Crown Jewel Colombia Circasia Edwin Noreña Watermelon Coferment

Taste

Taste Analysis by Chris Kornman 

Royal Coffee’s cofounder, Robert Fulmer, is softspoken and can (but often opts not to) command the attention of a room. I’m fortunate to have shared more than a few cuppings in his presence and from each one I walked away with the sense that I’d been gifted something which I hadn’t brought to the table. 

I unfortunately missed the arrival cupping of this coffee at Royal’s Emeryville office, where Bob convened with Amanda Amato (who, among other roles, is the primary contact with Mastercol, through whom we source Edwin Norena’s coffees) and Charlie Habegger (who, among other roles, helps place coffees like this with our roasting customers) to cup this coffee and its companions. But reading their notes, I can imagine a little of what it must’ve been like to sit in that room and discuss this highly unconventional, thoroughly unique coffee. 

“This is about creativity,” writes Bob, “technique, and intention, resulting in a coffee that tastes like a Jolly Rancher explosive melon candy. Very fun and interesting. 87 points.” 

I’m not sure exactly what I expected as a reaction to this ridiculous coffee, from the man who once answered a question about what coffee he would be reincarnated as with the phrase, “Yemen Mocca Sanani, roasted full city, made fresh and strong,” but I’m sure it wasn’t what I got. 

Bob’s assessment, of course, is spot on. This coffee is fun, interesting, and tastes exactly like watermelon candy. It is process and cofermentation forward in a creative, intentional way that is both obvious and intriguing. It is the closest coffee I’ve ever tasted to whatever is inside the Kool-aid man. (Oh yeah!) 

It is not subtle, and it does not masquerade. It will certainly capture your attention, and will surely divide your cupping teams and customers into two distinct groups: those who can’t get enough, and those who don’t like it but “get it” and go back for another sip as they say so. 

Source

Source Analysis by Charlie Habegger 

Edwin Noreño 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 microlot was processed using three distinct fermentations and the addition of a custom fermentation solution packed with fresh and dried fruit to infuse the parchment coffee. The resulting fruit flavors in the cup are intense and literal, very candy-like, and unlike any other coffee in the world. 

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. Its 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 agroindustrial 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 bourbon, 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 and agricultural engineer. 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 co-fermented with chilis, ginger, brewers hops, and, in this case fresh and dehydrated fruit, to develop unique flavors in his microlots. 

Mossto Nitro Watermelon Honey Process 

You know you’re writing about a complicated process when you need to start with an abstract. Here goes. Edwin’s processing for this particular lot involved three distinct fermentations: one of purely fresh whole coffee cherries; a second “classic washed” fermentation of depulped parchment; and a final fermentation of the parchment submerged in a carefully formulated solution of coffee cherry must (a biproduct of the first fermentation) and a cocktail of fresh and dehydrated fruit. Each stage adds a particular twist to the sweetness and acid character. The final fermentation really seems to have turned the fruit up to 11. 

The first fermentation was with fresh coffee cherry only, carefully hand-sorted for ripeness and consistency, washed clean, and immediately moved into sealed tanks to ferment for 96 hours. During this first fermentation the fruit becomes dramatically softer, sweeter, and more acetic, while also leaching out a concentrated sticky, sugary runoff, or “must”, not unlike the must from freshly smashed grapes and skins in winemaking.  

After the first 96 hours were complete, the fermented cherry was depulped and moved back into the tanks for 48 hours. A classic anaerobic “fully washed” fermentation. During this time, the must runoff from the cherry fermentation was also fermented, on its own, and infused with fresh and dehydrated fruits, creating an intense flavoring solution for the final fermentation stage. 

The final fermentation was of the parchment coffee, submerged 30% in the lacto-fermented coffee-fruit must, for 48 hours. Once this was complete the parchment was moved directly to raised beds in Edwin’s solar dryer, where it dried for 10 days. 

The fully dried coffee is then 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. 

Edwin used high quality cultivars here but still very common ones—Castillo is a government-created resistant hybrid with a checkered reputation for quality, red bourbon is a well-known standard, and pink bourbon is starting to have a unique following but is still widely grown with mixed results. The arabica genetics themselves are not exotic to Colombia. Rather, the exaggerated character here is in the husbandry of the trees, the harvesting, precise blend of the different cherries, and of course the very exacting processing approach created entirely by Edwin. The result is no mistake; it’s a celebration of the wacky and gorgeous spectrum of sweetness in Colombia’s natural landscape. It’s not for everybody, but for some it’s a step beyond what we imagined possible—and delicious—in coffee processing. 

Green

Green Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Edwin is back and with a collection of new lots and new cofermented coffees to showcase. A balanced of playfulness and precision, as wild as this coffee is, it is not one to miss out on.  

First thing you’ll notice about the coffee is the distinct smell, it is a fruity bubblegum bomb even in it’s unroasted form. Density sits well below average a surprising twist for a cofermented coffee and a Colombian coffee. A mix of Castillo, Caturra and Pink Boubon; all very common cultivars for the Hulia region.  

