Candy Crush

DAK coffees are not for the faint-hearted. You need to know that when you're buying one of their coffees, somewhere between opening the bag and taking your first sip, you are going to say "Whoa!". All this to say their coffees often have more non-traditional flavors than subtle undertones. To some this could be considered a gateway drug to more nuanced lots but arguably if you're into this kind of thing you probably want to be hit in the face with flavor.

'Candy Crush' is one of those coffees for sure. Here at Black Fox, over the New York Coffee Festival we set up a pourover bar in our FiDi location and served some remarkable little coffees to share with our valued customers - this was one of those coffees.

Edwin Noreña grows this Caturra on his farm, Finca Campo Hermoso, in Quindio, Colombia. He is an agro-industrial engineer, coffee processing consultant and head COE Colombia competition judge. Much of his approach to coffee processing draws inspiration from the wine industry - just like the "Mossto" carbonic maceration process that has been applied here.

Mossto is the left over crushed cherry pulp from a previous fermentation. Once the coffee cherries are selectively picked (above a 24 brix reading), they are soaked in water for 3hrs and then fermented anaerobically for 6hrs with Mossto - adding this gives the microbes extra sugar to process.

After the fermentation, the coffee is sun dried on African beds for 22 days before being transferred to a warehouse for 5 days to help stabilize the humidity. Finally, the coffee is stored in GrainPro (thick agricultural plastic) bags for another 8-10 days before being milled and bagged for export. 

The result is a coffee that tastes like strawberry flavored candy, soft caramel and bubblegum. Not for the faint hearted but a delight for those seeking a uniquely fruity coffee to share with friends.

Producer → Edwin Noreña
Farm → Finca Campo Hermoso
Location  → Quindio, Colombia
Varieties → Caturra
Altitude  →  1,600 masl
Process → Mossto Carbonic Maceration