Coffee of the Month

May Release: Nemba, Burundi

Cupping notes: Juicy, cantaloupe, peach
Roast profile: Light-medium
Process: Natural Oro Yeast Fermentation
Arabica variety: Blend
Growing altitude: 6,400 ft. Above Sea Level
Origin: Nemba washing station, Kayanza region, Burundi

Michael Polland writes in the intro to Sandor Ellix Katz’s book, The Art of Fermentation, “To Ferment your own food is to lodge the eloquent protest – of the senses – against the homogenization of flavors and food experiences now rolling like a great, undifferentiated lawn across the globe”. Who knew protesting the McDonaldization of the world could be so much fun and tasty!

We’re still on a fermentation kick here too at Tug Hill Artisan Roasters. This month we’re releasing a coffee that was fermented with a yeast specifically developed for post harvest coffee processing. This is a pretty great new innovation!

Since post harvest fermentation started getting more attention a few years ago, processors have been largely borrowing from wine makers using "wine yeasts". However, LalCafe Oro Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) was developed over the course of four years specifically for post harvest coffee processing. It seems that the yeast helped brought out some intense juicy fruitiness with a dry sensation at first, before it mellows out into more peachy aftertaste. We think you'll like it.

Finally, I (Scott), have to mention, that the Kayanza region is one of my favorite coffee producing regions in the world. I’m a big fan of the areas around lake Kivu. We don’t know many specifics about the varietals because the coffee was purchased from small holders and blended at the mill. This is common of Burundi sourced coffees.