Launch of Supernova Cannabis + Coffee + Chocolate Bars!

Launch of Supernova Cannabis + Coffee + Chocolate Bars!

Supernova Bar
We are super excited to finally share this great news, our first collaboration of cannabis, coffee and chocolate! DMC & Nature's Grace and Wellness are teaming up to produce a new line of products, with the Supernova Bar as the first offering! Join us on Thursday, April 13th (6-9pm) for the launch party at Emporium Logan Square
April 06, 2017 — Kyle Hodges
Experimental Coffee - Wine Yeast Fermentation

Experimental Coffee - Wine Yeast Fermentation

These coffees represent our continued development with fermentation, specifically, a species of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Saccharomyces is primarily needed to produce beer, wine and bread making it one of the most important species in the animal kingdom for humankind. These elemental contributions to us have made this Saccharomyces one of the most studied and cultivated organisms in the world.

Yeast, which is a type of fungi, is a single cell organism we need for coffee to be processed. To be clear, coffee fermentation doesn't need Saccharomyces as there is a whole universe of other yeasts out there for fermentation. Fermentation tanks usually consist of a soup of microbes that also feed on coffee sugars and are almost always open air, and made of cement. Beer, wine and bread need the byproducts of yeast for them to be successful and gain complexity and flavor, while coffee does not. At the very least, coffee needs microbes to break down the sugary gelatinous layer of pectin surrounding a coffee bean to be dried properly. We've purposefully inoculate coffee fermentation tanks with Saccharomyces so we can hopefully layer the esters and acids it produces into the coffee.

When propagated, yeast will live the most amazingly simple life on the planet - it eats, it mates and sleeps in abundance, and if it's happy, that's all these critters will do their entire life. All yeast strains have slightly different preferences to be happy but overall they need:


-Sugar
-Water with regulated temperature and pH
-Additional yeast to reproduce with  


Specific wine yeasts have been much more adaptable to the conditions of fermentation tanks in Central America. I'm generalizing here, but beer yeasts, for the most part, tend to be fussier to temperatures, sugar and environment. Experimentation with Premier Cuvee, a yeast most commonly used in Champagne and sparkling wine, is not unheard of for coffee certain processing in Central America. Premier Cuvee is ideal because it is able to thrive quickly and relatively easy within the environment of a coffee fermentation tank. There tends be flavors associated with pears, apples and other fruits high in malic acid production when brewed as a cup. 

Pasteur red wine yeast is named after the grand daddy of fermentation Louis Pasteur a chemist and microbiologist who famously invented the technique of pasteurization.  This yeast in wine will produce more exaggerated, full-bodied character - zinfandel winemakers commonly use it because of its fruitiness. Not as tolerant as Premier Cuvee but still handles nicely in a fermentation tank. 

These experiments were all conducted at Finca San Jeronimo Miramar, our allies in coffee nerdism. They've allowed us to dive into these alternative styles of fermentation and couldn't be more thankful to work with these guys.

If you need a little more help with understanding fermentation, read our previous blog post that helps to explain some of the fermentation and drying processes that are used. 


Country: Guatemala
Farm: Finca San Jeronimo
Cultivar: Caturra, Catuai
Process: Washed, fermented in Pasteur Red Wine Yeast
Taste: Sweet Cherry, Gala Apple, Hazelnut


Country: Guatemala
Farm: Finca San Jeronimo
Cultivar: Caturra, Catuai
Process: Washed, Fermented in Cuvee Yeast
Taste: Cantaloupe, Meyer Lemon, Marmalade

Experimental Coffee - Beer Yeast Fermentation

Experimental Coffee - Beer Yeast Fermentation

Fermentation is an integral point in the processing of coffee. For the majority of coffees, fermentation is a tool used to break down the sugary, gelatinous plant material (pectin) surrounding the coffee bean, once pulped. Specifically for washed coffees, it is not a means to enhance flavor or complexity but to remove the mucilage as quickly as possible before microbes are able to produce acids and esters that may be conceived as off flavors. 

Time is also extremely valuable to this equation as coffee fermentation typically  runs 12 to 24 hours, which is a very short compared to other processes like beer, cheese, wine, etc. Coffee is very malleable and porous after its pulped so too much time in the tank runs the risk of exposing it too much to all the microbial activity. With this experiment we wanted to use this to our advantage to allow the saison and ale yeast to produce compounds the coffee can absorb.

