Coffee Purists vs. Revolutionaries
Once upon a time, there were specialty coffee people who considered “Robusta” a curse word, and who thought the main processing methods were sacred and had to be kept untouched.
Nowadays, there’s people who are looking for ways to appreciate Robustas more, to find a way to blend coffees smarter, and to find new, innovative ways to process coffee. All of these can be done to achieve better taste, better yields and even a longer shelf-life for fresh coffee.
Who are the people behind anaerobic fermentation, carbonic maceration, fine Robustas, and yeast innoculation? It is the same specialty coffee lovers who are experimenting, innovating and mixing things up. Those who were considered the “purists” have now become the “revolutionaries”.
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Let’s take a look at some examples:
- Yeast innoculation to prolong a coffee’s fade is now being tested. By adding CIMA yeast to interact with the wild yeast that carries on fermentation in coffee, these people have been able to make coffees over 14 months old feel as fresh as ever. Read more about Lucia Solis’s experimentation here!
- Anaerobic fermentation and carbonic maceration have become a way to control the environments in which coffee ferments, either with a richness of carbon dioxide or the elimination of oxygen. Read about these new processing methods in this very rich article from Daily Coffee News.
- Robustas have been said to have rubbery taste and too much bitterness. But as pointed out by the CQI and the German company GEPA, Robusta has just been overlooked and has not received the care it needs when picking, processing, and roasting. Perfect Daily Grind covers the story about Fine Robustas here.
So, we have Lucia, a chemistry expert who has set on a mission to empower coffee producers through the art of fermentation; we have coffee mill administrators raising their coffees up to 3.0 points in cupping scores due to anaerobic fermentation, and we have the CQI taking a closer look into the potential of Robustas.
Innovation in production, processing, roasting and brewing is just starting. The question is… Are yesterday’s purists today’s revolutionaries in coffee?
Let us know your thoughts!
