Koji Maragogype by El Paraíso

Straight off the National Coffee Champs' Stage – large Maragogype beans processed with an absurd Koji ferment.

Koji, aka Aspergillus oryzae, is a Japanese fungus found on rice that's traditionally been used by the Japanese to ferment soya sauce, amazake, sake, and mirin.

The Koji fungus is grown on dried coffee pulp and husks for four days at 35°C to produce enzymes. It's then applied to perfectly ripe coffee cherries and allowed to grow for an additional 4 days under aerobic conditions. A unique wet fermentation follows – modelled after the amazake winemaking technique – coffee pulp is fermented to extract malic acid precursors, which are incorporated into the beans to deeply develop flavours and impart umami richness.

The beans are then dried in a dehumidifier to retain soft notes and avoid over-oxidation or fermentation.

The result of this is a spicy, umami, pinot noir-y complexity expertly balance by neroli, cherry and chocolate sweetness.