- Processing has always been innovative in specialty coffee, but it’s only becoming increasingly inventive.
- We’re seeing more high-end fermentations at coffee events, not just from roasters, but also from producers.
- More farmers are working with people in the wine industry to create entirely new processing techniques, effectively setting their own trends.
- Smallholders are also seizing the opportunity to sell these coffees, given their lucrative potential, targeting competitors and high-end roasters.
- The market is evolving at a rapid pace, but key challenges lie ahead, including transparency and higher levels of risk.
Processing is often at the forefront of innovation in specialty coffee – reinventing how we experience it altogether.
Clean washed coffees are as popular as ever, but the growing demand for more exciting, “unusual”, and novel flavours has driven producers to further experiment with processing techniques. Some have “reimagined” traditional methods or created entirely new ones – opening up new flavour possibilities and market opportunities.
As producers continue to push the boundaries of processing innovation, it’s important to understand how it will evolve and what challenges lie ahead.
I spoke with Felipe Sardi from La Palma y El Tucán and Edwin Noreña from Campo Hermosa Coffee to find out more.
You may also likeour article on whether innovative processing can help coffee producers overcome challenges.
How coffee processing keeps evolving
Processing has a huge impact on the overall coffee experience. Research estimates that post-harvest activities, especially processing, are responsible for up to 60% of final coffee quality.
It also has a significant influence over flavour and mouthfeel. Washed and natural processed coffees – often considered the most “traditional” – make up the vast majority of the market. The former are generally much cleaner with more noticeable acidity, while the latter are fruitier and sweeter with a more pronounced body.
Honey processing, also now considered “standard” in specialty coffee, utilises different variations of mucilage retained on the beans to create a range of flavour profiles. Black honey, for example, implies 75 to 100% mucilage, so it’s most similar to natural processing. White honey, meanwhile, usually contains around 10% mucilage – akin to a washed coffee.
Building on the foundation of the “big three” processing methods, more producers started to experiment with their techniques in the mid-2010s. Controlling specific variables or utilising additional ingredients allows them to create entirely new flavour experiences – catering to growing consumer demand for more unconventional sensory profiles.
Controlled fermentation as the driver of innovation
Carbonic maceration emerged in 2015, popularised by Sasa Sestic’s win at the World Barista Championship. Like other processing methods that followed, carbonic maceration leverages fermentation to amplify certain flavour attributes or introduce new ones.
“Over the past few years, the greatest innovation has been the intentional use of fermentation as a tool for sensory design,” says Felipe, the co-founder of the award and competition-winning La Palma & El Tucán coffee farm in Colombia. “We’ve moved from simple washed or natural processes to scientifically guided fermentations, where pH, temperature, microbial activity, and oxygen exposure are meticulously controlled.
“At La Palma & El Tucán, we developed and documented methods such as lactic, acetic, bio-innovation (washed and natural), pH clarity, and honey fermentation processes – each finetuned for specific flavour profiles,” he adds. “These aren’t just experiments anymore; they’re structured, repeatable systems designed to amplify terroir expression.”
These enhanced flavour profiles have captured the attention of both high-end roasters and competitors, who use these coffees as differentiators and unique selling points.
“Today, fermentation offers a world of possibilities,” Edwin, the CEO and owner of award-winning Campo Hermosa Coffee Farm in Colombia, known for its unique experimental Bourbon and Caturra varieties. “We use mossto, hops, fresh and dried fruits, more accessible forms of glucose, and a wide range of yeasts.”
More recently, co-fermented and infused coffees, also relying on fermentation and the use of additional ingredients, have proliferated. Infused coffees typically include flavouring agents or additives introduced externally, usually during or after fermentation, or post-harvest processing. These additions can include concentrated fruit powders or extracts, spices, essential oils, or synthetic flavourings.
Co-fermented coffees, meanwhile, utilise external organic substrates (such as fresh fruit pulp, musts, or cacao pulp) that are added during fermentation, altering the flavour beyond terroir and the cherry itself.
“Our first co-fermented coffees date back to around 2015, when I began experimenting with mossto and some commercial yeasts I found in local markets,” Edwin says. “I used this juice to infuse the coffee masses during fermentation in closed environments using small 20-litre tanks.
“When I discovered the impact of this leachate on fermentation – and its versatility as a starter culture – I called it mossto, since it followed the same principle as grape must in winemaking. I chose the spelling with double ‘s’ to distinguish it from the wine industry.”
Processing has opened up new opportunities for coffee producers
Despite high coffee prices, producers continue to face an increasing number of challenges. The rising cost of inputs, such as fertilisers and labour fees, means many are unable to reinvest in their farms, leaving them vulnerable to climate change, market volatility, and geopolitical tensions.
To navigate these hurdles, while simultaneously finding a point of differentiation in an increasingly competitive market, more farmers are turning to experimental processing and intentional fermentation. In some cases, these techniques can boost cup quality and improve flavour, especially for overripe cherries typically discarded or sold as lower-quality.
This trend is most noticeable at industry events. More producers have started to market and export coffee, including high-end fermentations, themselves, bypassing traditional trade models and exerting more control over their own supply chains.
“Especially for those working with innovative or high-value coffees, staying close to export decisions is crucial to ensure the story, quality, and intention behind the coffee are properly communicated,” Edwin says.
