El Paraiso Koji Amazake Maragogype

Probably the craziest coffee I’ve tasted in a long, long time. A true competition grade coffee.

There is a ton to say about this coffee. It is candy in liquid form. When ground, it smells just like Pixy Stix, Lemonheads, and Fun Dip all at once. The smell is overwhelming and promptly fills the entire room. (People will come to you to ask what you are brewing.) When brewed, personally I feel it tastes most like Arizona Rooibos tea. (I love that.) The sweetness is complex and round like mango, and there’s a yuzu sharpness that provides a beautiful edge. Some report that it’s actually like a key-lime pie, but I haven’t had one of those in a while.

Diego Burmudez from Finca El Paraiso has hit this one out of the park. So much so that you may want to personally message him to let him know. It consists of a rare varietal used commonly in competition, Maragogype, which is a natural mutation of Typica discovered in Brazil. The beans are VERY LARGE and may not fit in your grinder. (I have not had issues in most of my grinders, but my auto-dosers and smaller hand grinders are very annoying with this coffee.)

The coffee is technically a double fermentation, with both stages using koji as the starting culture. The first fermentation is done in open air. When completed, the coffee is pulped but the pulp is saved to be made into a koji-cascara juice slurry (with more koji added). The coffee is then added back to this slurry and left to ferment anaerobically until the desired result. (The rest of this process is trade-secret. Sorry.)

Roasted light and spectacularly by our friends at Glitch Coffee and Roasters in Tokyo, Japan, rested for 7 days, then vacuum packed and frozen. I recommend enjoying this coffee right away.