Hop Fermented Coffee

Several years ago amidst the ice coffee mania we saw our friends Oddly Correct Coffee doing a really cool variant using a cold coffee extraction with dry hops. We always thought that was so rad and asked ourselves how we could riff on that idea. So we played with some dry hopping in pour overs Half Acre Beer one year when we were brewing coffee for ‪#‎BIGHUGS‬.

Coffee fermentation is a major focus for DMC, it's one of the many areas that separates us from our peers. More specifically, we are trying to grasp a better understanding of fermentation's nebulous process and then modifying our approach to achieve a desirable result . In this experiment, we wanted to see how the acids in hops would affect the microbiology present in fermentation tanks and more importantly, how the hop character would impact flavor. So exactly how does this hop fermented coffee process work? 

Hop pellets are potent little capsules that contain gargantuan levels of acidity, spice, and fruit. Managing the exact hop dosage is very important to get the desired effect in the final product. Catuai was chosen for this experiment because of its stability and consistency, two characteristics that helped to gain more control when conducting experiments. To make a long story short, the end result was essentially dry hopping three different fermentation tanks holding the Catuai, each with a different hop. Citra, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops were chosen because of their differing characteristics with spice, fruit and herbal notes . This will be an ongoing project we will continue to hone in on. Its difficult to say where this experiment will lead but we are excited to sink our teeth into this one for years to come!

These three coffees were released in 2016, the first dry hopped coffees being sold in the world, all with roaring success. We even decided to dry hop our Chocolate City iced coffee for several events, CBC Boston & Copenhagen, Lollapalooza and special offerings at our retail locations. Expect to see more hopped coffee releases, both iced and whole bean in 2017! 

Country: Guatemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Cultivar: Catuai
Hop: Fermented with El Dorado Hops
Notes: Cantaloupe, Honey, Milk Chocolate

Country: Guatemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Culivar: Catuai
Hops: Fermented with Citra Hops
Notes: Cocoa, Orange, Pineapple

Country: Gautemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Cultivar: Catuai
Hops: Fermented with Mosiac Hops
Notes: Plum, Pear, Lemongrass