This process worked very similarly to the our hopped coffees, (Citra, Mosiac and El Dorado). These processes and can be considered a marinade for the coffee to sit in and absorb the wonderful flavors. These types of experimental fermentation are unique to Dark Matter Coffee and are part of our culinary approach to serving the best coffee in the world. 

If you need a little more help with understanding fermentation, read our previous blog post that helps to explain some of the fermentation and drying processes that are used. Also check out our other yeast experiments, using red wine and cuvee yeast on this blog post

Saison Yeast Fermented Coffee
Country: Guatemala 
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar 
Cultivar: Catuai, Caturra 
Process: Fermented in Ale Yeast 
Notes: Cocoa Nibbs, Hazelnut, Currant

Country: Guatemala 
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar 
Cultivar: Catuai, Caturra 
Process: Fermented in Saison Yeast 
Notes: Clementine, Thyme, Clover Honey 

 

 

Coffee Sourcing - El Salvador 2017

Coffee Sourcing - El Salvador 2017

When sourcing coffee, DMC is fortunate enough to have relationships with some of the best coffee producers in the world. Having multiple farming partners brings varying styles of coffees, from cultivars to processing. Finca San Jeronimo Miramar in Guatemala is our partner that takes a more progressive approach, it's Federico Pacas in El Salvador that brings the classic Central American coffee that we love.

The Pacas family is known throughout the coffee industry as royalty, with genetics, processing techniques that are second to none. Federico Pacas owns Cafe Tuxpal, a mill that processes his farms Santa Petrona, San Jose, Vista Hermosa in addition to other neighboring farms. DMC will feature several of his family's Pacas cultivars again for 2017, Pacas Joven, Pacas Viejo, etc.  

The relationship with Federico Pacas is the oldest farming partnership for DMC, allowing a wealth of knowledge and coffees to grace our cups. Like any long relationship, the learning process and information shared helps both Federico & DMC to evolve and grow. It's always a pleasure to visit with Federico at his farms, but it's even more special when we get him to visit us in Chicago. (That only happens during the warm months though :)

Pacas Joven    

Nuevo Pacas Joven en Finca San Jose Sonsonate! (New Pacas Joven plants) 
These little guys look so great in the newly rehabilitated Finca San Jose. Federico Pacas replanted his namesake cultivar in place of the classic Salvadoran Red Bourbon. Times they are a changing!

Cafe Tuxpal 2017

Every year Cafe Tuxpal continues to upgrade and innovate their processing method at the mill. New developments with how they wash coffees have been incredible to witness. Photo Aaron Campos

Pacas & Diaz

Federico Pacas & Jesse Diaz, two men leading a coffee revolution! 

El Salvador 2017

Driving home from the fields, enjoy other beautiful sunset in El Salvador! 

January 20, 2017 — Kyle Hodges
Tamba (High Concept Coffee Releases)

Tamba (High Concept Coffee Releases)

TAMBA was a lioness that prowled the land at Finca San Jeronimo Miramar in Guatemala years ago. She is now the spirit animal of the farm, safe-guarding the pristine grounds under the shadow of the volcano. TAMBA begins with innovation and discovery. It is a culmination of new and obscure cultivars yet to be released anywhere in the world! These wild genetics were discovered in the forests of Ethiopia and grown on the upper slopes of the Atitlan volcano. These experimental lots are miniscule in size, but expansive in diversity. TAMBA will continue to evolve over time as each exploration of the individual genetics continue to make their paw print on our world! 


This project is an exploration of a collection of experimental hybrids grown on Finca San Jeronimo Miramar. Each hybrid is assigned a string of code, indicating the lot, whether its cultivated by cloning or seed propagation, and the generation (if grown from a seed). Let's dive a bit deeper into clones vs seed generations with old write ups. 


We have eleven iterations of Tamba we will cycle through over time. On the back of the bag we will label the code associated with the hybrid. To help you navigate this project, the spreadsheet below will cover the hybrid's parental genetics and tasting notes.

For all of these, one of the parent cultivars will be coffees common in Central America (Catuai, Caturra, Sarchimor) and the other will be from Ethiopia. The African counterparts are either Rume Sudan, which in some theories has been considered the first expression of Arabica, or a wild tree with no genetic identification, and only referred to by the nearest town to which it was discovered.

Clones (Hybrid codes will start with C) 
Clones are produced by removing plant tissue from a "mother plant" and applying a rooting hormone to create a genetically identical plant. The purpose of cloning is stability; all trees will grow, produce, and mature identically, which is extremely helpful for analysis.

