoot for a TDS slightly on the higher end. Enjoy! 

Espresso

Espresso Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano  

On the cupping table this coffee is full of flavor, to say I was a little unsure about trying it on espresso is an understatement.  

With the coffee approaching roughly 10 days off roast I figured it would be best to start in the middle of the road at 18g in 36g out and hit the 27 second range. My second shot came out at exactly 27 seconds and I would designate this as our “spro bro” recipe. It is the for the coffee nerd that wants to try the weird the wild and the crazy and they want the taste to match. We got lots of notes of lemon zest, grapefruit, caramel, and warhead-like sour candy punch. Leaning on the side of pithy and pungent is sure to grab anyone’s attention and cause a rift between those that love it or hate it.  

I played with this 18g dose a little more and when it hit the 31 second range, it really hit the sweet spot for me. This would go under our “approachable but still noticeably-very-cool” recipe.  Getting the time range a touch longer allowed this coffee to have a bit more sweetness like dark caramel and honeycomb that kept the coffee a bit more balanced. There is still lots of lemon in the form of Meyer lemon and some fresh herbal notes like mint and basil on the aroma. This recipe is ideal for those who want an espresso as-is but it would also be delicious with the addition of any milk of choice.  

Lastly, we have a dial at 19g in 38 out which is a little bit fuller and good for those who want an interesting addition to their classic milk drink. I call this the “good-with-milk” recipe. Highly aromatic, fuller with a touch of spice and sweetness. Think caramel, cardamom, jalapeno, powdered baking spices and jasmine.  

I played with a 17.5g dose a little bit and my recommendation is to stay away from the lower dose range (at least at 10 days off). The body was lacking anything interesting, and all of the substance dissipated. This coffee can easily teeter on the side of pithy when under extracted so I highly recommend sticking to the 18g-19g range. Happy tasting!