A Quick Guide to Anaerobic Coffee

You’ll usually see comparisons drawn between anaerobically processed espresso and pure wine. However the parallels prolong past the acquainted taste notes—mainly, to the extent of confusion surrounding the title and course of that was additionally seen within the early days of the pure wine increase.

“Anaerobic processes have been used as a fermentation instrument within the beer and wine industries for a really very long time. The motion of this type of course of into espresso is a pure transition, as espresso cherries and inexperienced beans are additionally fermented,” explains Andrea Allen, co-owner of Arkansas-based Onyx Espresso Lab. “There’s a myriad of various methodologies behind this course of from farm to farm, nation to nation, but it surely produces wild and surprising flavors in espresso.”

In our Could/June 2024 situation, we requested Allen to advocate 5 anaerobically processed coffees from completely different roasters. The roundup highlights the spectrum of flavors and approaches to the method. However it additionally begs the query: What precisely is anaerobic espresso? Identical to pure wine, there isn’t any straightforward—or authorized—definition.

A part of the Course of

“Since about 10 years in the past, we’ve got been experiencing what I name the ‘processing revolution’ wherein an increasing number of strategies are developed and branded by espresso producers,” says Mario Fernández, a technical officer with the Specialty Espresso Affiliation and an eighth-generation member of the family of espresso growers in Mexico. “As a result of there isn’t any standardization round espresso processing strategies, there isn’t any consensus about what any given processing technique truly means. I believe the time period ‘anaerobic’ might be the most effective examples of the confusion.”

What we now name the “pure” course of has been used for hundreds of years and easily includes letting your complete espresso cherry dry, sometimes within the solar.

It helps to first perceive among the primary and historic strategies used to course of espresso. What we now name the “pure” course of has been used for hundreds of years and easily includes letting your complete espresso cherry dry, sometimes within the solar. The “washed” technique started getting used within the nineteenth century, whereby the fruit of the espresso cherry was eliminated, and the beans have been fermented within the remaining mucilage earlier than being washed clear. Within the ’90s, the “honey” course of was created wherein the espresso cherries are pulped and the beans in mucilage are dried instantly with out fermentation.

What’s the purpose in processing beans a method or one other? “A number of completely different variations on these strategies have been developed as a result of producers have realized they’ve a option to affect the espresso taste by way of processing,” says Fernández. “We have to begin by acknowledging that espresso producers wrestle lots with low costs and low profitability. And plenty of, many espresso farms should not worthwhile. They’ve only a few alternatives so as to add worth to their espresso.”

New Frontiers

Enter anaerobically processed espresso. “It’s one other leap within the strategy of espresso fermentation that each wows and delights lovers of specialty espresso,” says Allen of Onyx Espresso Lab. Thus it’s no shock that an increasing number of producers are experimenting with the method that usually creates or emphasizes flavors just like these present in ever-trendy pure wine. These flavors are created within the fermentation course of, which, at its most simple degree, happens in a low- or no-oxygen atmosphere (akin to carbonically macerated wine grapes), therefore the anaerobic label.

“Often these flavors for the anaerobically processed coffees are excessive on the fermented notice. They present loads of wine-like notes or sourness…”—Mario Fernández

“What producers are attempting to attain is a sure, distinct taste,” says Fernández. “Often these flavors for the anaerobically processed coffees are excessive on the fermented notice. They present loads of wine-like notes or sourness, for instance.” However once more, how this course of is achieved varies broadly between producers. Some might merely be sealing the contemporary espresso cherries into plastic sacks to ferment earlier than processing, whereas different producers are constructing specialty vessels and changing the oxygen with an inert fuel like CO2. The size of fermentation time will even range, as does any following processes, comparable to whether or not the espresso is washed and the way it’s dried.

Fernández sees the method as having explicit potential so as to add differentiating traits for producers working with typical, lowland-grown coffees. “It’s a official option to search for added worth in your espresso,” he says, however notes that the method wouldn’t be useful for all beans, particularly if the fermented notes find yourself obfuscating the espresso’s naturally occurring fascinating flavors.

“My perception is that we are able to get extra subtle within the methods we course of espresso to discover a center level between processing savvy that provides to the character of the product and likewise the character from the terroir,” says Fernández. “However I like the truth that we live in a time of loads of innovation on the processing degree.”