We’re pleased to introduce the third edition of our limited release FreeForm Reserve coffees, Colombia Pineapple Express.
FreeForm Reserve is our newest project, an opportunity for us to showcase the finest offerings from innovative coffee producers around the world. For our third release, we’re thrilled to share an experimentally-processed pineapple co-fermented beauty from Colombia.
Flavor Profile
Pineapple Express is sweet and complex with unmistakeable, but not overwhelming, notes of pineapple, lime, and dark chocolate. Given the world-class quality of the coffee and the unique pineapple co-fermented process, we were pleasantly surprised by just how delightfully drinkable we found this incredible coffee to be. Some coffees of this complexity and structure may be a unique sensory experience, but too overwhelming and challenging to the palate to enjoy more than one cup. To the contrary, we find Pineapple Express to be so well produced, balanced, smooth and delicate that it not only presents a novel coffee flavor experience, but also one we could drink all day long.
Given the added effort and expense of anaerobic fermentation, pineapple co-fermentation, limited production, and the lofty price, a producer of a coffee such as this is going to showcase the finest example of their harvest. As such, it’s apparent that even in the absence of these special processing techniques, this coffee would be a stunner; adding anaerobic pineapple co-fermentation just puts this coffee over the top.
If you enjoy experiencing the leading edge of specialty coffee inon action, novel flavor profiles, and fruit-forward coffees, we think you’ll absolutely fall for Colombia Pineapple Express. While this coffee is available, we’ll be offering it as a seasonal pour over at our coffee bar in Sedona. If you’re on the fence, we encourage you to stop by for a cup to see what Pineapple Express is all about.
About the Process
In technical terms, Colombia Pineapple Express would be considered an anaerobic pineapple co-fermented honey-processed coffee, and if you’d like to learn more about different processing techniques, our blog post on the topic is a great starting point for understanding the different ways in which coffee is processed, but for the sake of simplicity we’ll focus our attention here on co-fermentation. Co-fermented coffees, sometimes referred to as "infused" or “anaerobic impregnated” coffees, are a relatively new development in coffee processing techniques. While this is a technique that introduces a non-coffee ingredient to the process, it is completely unrelated to ubiquitous “flavored coffees,” in which roasted coffee grounds are mixed with flavoring agents before packaging, such as we are familiar with in cans on supermarket shelves.
Just as it sounds, co-fermentation happens during the fermentation stage of coffee processing, where coffee producers add fruits, vegetables, or herbs typically grown in the same region to the fermentation tank. The coffee and the fruit (or in this case, the juice of the fruit) co-ferment during this stage and through this process the coffee absorbs some of the flavor compounds of the co-fermenting produce, which can then be tasted in the brewed cup.
In the case of this particular coffee, a couple extra steps of innovation were introduced, which may have played a part in developing a more well-rounded and balanced flavor profile overall. The ripe coffee cherries for this lot underwent anaerobic fermentation in a CO2-flushed stainless steel tank for 120 hours. The juice from this fermentation was drained and mixed with fresh pineapple juice, while the fermented coffee cherries were depulped. Then, the recovered coffee cherry juice, pineapple juice, and depulped coffee were all returned to the fermentation tank for another three days before the seeds were laid out on raised beds to dry.
The result is a coffee with not only a unique pineapple flavor profile, but one that does not sacrifice its inherent quality for the additional flavor.
Sourcing Information
This coffee was sourced from Covoya Coffee, who brought in only ten 20 kilogram bags of this rare coffee, all of which sold out almost immediately. Comprised entirely of the Caturra variety of Arabica, this coffee was grown at Finca La Luisa owned by the Velez family in the Antioquia region of Colombia. Juan Pablo Velez, a fourth generation coffee grower oversees the specialty coffee production on the farm. With a passion for experimentation and excellence, Juan Pablo has dedicated his operations to pursuing the bleeding edge of innovation in specialty coffee. A well-spoken man who may have a calling as a poet, we found the following words from him quite inspiring.
“Everything starts with a dream, with a seed. In my story the dream is literally a seed. This story begins many, many years ago. Being the fourth generation of coffee producers, I could say that I am not starting from scratch in the sense of the word, but from the point of view of what is happening now with specialty coffees, I am starting from scratch. And I say this because in this business there is nothing written yet. One way or another we are transforming the business.
The old problems always exist, they are nothing new. The weather is still a headache. Before it was too. Let's say it's worse now but we have to deal with it. The fluctuation of prices remains the same, productivity, pests... What is new for me, and for many specialty coffee producers, is the tireless search for excellence, for consistency, for finding suitable adaptability for new seeds without giving up. Waiting 3 years to find out if the project for a new plantation meets expectations, not only of mine but also of my clients, of consumers and coffee lovers from many parts of the world. Yes, of the world.
These seeds I grow travel thousands of miles and are enjoyed or hated by people far and wide. Processing coffee is not easy either, we play at being alchemists. To look for that unique and perfect flavor that sometimes does not exist. That is in our mind, in our ideal. After perfecting some processes, we find enormous satisfaction knowing that we are doing our job very well when, due to the ease of communication via social networks, a complete stranger writes to us to congratulate us on our work as coffee producers and designers. It is a huge team that is behind all this. I am simply the visible face of a multitude of hands through which these emerald green grains pass.”
-Juan Pablo Velez, producer of Colombia Pineapple Express
About FreeForm Reserve
With extremely limited availability, Colombia Pineapple Express is limited to just. fifty 8oz bags, each of which will be individually numbered and packaged in our 8oz kraft bag with gold foil printing. Fancy!
FreeForm Reserve releases are only available as whole bean coffee, and we highly recommend that you enjoy these coffees within a month from the roast date.
