That 90's Brew

Jairo Arcila Grape Bubblegum - Pink Bourbon

Region: Santa Mónica, Armenia, Quindío
Country: Colombia
Variety: Pink Bourbon
Process: Honey, 72 hr dry anaerobic fermentation
Additions: Lychee and wine yeast
Altitude: 1,450–1,500 m.a.s.l
Producer: Jairo Arcila (Cofinet)
Drying: Raised beds, below 35°C to ideal moisture
Cupping Notes: Grape bubblegum, nougat, blueberry & honey
Bag Size: 100g & 200g

That 90's Brew

Close your eyes and take a sip. You're a kid again, tearing down the street on a bike with handlebars up round your ears and a seat a mile long, neon legionnaire hat flapping, jandals slapping the pedals, a wad of Hubba Bubba grape bubblegum going a mile a minute. That's this coffee.

Pink Bourbon is one of the most coveted varieties in specialty coffee, a natural mutation of the Bourbon lineage that produces cherries with a striking reddish pink hue. It's notoriously fussy to grow, so a lot that's actually pulled off well is genuinely rare, and this one is a standout.

For this lot, only the ripest cherries were hand selected and processed at Cofinet's La Pradera facility in Colombia. The cherries went through a 72 hour dry anaerobic fermentation, with fresh lychee and wine yeast added to the mix. The lychee brings a delicate floral sweetness, while the wine yeast pushes the fermentation further, building the kind of aromatic complexity that turns a good coffee into something you actually stop and talk about. After fermentation, the coffee was pulped and honey processed, then dried slowly on raised beds until it hit the right moisture.

Here's where it gets fun. The dominant flavour is Labrusca grape, a wild, musky grape variety with a fragrant, almost floral sweetness, quite different from the grapes you'd find in a fruit bowl. Sit with it for a second and it morphs into something else entirely: that same big, chewy, unmistakably Hubba Bubba grape bubblegum taste, the one that instantly takes you back to pocket money, the school dairy, and blowing the biggest bubble you could before it popped all over your face.

Expect notes of grape bubblegum, nougat, blueberry and honey, with a syrupy body and a long, candy like finish that lingers the way good nostalgia does.

100g & 200g bag size only.