The Future - Hazy Juicy IPA

The Future has been a beloved staple on our year-round menu for quite awhile now. With it, we have been able to showcase excellence in processing techniques, particularly in regard to anaerobic fermentation. In the past, we have predominately featured coffees from Colombia in this blend, though lots from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, and Peru have played a part in its conception as well. This year, however, we are shifting our focus away from the individual components of the blend and instead elevating flavor as the guiding principle for each creation.

You'll see several installments of this concept throughout the year, and today's release is the sixth in this flavor-forward series. With it, we want to celebrate another beverage industry that's close to our hearts (craft beer) and pay homage to one of its greatest contributions to the taproom: the Hazy Juicy IPA. Once renown as the darling of craft beer, Hazy Juicy IPAs rose to popularity precisely because they stood in sharp contrast to their other IPA predecessors. Rather than being intensely bitter, resinous, or piney, Hazy Juicy's are distinctly fruity, hazy (obviously), juicy (also obviously) and deeply aromatic. In short, they're crowd pleasers. We love this addition to the craft beer canon, and this coffee is our ambitious attempt to recreate its distinct and delightful characteristics.

MEET THE PRODUCERS | Today's release is a blend of five coffees, sourced from four producers across two continents. Sebastian Ramirez headlines the blend, with 50% of its makeup coming from his extremely unique lemongrass co-fermented lot. An additional 35% of the blend is composed of a washed Ethiopian coffee from our beloved Worka Chelbesa washing station, Wate Danche, and was produced by everyone's favored computer-guru-turned-coffee-guy, Negussee Debela. The remaining 15% of the blend is equal parts three distinct co-fermented coffees from Colombia: Rodrigo Sanchez's passionfruit lot, and fermentation specialist Jairo Arcila's peach and lychee lots. 

TRUST THE PROCESS | To recreate the two most prevalent characteristics of Hazy Juicy IPAs - hop-forward aromatics and a tropical, juicy flavor - we chose one archetypal washed Ethiopian lot and four unique co-fermentation experiments.  Sebastian's lemongrass co-ferment was SUCH an interesting coffee on our cupping table, but we couldn't really find the right place for it until now! This coffee, which makes up 50% of the blend, provides all of those funky, herbal, hoppy aromatics we needed.

Danche Lot 1, which featured on our menu earlier this season, lends structure and complexity to the cup while enhancing those aforementioned hop characteristics and additional florality.

Finally, we used those three other co-fermented coffees from Colombia (co-fermented with passionfruit, peach, and lychee, respectively) to bring all the tropical juiciness we needed to really sell this thing. These three co-fermented coffees are really intense on their own, but incorporating them into special blends like this one offers a really fun expression of their unique fermentation impact and helps contribute to the more nuanced flavors for which we are searching.

TAKE A SIP | Just like its craft beer counterpart, this coffee has low perceived bitterness and high perceived acidity. It is heavy in texture (if not hazy in appearance!), with a fruit cocktail backbone that is equal parts vibrant and complex. Perhaps most importantly, it smells like a Hazy Juicy IPA, with hoppy, funky aromatics that transport us directly to one of our favorite taprooms in Raleigh. So, whether you're holding a mug of beer or of coffee, let's all raise a glass to the darling from New England. Cheers!

___________________________________________________________________________

Origin | Colombia & Ethiopia

Producers | Sebastian Ramirez, Negusse Debela, Rodrigo Sanchez, and Jairo Arcila

Process | Mixed

Variety |  Various