Green Apple: Roaster's Reserve No. 03
Some coffees ask you to sit down and think about them. This one just makes you smile.
Green Apple is the third release in our Roaster's Reserve series, and it is exactly what the name promises: a cup that tastes like green-apple candy, grounded by dark chocolate and finished with a bright snap of lime. It is adventurous, but the sweetness is familiar. You will probably go back for a second sip just to make sure you tasted what you think you tasted.
Where it comes from
This coffee was grown by Jairo Arcila on his Santa Mónica farm in Quindío, in the heart of Colombia's coffee-growing country. Jairo is a third-generation grower, and his farms have become some of the most closely watched in specialty coffee for their experimental fermentation work. His sons, Carlos and Felipe, co-founded Cofinet, the exporter that brings his coffees to roasters around the world, including us.
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Our first Reserve, Coco-Peach, also came from Jairo's Santa Mónica. Green Apple is our second coffee from his farm, and a very different expression of what he can do.
The coffee is 100% Castillo, grown at 1,450 to 1,500 meters above sea level.
What "co-ferment" actually means
Every coffee is fermented in some way after it is picked. That is part of how the fruit comes off the seed, and it shapes a lot of what ends up in your cup.
In a co-ferment, the producer adds something to that fermentation on purpose. For this lot, the coffee was fermented alongside green apple and wine yeast. The yeast is the same family of microbes winemakers and brewers rely on, and it helps develop fruity, aromatic compounds as it works through the sugars in the coffee cherry. The green apple adds its own sugars and character to the mix.
After fermentation, the coffee was washed. That step matters. Washing removes the remaining fruit before drying, which gives the cup more clarity and keeps all that apple sweetness from turning heavy or muddy.
The result is bright, clean and a little bit wild, with flavors you would not expect from a coffee bean.
What it tastes like
Caramelized green apple. Dark chocolate. Lime.
The apple shows up first and stays the whole way through: tart and sweet, more Jolly Rancher than orchard. Dark chocolate keeps it from floating away, and the lime arrives at the end and keeps the finish crisp. Expect candy-like sweetness and bright citrus acidity.
If you usually drink a classic, chocolatey coffee, this is a fun one to try next to it. If you love fruit-forward coffees, this is right in your lane.
Why Marie chose "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Every Roaster's Reserve is selected and roasted by our head roaster, Marie Marsh, and every one arrives with a song. For Green Apple, Marie chose "Tomorrow Never Knows" by The Beatles.
In her words:
I chose this song because a coffee that doesn't follow the status quo of what a "normal" coffee is supposed to be like deserves a song and band that did just that.
The studio experimentation in "Tomorrow Never Knows" challenged listeners to open their minds. Co-fermented coffees ask the coffee world to do the same. This coffee is bright, eccentric, in your face, but the sweetness is what keeps you hanging around.
Pour a cup. Press play. You'll get it.
Green Apple joins Coco-Peach and Finca La Amistad on The Reserve Mixtape, our growing collection of coffees and songs. At the end of the year, the whole thing becomes one mixtape.
The details
- Producer: Jairo Arcila
- Farm: Santa Mónica
- Region: Quindío, Colombia
- Variety: Castillo
- Process: Washed co-ferment with green apple and wine yeast
- Elevation: 1,450 to 1,500 m.a.s.l.
- Tasting notes: Caramelized green apple, dark chocolate, lime
- Bag: 8 oz, whole bean or ground
- Price: $19
As with every Roaster's Reserve, each bag is personally signed and marked with its roast date. Reserve releases are small, and when they are gone, they are gone.