Colombia, Monteblanco - Passion Fruit Washed

A coffee co-fermented with passion fruit.

Flavored coffee isn't too uncommon in the coffee world. This is often done by adding flavoring agents after the coffee has been roasted. Though our coffees feature tasting notes, our coffees have never been flavored, but the notes simply describe what we think the coffee tastes like. This coffee on the other hand, is co-fermented with passion fruit by the coffee farmer with the intention of imparting additional flavor to the coffee. Keep reading to learn more about this new and interesting process.

Finca Monteblanco, is a family farm managed by Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia in the tradition of coffee cultivation that began with his grandfather. Monteblanco’s 18 hectares sit on the crest of a hill, with the wetmill and drying facilities at the top of the farm and slopes of coffee planted below.

This Passion Fruit Washed process begins with the creation of the fermentation culture. First, a mother culture was created containing microorganisms like lactobacillus and saccharomyces cerevisiae. 80 liters of this culture is separated to be fed with passion fruit, cholupa fruit, and a sweetener like panela or molasses. The cholupa and passion fruit contribute flavor to the culture, while the sweetener energizes the fermentation and brings the culture’s sugar content to a level that matches the degrees Brix of the coffee that will be processed. This initial fermentation of mother culture and fruit takes 190 hours to reach the appropriate degrees Brix and pH value for coffee processing.

Before being processed with the fruit-fermented culture, coffee cherries are measured for sugar content as soon as they reach the mill at Monteblanco. Cherries are then floated to remove impurities before being pulped and deposited into a 200 liter sealed tank. The 80 liter culture that was previously fermented with the fruits is added to the sealed tank, and the coffee is fermented for 150 hours. During this process, the team keeps measurements to ensure that the environment doesn’t fall below 6 degrees Brix, or below a pH of 4. The coffee is then moved to the drying area, where it is dried for 2–3 days in direct sunlight and then for 15–18 days under shaded canopies until it reaches 10–11% humidity.