It's unusual that we find a lot that performs better as a dark roast than as a light roast, but this unique offering from Condor Ridge Ranch offers exactly that. The coffee for this lot is a field blend comprised of cherries picked from trees on a block at Condor Ridge Ranch planted with a multi-varietal mix that includes FRINJ regulars like Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai Rojo alongside less commonly seen types like Typica and Puerto Rico.

What makes this cup so compelling as a dark roast is the distinct dried fruit note that carries through despite the degree of roast. It elevates the cup and makes for a unique experience, offering a different take on dark roast than our California Dark Roast. That fruit note is especially reminiscent of dried cherries, but also has a complexity that suggests dried plum, strawberry fruit leather, and dates. This fruity top note is rounder, with lower acidity than you'll find in our California Dark Roast, which makes it a nice pairing with milk, an unusual thing for fruity coffees.

This particular lot was handpicked at peak ripeness, floated to remove defect, pulped, and then inoculated with a Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a specific cultivated yeast strain. We then placed this coffee in a temperature controlled chamber to cold ferment for 96 hours semi-anaerobically. It was then washed and laid to dry on raised beds to a stable moisture below 12%.