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon with average yields and cup quality. Castillo was created in a lab in Colombia in the 80’s, with the goal to improve leaf rust resistance. It took 23 years to improve the genetic inheritance of this coffee and it was finally released in 2005. Pink Bourbon is all the rage these days in the specality coffee world. The cherries when ripe are pink and have a distcintive flavor profile. You might think that is from the Bourbon cultivar but in fact, it is likely to have come from an Ethiopian landrace cultivar.  

Diedrich

Diedrich IR5 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

There was a hard sugar candy that used to have the shape and artificial flavor of watermelon with chamoy. Chamoy is a type of syrup made from dried fruits, sugar, tamarind, and chilli peppers which I enjoyed as a child growing up in Mexico. I’m glad I didn’t develop diabetes back then, because that’s the sensation I get whenever I taste co-fermented coffees that are extremely sweet. This is the case with this incredible coffee; to me it tastes like chamoy. 

Roasting this coffee took me 10 minutes, which explains its extreme sweetness. I anticipated this since the green beans already exhibited a sweet aroma. I would say that the coffee absorbs heat easily and quickly, so I was careful in managing the heat. I started with a charge temperature of 400F and finished the roast at the same temperature. 

To control the roast speed, I usually wait until the turning point. In this case, the coffee reached it at 175F prompting me to use 70% gas. I aimed to extend the drying phase, which allowed me to get close to 5 minutes. I maintained this gas level for about 3 minutes before reducing it to 30%. Gas adjustments were straightforward, simply turning the pilot off a few seconds before ending the roast.  

For airflow, I started with half of it in the first minute and increased to full airflow just after the first crack. The yellowing phase lasted 3:47 minutes, and post development 1:18 minutes. The aroma was pervasive even before grinding I have to mention, on the cupping table we noted flavors among of course the watermelon, roasted pineapple, gummy candy, jolly ranchers, fig jam, grape juice, and my favorite chamoy de fresa. 

This coffee makes me curious about how flavors will evolve with different roasting approaches. I am eager to explore, especially because Edwin Noreña is a benchmark for high-quality coffees so I am confident in experimenting.   

Aillio

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! 

Watermelon is always a divisive note in coffee, but when it’s in the very description, you should know what you’re in for. In this case the note is spot on, and if you were looking for watermelon here you shouldn’t be disappointed.  

Let me preface the below by stating that melon is one of my favorite flavors. Having two of my favorite flavors purportedly combined in one product is certainly something to look forward to all week. So, when I approached the roaster, I was ready to be stunned. Even the green smells like watermelon! 

I started my roast off with 446F charge temperature, P8 power, and F2 fan. My drum speed of D4 on this roast was a litte slower than usual, but I was ready to induce some caramelization with more drum contact since I knew this coffee has plenty of top notes to go around. I quickly adjusted my heat application downwards to P7 upon reaching turning point, and increased fan speed to F3. As the roast progressed, this coffee did want to take off on its own a bit, as Doris mentions above. Anticipating the traditional pre-crack spike in rate of change, I reduced heat application and increased fan speed at about 5:30 / 355F. This tempered the spike a bit, and I waited until first crack to increase fan speed to the final F5. This was a faster roast, ending at 8:20 / 397.5, but I wanted it to really pop in the cup. Soda pop, that is.  

And talk about pop. Faygo pineapple watermelon. Juicy juice. If you weren’t having fun before drinking this coffee, you certainly are afterwards! There’s really not much more I can say that does justice to the bright playfulness of this coffee, and I’d recommend simply having a cup yourself. 

This of course would play best in a pourover drip, but the wild at heart and weird on top might enjoy the espresso preparation method. Carry it on your menu, and drink it as a symbol of your individuality, and your belief in personal freedom.  

IKAWA

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. 

When it comes to cofermented coffees we have found that there is a lot of leeway roasting. It’s such high intervention processing that it’s a bit hard to mess up.   

I think this is the first time I’ve said this during an ikawa analysis, but both of the high density and low density coffees were pretty much identical. I can’t say which one is better or worse. It goes to show if you go out on a limb buying this coffee, you should have no trouble roasting it.  

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 Katie Briggs 

Wow, this really pushes the boundaries on what you think coffee can taste like. It’s bright and juicy but packs a punch with a wild candylike watermelon flavor that really steals the show. Whether you’re super into this candy like coffee or just appreciate the innovation when it comes to processing, this coffee is a standout. Here are a couple brews I did to see what we could get out of it on pour over. 

I started on the V60 cone brewer with a dose of 19g of coffee. I ground it at a 9.5. I did an initial pulse of 50g of water and let it bloom for 40s. I then brought the water up to 200g, and then to 300g for the final pulse. As the first brew and taste of this coffee, we were all surprised at just how strong of a flavor it had. Bright notes of watermelon jolly rancher, lemon zest, and hibiscus. Honestly a really nice brew, but I wanted to coarsen the grind a bit to try and balance out the flavors. 

I did two more brews on the V60 cone brewer, one at a 10.5 grind and the other at an 11.5 grind. I did the same water pulses and bloom for both. These brews were very nice! They both still had that candylike watermelon flavor, coarsening the grind brought out a bit more floral notes, with some sweet strawberry as well. I think either of these would be a great brew. I think a coarser grind and cone brewer work well. 

Whatever way you brew this coffee up, it will have that distinct watermelon candy flavor. Super bright and sweet and fun. I think it would make a great flash brew or iced coffee in the summer!