ANAEROBIC FERMENTATION
By sealing the cherries, either pulped or whole in an oxygen free environment (anoxic) it causes the microbes and yeasts to convert sugars and acids in the coffee’s mucilage into different acids, CO2, ethyl alcohol, and other compounds. The beans will ferment somewhat differently depending on whether they are washed, naturals, or honeys, therefore leading to a variety of fruit and candy-like flavours.
NATURAL PROCESS
The ripe coffee cherries are hand picked and allowed to dry completely around the seed before being husked or hulled off. While historically this hulling was done by hand with a kind of mortar-and-pestle setup, today it’s done by machinery that can be finely calibrated.
While the coffee is drying the sugars are continually fermenting inside the cherry while there is enough moisture to feed the microorganisms. This can take up to 30 days on average.
Due to the long fermentations, natural processed coffees often display fruity or “pulpy” flavours, often described as “boozy” or “winey”; can also have strong nutty and/or chocolate characteristics, and typically has a heavier or syrupy body