 

Seed Propagation (Hybrid codes will start with F)
Seeds are harvested to produce new trees which then provide their own set of seeds and so on - each new cycle is considered a single generation. This method will encourage genetic diversity, and allow for natural mutations that may be beneficial for farming. In this case, the producers will use this method with more stable genetics not known for genetic regression or mutation.

 

Country: Guatemala

Farm: Finca San Jeronimo Miramar

Cultivar: See corresponding chart below

Process: Washed

Notes: See corresponding chart below  

 
Coffee Code Hybrid Notes
C P15 1 Caturra x Wild Trees Cherry, Orange, Grassy
C P16 1 Catuai x Rume Sudan Berry, Lime, Currant
C P6 1 Sarchimor x Rume Sudan Strawberry, Milk Chocolate, Grassy
C P7 1 Sarchimor x Rume Sudan Milk Chocolate, Lemon, Blackberry
F1 P13 3 Caturra x Wild Trees Cocoa, Lemongrass
F1 P3 3 Sarchimor x Wild Trees Cranberry, Orange Zest, Cocoa Nibbs
F1 P8 3 Caturra x Wild Trees Milk Chocolate, Cherry, Honey
F3 P16 1 Catuai x Rume Sudan Toffee, Grapefruit, Molasses
F3 P2 3 Sarchimor x Wild Trees Almond, Orange Zest, Currant
F3 P6 1 Catuai x Rume Sudan Passion Fruit, Apricot, Molasses
Varios SHB Mix of various lots Hazelnut, Clove, Red Wine
Definitions
C Clone
F# Generation Number
P Parcel
Wild Trees Discovered in the wild
Rume Sudan Cultivated tree from Sudan

 

 

 

 

 

January 09, 2017 — Kyle Hodges
Big Hugs Cast

Big Hugs Cast

#HugsCast is a time-elapse video of DMC brewing coffee at Half Acre Beer Balmoral, Star Lounge Coffee Bar, and Osmium Coffee Bar! We brewed 20 gallons of Unicorn Blood with Pink Himalayan Salt (Cubano style) 1 fluid ounce at a time!!!! All of this was done for the annual Big Hugs beer release!
December 10, 2016 — Kyle Hodges
Hop Fermented Coffee

Hop Fermented Coffee

Several years ago amidst the ice coffee mania we saw our friends Oddly Correct Coffee doing a really cool variant using a cold coffee extraction with dry hops. We always thought that was so rad and asked ourselves how we could riff on that idea. So we played with some dry hopping in pour overs Half Acre Beer one year when we were brewing coffee for ‪#‎BIGHUGS‬.

Coffee fermentation is a major focus for DMC, it's one of the many areas that separates us from our peers. More specifically, we are trying to grasp a better understanding of fermentation's nebulous process and then modifying our approach to achieve a desirable result . In this experiment, we wanted to see how the acids in hops would affect the microbiology present in fermentation tanks and more importantly, how the hop character would impact flavor. So exactly how does this hop fermented coffee process work? 

Hop pellets are potent little capsules that contain gargantuan levels of acidity, spice, and fruit. Managing the exact hop dosage is very important to get the desired effect in the final product. Catuai was chosen for this experiment because of its stability and consistency, two characteristics that helped to gain more control when conducting experiments. To make a long story short, the end result was essentially dry hopping three different fermentation tanks holding the Catuai, each with a different hop. Citra, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops were chosen because of their differing characteristics with spice, fruit and herbal notes . This will be an ongoing project we will continue to hone in on. Its difficult to say where this experiment will lead but we are excited to sink our teeth into this one for years to come!

These three coffees were released in 2016, the first dry hopped coffees being sold in the world, all with roaring success. We even decided to dry hop our Chocolate City iced coffee for several events, CBC Boston & Copenhagen, Lollapalooza and special offerings at our retail locations. Expect to see more hopped coffee releases, both iced and whole bean in 2017! 

El Dorado Hops

Country: Guatemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Cultivar: Catuai
Hop: Fermented with El Dorado Hops
Notes: Cantaloupe, Honey, Milk Chocolate

 

Citra Hops

Country: Guatemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Culivar: Catuai
Hops: Fermented with Citra Hops
Notes: Cocoa, Orange, Pineapple

Mosiac Hops

Country: Gautemala
Farm: San Jeronimo Miramar
Cultivar: Catuai
Hops: Fermented with Mosiac Hops
Notes: Plum, Pear, Lemongrass