A strawberry milkshake— but made with coffee? The Colombian Creamy Strawberry from the Vienna-based roastery Koun Coffee combines the intense flavor of ripe strawberries with a distinctly creamy texture and a playful, funky character. It’s precisely this combination of fruitiness and a smooth mouthfeel that brings to mind a strawberry milkshake. This limited-edition blend simply has enough personality to captivate you from the very first sip and demonstrates the unusual forms coffee can take thanks to experimental processing.
It comes from Finca Las Brisas near the city of Pitalito in Colombia’s Huila region, where it is grown by producer Bryan Smith. The coffee trees grow at an elevation of 1,900 meters above sea level. At these altitudes, the cherries typically ripen more slowly, giving them more time to develop flavor compounds. Bryan’s coffee already has a place in Koun Coffee’s lineup. Mango Natural also comes from the same farm, and the roastery has previously introduced his Sidra.
The lot consists of the Caturra variety, and its character is shaped by the Creamy Strawberry Co-ferment processing method—that is, the co-fermentation of coffee with strawberries. In this type of processing, in addition to the coffee itself, another ingredient is incorporated into the fermentation, influencing the conditions of the process and the resulting aromatic profile. Fermentation thus offers the opportunity to work specifically with flavor and pushes the boundaries of processing beyond traditional methods. The strawberry character here is therefore also linked to the fruit used. The result is a distinctive coffee that combines pronounced fruity notes, a creamy texture, and a touch of fermented wildness.
- Elevation: 1,900 m above sea level
- Producer: Bryan Smith
- Farm: Finca Las Brisas