#3: The Best Cup of Coffee I've Ever Had

10/21/19 • 22 min

If you made it through last week's deep dive about how we talk about and label specialty coffee - you've earned your coffee-nerd badge!

This week I want to pull back the lens and talk more broadly about quality and value. Instead of examining the rigidity of microbiology, this week's episode explores the subjective side of preference and what makes something "good".
I tell you a little about my coffee tasting history and share the story of the best (and worst) cup of coffee I've ever had.

If you made it through last week's deep dive about how we talk about and label specialty coffee - you've earned your coffee-nerd badge!

Previous Episode

#2: How Bad Labels Hold Us Back

The first step in expanding the role of processing in the coffee quality conversation is how we label these coffees. I have noticed a lot of redundancy and confusion in how we describe the coffees.
I've heard various forms of; fermented coffees, yeasted coffees, anaerobic fermentation, lactic process, acetic process.
The labels we use set up the foundation, and I argue that when the labels are inaccurate the whole foundation is compromised. This area of fermentation in specialty coffee is just beginning and I think it's important to be as precise as possible as we move forward.
In this episode I talk about why these names are incomplete at best and inaccurate at worst.

I also answer the first listener question:
"Is it possible to "capture" yeasts from our environment in our own farms and apply these to the fermentation to create our own profiles?"

Next Episode

#4: Over Fermentation and Brettanomyces

I find the term "over fermentation" to be especially annoying. From a biology point of view this term is nonsense.
When coffee professionals use this term it's understood to mean a defect, usually vinegar, "boozy" or like rotting fruit. Everyone agrees that it's a negative trait for a coffee to have. I think it's important to be able to identify this trait but I think this label has held fermentation back and made many (producers and roasters alike) shy away from a process that when controlled can enhance coffee quality.
In this week's episode I answer a listener question about double fermentation and Brettanomyces that gives me an opportunity to untangle the concept from the name we've given it.
"Double fermentation" is another common colloquial phrase mistaken for a scientific label.
It gives the impression that there are two fermentations, but this is not what's happening biologically.
I also talk about the Russian River Brewing Company in Windsor California. I visited earlier this year in July and got to see how they use Brettanomyces and try their Brett Beer. The coffee industry is borrowing from the Beer industry as well as the wine industry and beer yeasts are becoming more popular in mills across Central America. This is an exciting time for coffee microbiology but there are a few cautions I want to give about this particular yeast.
For the visually inclined: I have 3 videos that will breakdown the coffee fermentation process:
https://www.luxia.coffee/instructional-videos