Want to drink fruit-flavored coffee? Can you add fruit when fermenting coffee?

In the specialty coffee market, buyers look for coffees with unique flavors and high cupping scores . This pushes coffee producers to be as innovative as possible in production and processing. One such example is producers experimenting with processing their coffee cherries by fermenting them along with other fruits.

Fermentation begins naturally when yeast, bacteria and other microorganisms break down sugar molecules in the mucilage inside the cherry. This process produces acids and alcohols, which in turn affect the flavor of the coffee.

To meet the growing consumer demand for unique, complex, and high-quality coffees, many specialty coffee producers are experimenting with new and unusual fermentation methods ( such as carbonic maceration ) . Technology and the specialty coffee market’s new demand for smaller batches have producers working to differentiate themselves in post-harvest processing.

Over the past decade or so , fermentation has become an area of ​​particular interest for specialty coffee producers. More and more investment has been made in post-harvest processing strategies. Prior to this, high yields were the focus , as the demand for specialty profiles was smaller . Previously, the focus of commercial beans was on how to reduce humidity levels more quickly, and exploration of the richness of microorganisms in coffee mucilage was basically non-existent .

Controlled fermentation first became popular in the Cerrado Mineiro region of Brazil when producers saw other producing countries ( such as Guatemala and Colombia ) also using fermentation to control the growth of microorganisms in rainy and humid conditions, giving it a complex and vibrant coffee.

Innovation in coffee fermentation has been happening and interest in the field has been growing since around 2012. The practice has become more frequent in Colombia .

Some producers add fruit to their fermented coffee. Cherries are fermented anaerobically in sealed tanks along with a predetermined percentage of whole fruit or extract ( usually sugar cane juice or citrus fruit ) . This mixture is fermented in the tank for a predetermined period of time. During this time, the temperature is strictly controlled . Citrus fruit is used more frequently in the fermentation process.

For example, fermentation with oranges . A farm in Brazil puts citrus in a bag, partially crushes it, and then adds it to the container where the coffee is processed at a ratio of 1:5 fruit / coffee. After 72 hours, it continues with normal processing. The cupping score of this fermented coffee can reach 91 points. But the problem is that the farm cannot be sure whether the citrus flavor produced by this result comes from citrus or from the coffee beans themselves. In the experiments they conducted in multiple batches of adding citrus, lemons and other fruits, the results obtained were not always the same. Therefore, it is more important to update the processing technology and ensure stable production quality than to ferment by adding fruits.

Controlled fermentation is a relatively new and less researched part of coffee processing. Scientists are just beginning to explore the effects of controlled fermentation on coffee. Many believe that more research needs to be done on fermentation before fruit can be fermented.

While it has been confirmed that adding fruit to the fermentation process affects the wort ( the liquid produced during the fermentation process ) , further research is needed to determine how this affects the flavor of the coffee. Overall, we are closer to implicit knowledge than scientific knowledge .

Similarly, some farms insist on not adding fruit during coffee processing because their fermentation is already complex enough. They want to stand on a purer standpoint, respecting the sugar content of the coffee fruit itself and the local microbial flora based on it to maintain the original taste of the coffee.

It is important to note that adding fruit to fermentation increases production costs without guaranteeing good results. Fruit fermentation processing methods may lead to changes in producers' expectations of the final product, and there is little data on how this method affects coffee quality .

Fruit fermentation requires producers to carefully control all possible variables, which comes at a great cost . Microorganisms and sugar molecules must interact in a very specific way to achieve any positive results. If external variables ( such as temperature and oxygen levels ) are not monitored , this can result in a very expensive coffee that tastes bad.

Overall, producers should proceed with caution and provide professional support whenever possible. The best way is to find relevant researchers to help producers experiment in a controlled and detailed way until a stable treatment is developed in this way . Through meticulous and careful experimentation and innovation, the desired flavor can be truly produced .

Adding fruits to fermented coffee in the hope of producing fruity flavors is a kind of metaphysics for ordinary farms, and it all depends on fate!

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