SPIRITUAL: 5 Days of Inspiration for a Spirit-Led LifeSampl

DAY 3 - NEW AND IMPROVED

Does mold sound like something you would ever want in your coffee? Probably not. But koji, a strain of the Aspergillus Oryzae fungus is poised to become the biggest trend in the coffee world.

Koji is best known for its ability to turn rice into sake and soybeans into miso paste. It has been used by trailblazing chefs to ferment grains, cure proteins and impart umami to dishes both sweet and savory. Now the culinary world’s most popular mold is moving to the coffee world.

Coffee producers believe the multipurpose ingredient can improve mediocre coffee beans and produce a better-tasting cup of coffee. Koji can add sweetness in coffees that are lacking or enhance a coffee to a higher grade. With an increase in the cost of coffee beans, this is an opportune time to maximize coffee quality.

El Vergel Estates, a coffee farm in Columbia is credited with producing the first successful batch of Koji treated beans. They collaborated with Koji enthusiasts from America and Japan. A handful of specialty coffee shops around the world have begun selling bags of Koji coffee.

The process starts by sprinkling freshly picked coffee cherries with yellow-white Koji powder, a substance that looks like flour. Then gently mixing with a paddle. The berries sit for two days producing a fluffy white fur, before being sun-dried for two to three weeks. They are then milled to remove the outer husk and are ready for shipment.

The greatest appeal of Koji is that it doesn’t add flavor of its own. It is revolutionary for its ability to boost the quality of a basic coffee bean and turn it into a better version of itself. For the coffee drinker, Koji means a rounder, silkier, sweeter brew.

Galatians 5:22-23 says, “God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.” When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are filled with the Spirit. Our soul is saved, we are a new person and we are changed on the inside.

But our intellect is not increased, our appearance is not improved, our personality is not invalidated. Yet as the Spirit works in us there are noticeable outward changes. We become more loving, peaceful and happy. The Spirit produces a better version of us than we could ever be ourselves.

As we continue to allow God to work in us, he begins to work through us in powerful ways. God takes us the way we are and makes us into who we were destined to be.