The Future - Strawberry Shortcake

The Future has been a beloved staple on our year-round menu for quite awhile now. With it, we have been able to showcase excellence in processing techniques, particularly in regard to anaerobic and co-fermentation endeavors. Our goal with each of these unique blends is to elevate flavor as the guiding principle for each creation.

HOW WE GOT HERE | There is no shortage of indulgences that make summertime so sweet: backyard barbecues, beach BLTs, roadside produce stands, frozen drinks with tiny umbrellas, and popsicles… well, everywhere. With flavors and fruits in breathtaking abundance this time of year, it’s easy to find inspiration for blends that scream, long live summer!

For this release, we took inspiration from two very different –but equally dear– summer sense memories. First, the backyard barbecues that ended with an embarrassingly simple (but impossibly delicious) trifecta of vanilla sponge cake, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries soaked in sugar. It’s a dessert which can be consumed no matter how full your belly or how high the thermostat reading, and it holds a nostalgic place in many of our hearts. Second, the unmistakable sound of the ice cream truck’s siren song as it idled through our neighborhoods, bringing with it all manner of frozen confectionary dreams. One ice cream bar, though, was the MVP on days too hot for a Nestle Drumstick – the Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake Bar.

HOW WE DID IT | In both fresh and frozen forms, there are a few non-negotiables when considering the profile of a perfect strawberry shortcake iteration: red fruits (duh), vanilla, and creaminess. To accomplish this, we combined five coffees from producers throughout Colombia, including two co-ferments (for obvious reasons), one experimental blend (for more strawberry), one natural (for more red fruit and depth), and one thermal shock washed coffee (for increased acidity):

2 parts Forest Coffee - Vanilla Heaven (Quindío, Colombia)

1 part Forest Coffee - Juicy Strawberry (Quindío, Colombia)

1 part Unblended - Young Producers Project (various cities throughout Colombia)

1 part Diego Horta - Natural (Huila, Colombia)

1 part Nestor Lasso - Thermal Shock Caturra (Huila, Colombia)

HOW IT TASTES | Like its confectionary inspirations, this coffee is perceived as insanely sweet at first sip, like sponge cake. It’s as full of strawberries as a pick-your-own pint basket, but it also maintains a pleasant acidity like lemon zest. The body is smooth and creamy, combining with the powers of that vanilla co-fermented coffee to give us something like whipped cream, or vanilla cold foam. 

Country of Origin | Colombia

Producers | Forest Coffee | Unblended | Diego Horta | Nestor Lasso

Process | various

Variety | various

The Future - Strawberry Shortcake, produced by Forest Coffee, Diego Horta, and Nestor Lasso, represents a collaborative effort from Colombia that showcases the experimental potential of modern coffee production. Offered by Black & White Coffee Roasters, this selection utilizes a variety of processing methods and varietals to achieve its distinct profile. While traditional washed coffees often highlight clean acidity, experimental processing methods are increasingly used to manipulate fermentation environments, often resulting in intensified sweetness and unique aromatic compounds.

The resulting cup features notes of sponge cake, strawberries, lemon zest, whipped cream, and vanilla cold foam. When evaluating such complex flavor profiles, it is helpful to reference a flavor wheel to better identify the nuances between the bright citrus acidity and the creamy, dessert-like qualities present in the cup. This lot serves as a compelling example of how producers are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in contemporary coffee cultivation.