Watermelon Co-Ferment

Flavoured instant coffee unlocks my nostalga for the late 90’s. The main two I remember were hazelnut and Irish coffee 'Littles' brand jars my mum would purchase from Waitrose. This was before Starbucks flooded us with a world of syrups and changed the game in respect of flavoured coffee, on its arrival in Chelsea in 1998.

Co-Ferments are a buzz word in coffee right now - effectively, adding flavourings during the fermentation process, that all coffee will go through to some degree, as part of normal processing.

Well, my experience of this small batch co-ferment is that it tastes like watermelon. I am not really sure what they added to the vats but whatever it was, it added a big kick of flavour. It is not obviously chemically or artificial tasting but if I were to be specific, I would liken it to the fruit closest to the white and green rind of the watermelon that is sharper and more transactional in its tasting notes-- rather than the juicy, sweet acidic flavour that you might be looking foward to.

Overall, I liked it! But for me at least, this is one cup and done. I was surprised by the sheer amount of flavour these beans have absorbed but at the end of the day it is like coffee with cordial.