# Coffee fruit wine? Has anyone tried this?



## Toledocoffee (Mar 3, 2017)

I am a beginner in winemaking. I have about 4 months studying from reserch on line and one book I bought on line. I'm a coffee farmer so now this pass harvest have tried many recepist to see what comes out. So far some white wines are good (I'm not a wine taster eather) some of red are good some have been to sweet. And some are close to port wine in taste. 
Coffee is a cherry kind of fruit. So I wonder what recepist could someone recommend so I can have a better result for next coming harvest. Which is next November. I will of course follow up the ones that I consider came out good from my first experiment. But I want to have other ones recommend so maybe better results come.


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## FTC Wines (Mar 4, 2017)

Welcome to the forum. We have made several batches of Coffee Wine from Jack Kellers reciepe. Turned out quite well. Still have a few bottles from our first batch 5 yrs ago! I think a coffee port would be great. Not sure what fruit you blend with coffee, hopefully others will chime in. Roy


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## Stressbaby (Mar 4, 2017)

FTC Wines said:


> Welcome to the forum. We have made several batches of Coffee Wine from Jack Kellers reciepe. Turned out quite well. Still have a few bottles from our first batch 5 yrs ago! I think a coffee port would be great. Not sure what fruit you blend with coffee, hopefully others will chime in. Roy



I don't think @Toledocoffee is talking about making that kind of wine. I think s/he is talking about wine from the fresh fruit (coffee cherries) of the coffee plant.

Coffea arabica I believe is the latin name for the plant. It has a fragrant flower and when the fruit is ripe it doesn't have a lot of pulp but what is there is fairly sweet, low acid, and somewhat aromatic. It actually is a lovely plant on it's own.

I have not made wine from the fresh fruit; I used to have a single large plant but never got enough fruit for wine. I imagine that it would require additional sugar and acid, and would require a lot of fruit for relatively small volume of wine.

Please post back if you do try it, I'd love to hear the results.


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## Toledocoffee (Mar 4, 2017)

Hi there. Mixing coffee with fruits sounds interesting. But I am talking about the actual coffee fruit. Because it's a fruit not bean. So thank you FTC
I will consider fruits with it later on. For now I am more focused on just the coffee fruit. 
As stress any said it it has to little pulp. But it's not an issue for me because we have too many we are coffee growers and I have about 75 galones made this year and just for trying. For fun but thinking about reducing our waste and some others as well. 

I have a start brix of 25 sometimes. But to process it I still have to use some water that deludes it to 14 % brix
So I have added sugar to get it good to start. I've made recepist with 2,3,4,5,6 kilos of sugar per 5 gallon backet. Try different kinds of sugars. Like brown sugar. Honey, white sugar and other things. 

The pH at the end is 3,6. I don't know how to measure the TA. So I only have the brix or SG. 
Some have gone dry. But some stay sweet. And so far I am using only bakery yeast and nothing else. So. I need a lot of help. I am going to try to post the different methods I have used so maybe someone can help me with that a little. 

A year we can collect about 5000 liters of coffee pulp. And around the world there is a lot more. So also we hope more people can start selling their coffee fruits. Not just the beans!!

Now another question: if coffee fruit has caffeine. What happens when it fermentes? Is my wine with cafeine?


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## Stressbaby (Mar 4, 2017)

Toledocoffee said:


> Hi there. Mixing coffee with fruits sounds interesting. But I am talking about the actual coffee fruit. Because it's a fruit not bean. So thank you FTC
> I will consider fruits with it later on. For now I am more focused on just the coffee fruit.
> As stress any said it it has to little pulp. But it's not an issue for me because we have too many we are coffee growers and I have about 75 galones made this year and just for trying. For fun but thinking about reducing our waste and some others as well.
> 
> ...



1. Don't worry about the TA. If I were you I'd push the pH down just a little bit to 3.4 range. The SO2 will be more effective and I'm guessing you would be more likely to get a balanced wine.

2. See if you can't get some wine yeast - just a general purpose yeast like EC-1118 or K1-V1116 would work for you.

3. I'm surprised you start at 25 brix. Your coffee fruit must be sweeter than mine.

4. The pulp does have caffeine, though not quite as much as the bean. I think you'd have to assume your wine is caffeinated too.


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## Toledocoffee (Mar 4, 2017)

Thanks for your time. I am so glad to hear I don't have to worry about the TA. 

I have thought about getting wine yeast. What kind is the best for different kinds. Or should I get different types for each type. Because for example I followed the steps for white wines to use only the pulp. And the red styles for using the peeling. 

I have friends who their coffee fruits get up to 30 brix. He leaves in higher altitude. Same as the quality of the coffee from high altitude is better than lower lands. 

And about cafein in my wine. Is it a bad thing? Because I have heard people should not blend caffeine with alcohol.


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## AkTom (Mar 4, 2017)

Where are you from that you have that many coffee plants? It sounds great to me. Living in Alaska, not much chance to get coffee fruit. 
Tom


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## Toledocoffee (Mar 4, 2017)

We are from Costa Rica. And, yes it's great to work with coffee. But thinking about many of the problems of the world has made us move to start using what is normally wasted. Coffee fruits are higher in antioxidants than blueberries, there is not reason for wanting that. Well, there is, for all the coffee history people have focused on just the beans. And using so much water to process. So without water we can get access to the fruit. And reduce the pulition as well!
Thanks for your comment Tom.


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## jburtner (Mar 5, 2017)

Pectic enzyme will help with extraction. What kind of flavor does the juice have?

This sounds very good And unique 

Cheers 
-johann


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## Toledocoffee (Mar 5, 2017)

Thanks Johann. So Petic enzyme for the red kinds that has the peeling? Should I Aad that at the beginning of the must?


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## Stressbaby (Mar 5, 2017)

Yes add the pectic at the beginning, at least 12 hours after Kmeta.


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## jburtner (Mar 5, 2017)

Toledocoffee said:


> Thanks Johann. So Petic enzyme for the red kinds that has the peeling? Should I Aad that at the beginning of the must?



Yes for reds and whites. There are some specialized enzymes fromm scott labs for reds and whites but standard pectic enzyme will help break down fibers into juice and remove pectic haze. 

I wonder if its possible to source a couple buckets of these fruits in the US. 

Cheers!
-johann


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## Toledocoffee (Mar 5, 2017)

Thanks again. I am adding all this to my shopping list for next year harvest be ready for it. 
I don't know about taking the pulp for a long trip. Because it will start fermentation in less than 12 hours After we process our coffee! And I don't know about customs! 

Thanks. 
I have heard about trying it with natural yeast. Too. Would it be a waste of time or not?


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## Forager (Aug 3, 2017)

Hey Toledocoffee, curious as to what coffee cherries taste like. Are they at all edible? I've heard some say that they taste a bit fruity and flowery. Love the idea that you're trying to make use of what's usually wasted!


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