Fruit- and Spice-Fermented Coffees: The Cup and the Controversy

Tangy sweet, delicately fruit-toned. Dried hibiscus flower, pistachio, cannabis, fresh perique-fermented tobacco, cotton candy in aroma and cup. Bright, juicy acidity; plush but buoyant mouthfeel. Crisp, complex, bittersweet finish.

Deep, rich, sweetly herbaceous. Heavy cream, sweet herb melange, caramel, Meyer lemon, the aroma of oak forest in aroma and cup. Gentle, round acidity; plump mouthfeel. Fades gracefully to bittersweet herb notes.

High-toned, tangy. Cocoa powder, peach kefir, jasmine, lychee, almond. Tartly sweet, roundly savory; full, plush mouthfeel. Rich-toned finish centered around notes of cocoa powder and peach kefir.

Crisply savory, very sweet. Hazelnut, rhododendron, fig, dried raspberry, salted caramel in aroma and cup. In taste structure displays a startling but pleasing juxtaposition of intense sweetness and deep umami. Lightly satiny in mouthfeel. Smooth, resonant in the finish – fig, vanilla.

Juicy-bright, very sweet, with a tart edge. Honeysuckle, strawberry, pipe tobacco, cane sugar, bay leaf in aroma and cup. Sweetly juicy acidity; buoyant, lightly syrupy in the mouthfeel. Consolidates to florals and pipe tobacco in the long finish.

Low-toned, richly tangy and chocolaty. Dark chocolate, goji berry, cedar, lemon yogurt, cilantro in aroma and cup. Sweet-savory structure; lean, smooth mouthfeel. Quite rich, resonant and layered in the short finish, concluding with cedar notes in the long.

Delicately fruit-forward, deep-toned. Pomegranate, alyssum, saltwater taffy, almond, brown sugar in aroma and cup. Brisk acidity; satiny-smooth mouthfeel. Gentle finish centered around suggestions of pomegranate and almond.

Fruity, tangy, cocoa-toned. Cocoa nib, pineapple kefir, lychee, fresh-cut fir, almond in aroma and cup. Balanced, round acidity; crisp, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates to notes of cocoa nib and lychee in a rich, smooth finish.

Sweetly tangy, deeply floral. Lily, lemon verbena, peach skin, fir, vanilla yogurt in aroma and cup. Lactic-fruity structure; nectar-like mouthfeel. In the long, balanced finish, raspberry notes emerge.