Three years ago, we ran into an issue sourcing the amazing Kona we used to sell around Christmas, an issue which still exists, so we started sourcing other high end, rare, and unusual coffees as a holiday offering. In 2022, that offering was an insane coffee from Edwin 'The Alchemist' Norena in Colombia, who is world famous for his novel approach and expertise in coffee growing. This year we had the opportunity to feature a similar coffee, and I had to jump at the chance, as the 2022 coffee was one of the best I've ever had, period.

Grower: Edwin Norena is a third-generation farmer, who is an agroindustrial engineer by trade with graduate-level studies in biotechnology. He is an aspirational grower, with a specific focus on fermentation technique and cultivar selection.

Farm: Finca Campo Hermoso concentrates on growing unusual cultivars, like Pink and Yellow Bourbon, Sidra, Gesha, and Cenicafe 1, a relatively new resistant hybrid developed Colombia’s national coffee research institute of the same name.

Bean: This coffee is the currently trendy Pink Bourbon varietal, an Ethiopian varietal known for extremely good flavor potential, and resistance to disease. This microlot was processed using three distinct fermentations: first, fresh hand-sorted cherries are fermented in tanks with limited oxygen for 24hrs; second, those cherries are separated from the accompanying cherry juice, the cherries put in smaller tanks, and the juice, or 'must', fermented with yeast and Galaxy hops; lastly, the fermented, hoppy must is added back to the cherries for a 72hr fermentation in sealed tanks. The cherries are then slightly de-pulped, in what can be called a 'black honey process', and dried on raised beds. 

Result: WOW! This is world-class, top tier stuff. Don't let the 'hops' fermentation scare you: Edwin Norena is so skilled at what he does, the results expertly fuse the flavors of varietal, terroir, and the co-ferment into a cohesive, gorgeous cup. Deeply sweet, like apple juice concentrate, brown sugar and caramel notes dominate the deep end, which is infused with pink grapefruit, lime Jolly Rancher, candied ginger, and a ton of foresty pine, herbal, and floral notes. It's a decadent cup, stunning in its clarity of vision and flavor, with something new to discover at ever sip. 

Note: I only intent to roast full batches of this coffee for the best results, so there may be slight delays as orders accumulate. 

Sold in 1lb increments.