Pedro Nel Salazar Mango Coconut Co-Ferment

If summer were a coffee, it would be this coffee! This crown jewel* co-ferment microlot is so fun and delectable with a plethora of summery tasting notes like pina colada (think rich coconut + pineapple), mango, vanilla custard, and tropical florals.  Wrap yourself in all the fleeting and fun flavors of summer with this tropical and bright coffee from 2nd generation coffee grower Pedro Nel Salazar. Recommended for all lovers of punchy, but clean, co-ferments with pronounced summery fruit flavors. Enjoy! 

*Crown Jewel. We aren’t the only ones who think this coffee is special.This coffee was named a crown jewel by our partners at Royal Coffee. Crown jewel coffees are distinctive, super-specialty green microlots that have been identified by the Royal cupping team as some of the best coffees on the planet.

Farm Level Info. This mango coconut co-ferment is a massive break from tradition for long time coffee farmer Pedro Nel Salazar who usually focuses on classic Colombian flavor profiles. With two farms located in Quimbaya, Quindío, Colombia, Salazar recently partnered with award-winning coffee grower Edwin Noreña from Finca Campo Hermoso to develop this unique microlot co-ferment. A fourth generation farmer and coffee processing innovator, Edwin Noreña is described as one of Colombia’s true processing obsessives. Nicknamed “El Alquimista” (the alchemist), Noreña is an agroindustrial engineer by trade who is a well-connected and highly aspirational coffee producer focusing on pairing very specific coffee varieties with very specific processing methods designed to express the most surprising, memorable, and delicious coffee experiences possible. Together, the pair developed a unique process for this coffee to highlight and enhance its natural flavors. Pre-fermentation was undertaken by Pedro Nel Salazar, who soaked the coffee cherries for 2 hours, followed by a 12-hour low-oxygen fermentation. Then, at Campo Hermoso under Edwin Noreña’s watchful eyes, the coffee underwent a 48 hour carbonic maceration. The resulting must (the coffee cherry’s own fermentation by-product) was then inoculated with lactic acid bacteria, and mixed with dehydrated coconut, fresh mango, and allulose sugar. Separately, the coffee cherries were lightly depulped to a dark honey level, and then macerated with the coconut-mango lactic must solution for another 72 hours. Finally, the finished coffee was pulled from the fermentation tanks, drained but not washed, and dried in a greenhouse with dehydrated pulp for another 10 days.