The meaning of innovation is to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products. This has been at the core of everything we do every day. Our Founder and CEO, Joseph Brodksy, along with our innovative processing team, are experimenting with hundreds of different formulas each year, pushing the boundaries of what coffee can taste like, or how it should be cultivated. After many trials and errors in the past decade, we established formulas of growing and processing, that enable us to produce better coffees every year. They usually start as batches of 3kg, and when they are perfected, they shape the whole Ninety Plus’ coffee portfolio.
Ruby (violet, dark chocolate, musk, candied grapefruit)
Ruby was first developed by Ninety Plus by accident in a processing experiment gone wrong in Ethiopia in 2015. The coffee processed yielded a high count of exceptionally red seeds, which, when tasted separately had an incredible red wine and red fruit intensity.
We repeated the process in Panama, and a resulting batch called Perci Red scored 97 points on Coffee Review. When World Champion George Koustoumpardis joined Ninety Plus in 2015, Joseph invited George to work with him to take this process to a different level, and Ruby was born. The Ruby name is derived from the uniform and deep burgundy color of the unroasted coffee seeds. Ruby is the most intense coffee in the Ninety Plus menu. Ruby is enjoyed in honor of George and his wife, Konstantina, who have lived and worked as core members of the Ninety Plus Estates team in Panama since 2017.
Carmo (pineapple, hops, caramel)
The Carmo taste profile was first manifested in 2017 in the famous Ninety Plus Batch #227, which broke both producer pricing world records ($5001.50/kg at public international auction) and was used to win the 2017 World Brewer’s Cup Championship in Budapest.
This coffee, initially an accident in production, was successfully replicated twice in 2018 by Ninety Plus in tiny experiments, one (Founder’s Selection) was used to win the 2019 World Brewer’s Cup Championship.
Tigre (oak wood, chocolate syrup, cherry jam)
Tigre is the second of two completely new taste profile discoveries in 2020 by Ninety Plus. Tigre has a taste profile that resembles buttered rum cake or cognac, laden with chocolate and cherry. Just too much yum in this one.
Tigre is named in honor of Camilo Sanchez, Director of Estates at Ninety Plus, who manifests the strength and perseverance of a tiger in his daily work. “El Tigre” is also known for his adventures with Joseph Brodsky in the magical coffee wilderness at Ninety Plus Estates.
Yuzo (yuzu lemon, loquat, sidr honey)
Born in 2020, this completely new processing formula utilizes the leaf of the coffee plant in fermentation to create a signature citric and juicy taste more reminiscent of sake and Sancerre wine than of any traditional coffee taste.
Kulé (watermelon, rose hip, meyer lemon)
Ethiopians traditionally consume both coffee leaf (kuti) and cherry (buna kela). Ninety Plus also considers all parts of the coffee plant in its processing recipes. The Kulé process utilizes the husk (cherry) of the coffee fruit as an ingredient in fermentation.
Although Ninety Plus has used coffee cherry for several years, this particular formula is new for the 2021 harvest and yields a juicy and refreshing watermelon / rose hip taste. Incredible hot or chilled.
The Signature Gift Set includes all five coffees above (5 x 50g roasted or 5 x 60g unroasted).