8/29/19
Q: (V.) Hi! I was wondering if I could get more info or clarification on the processingThe removal of the cherry and parchment from the coffee seed.: Coffee is either wet-processed (also called washed or wet-milled) or dry-processed (also called wild, natural or natural... of “Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea (PNG) occupies the eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, part of Indonesia. The two primary areas for... Kainantu Sero”. The specs on SM say it’s washed but the farm notes mention dry-fermenting for 36 hours?
“Mr. Sero dry ferments his coffee for 36 hours, perhaps lending to the fruitedIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don't exactly see... characteristics found in the cup.”
A: (Tom) Hi V. Thanks for the question: so washed coffee (wet-process) is fermentedAs a defect flavor, a fruit quality in a coffee that is excessively ripe, toward rotten. Fermented flavor can be the result of poor wet-processing, over-ripe cherry, or... as part of the procedure …though there is some “machine washed” coffee that might not be fermented. FermentationFermentation in coffee processing traditionally referred to the stage in wet-processing of the coffee. We now understand that fermentation happens more broadly in nearly all processes, including honey... breaks down the fruit flesh (mucilageMucilage indicates the fruity layer of the coffee cherry, between the outer skin and the parchment layer that surrounds the seed. It readily clings to the inner parchment...) layer so it can be washed away. It’s like a plum – like the flesh part, when it doesn’t separate from the seed. Fermentation time depends a lot on temperature in the area so can be as short as 8 hours but at colder higher altitudes can be as long as 36 hours or even 72 hours. After it is fermented, the coffee is washed down the channels and water and physical agitation remove the fruityIn some coffee taster’s lexicon, “fruity” means the coffee is tainted with fruit, and “fruited” means a coffee is graced by positive fruit notes. We don't exactly see... mucilage layer.
So the coffee is wet processed and it is fermented 36 hours. Long fermentation times can lend a little fruit to the cup, but not always. Anyway, the Specs and review are both right. Sorry if any of this is stuff you already know but just wanted to lay it all out!
V: Thanks for clarifying that Tom. But there’s still a contradiction: Your “Specs” says it’s Wet ProcessWet-processing starts by removing the outer skin of the coffee cherry with a machine called a pulper, then fermenting the remaining fruit (with green bean inside) in water... and Patio Sun-dried. The Farm Notes say, “Mr. Sero dry ferments his coffee for 36 hours, perhaps lending to the fruited characteristics found in the cup. As you point out below, if the coffee were Wet Processed then I would expect that the notes would not say “Mr. Sero dry ferments his coffee for 36 hours.”
Tom: Ah – Okay I understand the question now. Your question makes a lot of sense and I understand completely: How can wet-process coffee have dry-fermentation? We used the term “Dry fermentation” in that review, which has nothing to do with dry-process … what we mean is that the pulped coffee (coffee with the skin removed) is fermented in a tank without additional water… dry.
I see we made that distinction in the review without fully explaining it! In contrast there are places that fermentAs an aroma or flavor in coffee, ferment is a defect taste, resulting from bad processing or other factors. Ferment is the sour, often vinegar-like, that results from... under water, that is, adding water to the tank after they pulp the coffee into it, submerging the coffee. So the review is correct but doesn’t explain what dry fermentation is…
Actually I would say most coffee that is wet-processed is fermented without being submerged in water to do so . So most is dry-fermented. There’s a bunch more to say about this but I seem to be overshooting the target when it comes to question-answering lately!
I’ll add some photos from my trips that illustrate the difference, and I hope that helps!
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