Colombia by Sergio Aranda - Passion Fruit Co-ferment

This wildly expressive Yellow Bourbon from Finca Anaya in Acevedo, Huila showcases producer Sergio Aranda Gomez’s innovative approach to fermentation. Grown at 1600 MASL, this lot belongs to a category Sergio calls “Fruit Inoculation”—a process in which fruit and yeast are first fermented independently to create an active culture before that pre-ferment ever comes into contact with the coffee.

For this lot, Sergio uses real passion fruit and selected yeast to create the pre-ferment, which is then introduced during the coffee’s fermentation. Rather than simply adding fruit directly to the coffee, this approach gives Sergio greater control over the fermentation and allows the passion fruit culture to influence the coffee’s aromatic and sensory profile in a deliberate way.

The result is unapologetically tropical. This is not a coffee that makes you search for the tasting notes. From the moment you open the bag, its aromatic intensity makes itself known—vibrant, juicy, candy-like, and unmistakably passion fruit.

Tasting Notes

Passion fruit is unquestionably the star of the show: intensely aromatic, juicy, sweet, and pleasantly tart. Behind it comes ripe mango, adding a softer, rounder tropical sweetness that balances the passion fruit’s lively acidity.

There’s also a distinctly confectionary quality that immediately reminded us of tropical fruit candy. It’s bright, saturated, and incredibly expressive, with an almost mouthwatering combination of tropical acidity and concentrated sweetness.

What makes the cup particularly fun is just how unmistakable those flavors are. For someone accustomed to more traditional coffee profiles, this is the kind of coffee that can completely reset expectations. If you’ve never ventured into the world of fruit-inoculated coffees before, don’t be surprised if your first reaction is simply, “Coffee can taste like this?”

Fruit Inoculation

Sergio categorizes this coffee as a Fruit Inoculation, an approach he also uses with other experimental lots at Finca Anaya.

The important distinction is what happens before the fruit interacts with the coffee. Sergio first combines real passion fruit with selected yeast and allows them to pre-ferment separately, creating an active fruit-and-yeast culture. Only after this pre-fermentation is complete is the culture introduced to the coffee.

Think of it somewhat like creating a fermentation starter: rather than relying solely on spontaneous fermentation or simply placing fresh fruit into a tank of coffee, Sergio develops the inoculant first and then uses it to guide the subsequent coffee fermentation.

It’s a thoughtful distinction that helps explain both the intensity and definition of the passion fruit character in the finished cup. The process isn’t trying to disguise the coffee’s origin or create an artificial flavor—it represents another tool Sergio uses to deliberately explore fermentation and the enormous range of sensory experiences coffee can offer.

Producer & Farm

At Finca Anaya, Sergio Aranda Gomez approaches fermentation as another tool for exploring just how expressive coffee can become. His work combines thoughtful experimentation with a deep understanding of specialty coffee, allowing variety, fermentation, and processing to interact in ways that produce genuinely distinctive coffees.

Fruit inoculation is a particularly compelling example of that philosophy. Instead of experimentation for experimentation’s sake, Sergio develops controlled fermentation cultures and applies them intentionally, giving him another variable through which to shape the final sensory profile.

For us at Kickback Coffee Roasters, working with producers like Sergio is about more than finding an exciting coffee and moving on to the next. As a small roasting company, we’re particularly interested in finding producers whose work genuinely excites us, exploring the breadth of what they’re producing, and developing relationships that can grow from harvest to harvest.

That’s what makes working with Finca Anaya so exciting for us. Coffees like this give us an opportunity to share some of the creativity happening at origin while highlighting the people and processes responsible for creating those flavors in the first place. Great coffee begins with the people producing it, and we’re proud to roast and share Sergio’s work.

Details

• Origin: Acevedo, Huila, Colombia
• Producer: Sergio Aranda Gomez
• Farm: Finca Anaya
• Variety: Yellow Bourbon
• Process: Passion Fruit Inoculation / Co-Fermentation
• Altitude: 1600 MASL
• Tasting Notes: Passion Fruit · Mango · Tropical Candy