We are absolutely thrilled to bring a very special guest coffee to our shop this month!
We've wanted to collaborate with Asheville, NC-based Cooperative Coffee for a while now, and we couldn't have picked a better way to team up. Not only are we excited to exclusively feature their newest offering (for the first time anywhere!), we're also incredibly honored to play even a small role in sharing the story and mission of this particular coffee.
Tropical Summer is a unique Colombian coffee with unique origins.
It comes from an urban farm and micro-processing center called Proyecto Renacer, which means “re-birth project” in a neighborhood of Medellin, one of Colombia’s largest cities. This project began with only one producer, Gabriel Cortez, and has since grown to involve more than fifteen families. This project’s goal is to bring the children of traditional coffee growers into the future of processing by sharing experimental and cutting-edge techniques, and providing a site to carry out these experiments. Through this work, the founders Cristian and Jhonotan have created a culture of vibrant creativity in an area with a history of conflict and violence, and demonstrated that coffee can continue to be a nourishing and innovative industry.
The 6-day anaerobic lactic fermentation that creates many of the flavors in Tropical Summer is a powerful example of this work. Most coffees we encounter are aerobically-fermented in open-air tanks. In the case of Tropical Summer, the coffee is placed in a sealed tank with the fruit still intact. As the fruit ferments, CO2 is produced and the oxygen is gradually removed from the environment. In the absence of oxygen, lactic acid is created by the fermentation process. Some alcohol is also produced which transfers a pink color from the coffee pulp to the seeds themselves.
Cristian and Jhonotan, upon cupping this creation for the first time, coined the coffee Verano Tropical in honor of the vibrant tropical fruit that this coffee evokes. You’ll find flavors of mango, sweet pastry, and a creamy mouthfeel in the cup.
Special thanks to Unblended Coffee for working directly with Proyecto Renacer to import this exquisite coffee for us to serve you.
Order a bag of Tropical Summer today!
