Coffee Traditions
The coffee cherry is similar to the cherries you eat and other stone fruit, with a tough outer skin, a pulpy middle, and a hard seed at the center. It’s the seed that eventually becomes the coffee bean. Simply drying these coffee cherries in the sun was the traditional method of reaching the bean, but coffee processing has been refined in various ways as coffee has moved from continent to continent and region to region throughout history. Dry-processed or natural coffee is still a treasured processing method, in part for the flavors and lightness it can bring out of the bean. Wet-processed or washed coffee was developed as coffee production grew into a worldwide trade. Both methods have their variations and subtleties, designed to bring out the flavor imparted to a bean by its breeding, terroir, and seasonal growing conditions. Lately, growers have developed a new option for tapping into those flavor notes, within either wet and dry processes: a new fermentation step. This is an emerging trend; still somewhat loose and experimental. The industry hasn’t even settled on a standard name for this processing step. It’s been called “experimental fermentation,” “cultured fermentation,” and “controlled fermentation.” Fermented coffees tend to accentuate existing citrus and floral notes that have always been present in the finished coffee, just not front and center. Some fermented coffees, once roasted and cupped, are even likened to fruit juice. It’s still coffee, of course, but often with startling new flavor dimensions.
Simply drying these coffee cherries in the sun was the traditional method of reaching the bean….
and mucilage have started to break down, they can be washed completely away or left on to varying degrees. As the coffee dries, this layer can influence the final coffee bean flavor. An experimental fermentation step can take place before the cherries are mashed, during this mundane fermentation, or afterwards, in a separate step. Local coffee growers are often doing the fermenting as a way to highlight their coffee and distinguish it in the marketplace. Coffee wholesalers and importers often work with the coffee producers on fermentation techniques — it’s in everyone’s interest to offer the highestquality coffee possible. Fermentation might be aerobic or anaerobic, use nontraditional containers or utilize specialty bacteria and yeasts.
It might even be based on the carbonic maceration process used in winemaking. Creativity and experimentation are the orders of the day. What is certain is that this trend is producing some eyeopening and delicious coffees.
Finding Fermented Coffees
David Tatum owns and operates The Captain’s Coffee, an online business that supplies unroasted “green” coffee to home roasters and other customers throughout the United States. The number of fermented offerings in his inventory has been steadily growing. “All four of the current coffee importers we’re buying from work with experimental fermentation processes,” says Tatum. “A couple of them are on the ground and hands on, working with producers.”
The fermentedcoffee processing trend seems to have originated in Central and South America, but fermented coffees are now appearing from all over the world, including coffee-growing regions in Africa and Indonesia.
If you’re in the right port at the right time of year, you might be able to find a coffee producer who will sell you a 5-pound bag of fermented-and-dried greens (if you supply the burlap). But to try fruity, floral, and fermented coffee at home or in cafés around the world, look for purveyors of specialty coffee. Fermented coffees are part of the specialty coffee segment, the highest-quality coffee available.
You can find specialty coffee at your local roaster and coffee shop, or through your coffee subscription service. Home roasters can find fermented coffees through green coffee vendors like Tatum. “The goal of experimental processing should always be tointensify flavors and characteristics that are already present,” Tatum says. “If it’s a juicy natural, we want to kick that sweetness and juiciness up to eleven. If it’s a clean, floral washed coffee, we’re trying to make those florals really pop while keeping the cup balanced and clean.”
A quick online search for “fermented coffee for sale” brings up a lot of fermented and roasted coffee from quality roasteries. You’ll often find detailed descriptions of the specific fermentation techniques.
Descriptors like “juicy,” “fruity,” “citrusy,” “floral” or “flavor bomb” are good indicators of fermented coffee. If you’re not sure the coffee you are eyeballing has been fermented, just ask the purveyor; they’ll be happy to help. This trend is spreading fast, and it won’t be long before you’ll have a chance to give fermented coffee a try. Don’t knock it until you taste it — you might even find a
favorite.. new