Edwin Norena Blue Raspberry Co-Ferment

Blue Raspberry, Honey, Lactic Acid

In nature, you're unlikely to stumble upon a blue raspberry, but in the coffee world, smurf-like twists on the ruby-red fruit are as real as reality allows. And who better to usher it into your cup than the king of co-ferments, a man whose obsession with fruity fermentation probably warrants psychological scrutiny, Edwin Norena? 

Edwin's farm, Campo Hermosa, is one part science lab, one part Michelin kitchen, and the process that’s made it famous is a sequential co-fermentation called Honey Mossto. Detailing every step of the process makes for a long read, but for the few of you with no other way to spend your time, here go:

First, Edwin harvests cherries above 24° Brix and soaks them for four hours. That Brix mark indicates ideal dissolved solids (mostly sugars), and the soak hydrates the fruit and removes floaters. Next, the cherries undergo an initial anoxic fermentation for 12 hours, and guess what he throws in? Fresh passion fruit and coffee mossto (mossto is the coffee cherries’ own nutrient-dense juice). Next comes depulping, which leaves about half of the mucilage intact. That mucilage is necessary because Edwin puts the coffee through yet another anoxic fermentation, giving the lot a chance to mingle anew with the passion fruit and coffee mossto. Finally, the coffee heads to drying beds for 26 days, after which the dried parchment rests in GrainPro for another 10 days.

The cup is every bit as crazy as the process suggests.

Something about the combination of passion fruit and coffee mossto creates the impression that you’re sucking on a neon blue Jolly Rancher (Blue Raspberry). It’s bright and sugary, a candy-like expression of the fruit that builds it. If you’re determined, you can break the note into component parts—passion fruit, red raspberry, a bit of sugar—but that would be like focusing on Seurat’s dots and missing the bigger picture (what an unbearable art history flex).

As the cup cools, honey comes out, thick and sweet. It lends a rich mouthfeel, which is unexpected given the zippiness of the blueraspberry. A bit of lactic acidity also comes to the fore. This seems to be a signature of Edwin’s processing, and it’s a delicious twist on the sugary vibes. The notes meld beautifully, creating a memorable brew that does justice to the co-ferment category—and also to fictional fruits.