These “showstopping” lots are used as conversation starters, helping producers establish new roaster partnerships that can drive long-term sales across a broader selection of more “traditional” coffees.
Coinciding with their growing presence at events, specialty coffee producers are also drawing inspiration from the winemaking industry. Although this isn’t a new concept, more farmers, including smallholders, have started to work directly with wine and beer experts to apply similar practices to coffee processing.
While the primary intention is to broaden the spectrum of flavour without sacrificing clarity or origin integrity, cross-industry collaborations can also result in more consistent and replicable fermentations. They can also give producers greater creative freedom to differentiate their coffees in the market, as well as a more scientific approach to improving quality control and shelf life.
“We are deeply inspired by the wine and beer industries, especially their scientific approach to fermentation, variable control, and use of starter cultures,” Felipe says. “However, it’s essential to recognise that coffee requires a very different framework. Coffee fermentation is shorter; it doesn’t occur only in a liquid medium, and the risks of over-fermentation or sensory collapse are higher.”
Supporting coffee’s ecosystem
This highlights a broader conversation about the use of natural and native ingredients versus artificial or “foreign” ones – a point of contention, especially when it comes to infused coffees. For many, the latter is seen as less desirable and could compromise the coffee’s innate characteristics, or even food safety regulations.
“Indigenous microorganisms are part of the ecosystem’s invisible language – translating soil, climate, and biodiversity into flavour. While inoculation can offer consistency in highly controlled contexts, it can also compromise the expression of terroir,” Felipe tells me. “For us, native microbes are not a variable to manage; they’re a vital part of the coffee’s identity.”
While it’s possible to introduce non-native ingredients during processing successfully, the practice requires time, expertise, and experimentation.
“We fermented coffee using hops from the beer industry. The first results were, without exaggeration, some of the most terrible coffees I’ve ever tasted,” says Edwin. “They were so intensely bitter and unbalanced that it was practically undrinkable.
“But I was able to refine the technique by applying a fundamental, time-tested principle from beer brewing – only doing the exact opposite,” he adds. “In beer, bitterness is a marker of quality; in coffee, it’s sacrilege. So, techniques must be adapted with restraint and respect for coffee’s delicate balance. It took several iterations, learning to invert that principle, and refining timing, temperature, and hop types before we achieved balance and clarity.”
In 2024, four baristas won their respective national championships using hop-fermented coffees from Campo Hermosa Coffee.
“Fermentation offers a world of possibilities. We use mossto, hops, fresh and dried fruits, more accessible forms of glucose, and a wide range of yeasts, but we realised commercial strains weren’t ideal,” Edwin adds. “They need to be native strains, extracted from the same coffee varieties we grow.”
Accounting for risks with innovative coffee processing
Creating a sense of exclusivity is one of the most effective ways for producers to market experimentally processed coffees. Prestige and rarity can drive up brand appeal and price, sometimes to remarkable levels.
The limited availability of these coffees also reaffirms its premium positioning. Producers can command higher prices that a small but steady number of buyers are willing to pay.
Simultaneously, however, the proliferation of these coffees can obscure the realities of the broader market – namely, that these coffees are risky investments, and the market for them is likely always to remain comparatively small.
“Experimental fermentations and rare varieties like Gesha or Sidra offer not just unique flavours but compelling stories – and in this saturated market, story is currency,” Felipe says. “That said, we must be cautious. Fermentation can elevate, but it can also mask or distort. We have learned that precision, not novelty, is what sustains quality at scale.
“Failure is expensive, and invisible until it’s too late. A single misstep in pH management or microbial contamination can render an entire lot undrinkable,” he adds. “For example, we lose full nanolots to uncontrolled thermal buildup during closed-tank fermentations that go wrong. They usually cup like fermented banana vinegar – not exactly the goal.”
Ultimately, to achieve the desired results with high-level fermentations, a science-based approach is key. This means investing in infrastructure, such as hermetic tanks and cooling systems, as well as scientific tools like pH meters and microbial tracking devices. Additionally, it involves training in microbiology and sensory calibration, and implementing post-processing stabilisation protocols.
“You need to have terroir specificity, mapping micro plots, soil profiles, and climate diaries,” Felipe says. “Scientific documentation is also crucial to show buyers why a flavour exists, not just what it is.”
Evidently, for producers with fewer resources and reduced access to capital, this poses a significant barrier to experimenting with coffee processing. To support these practices more widely, both Edwin and Felipe assert that collaboration, shared infrastructure, and support are essential.
“Transparent narratives are important, like sharing both successes and failures,” Felipe explains. “Our public Error Library documents processing mistakes for wider industry learning.”
Looking ahead, the future of innovative processing won’t be hyper-fermentations with loud and intense flavours, but coffees with balance and intentional precision.
“We’re highlighting native yeasts, local ingredients, and terroir-driven processes that are truly reflective of place,” Edwin says.
While some emerging markets may embrace more unconventional sensory profiles, authenticity and transparency will steer on-farm decisions.
“Hyper-fermentation will remain relevant, but only if it’s used to elevate terroir, not to overpower it. We’re entering the era of precision and purpose,” Felipe concludes. “The market is maturing beyond flashy fermentation. It wants flavour with intention, integrity, and identity.”
Enjoyed this? Then readour article on how honey processing is evolving.
Photo credits: La Palma y El Tucán
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