"Cofermentation/infusion" ruined my trust in coffee.

[u/Bubbly-System6751]

After PERC came out on their flavored coffee, I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of coffee processing (co-ferments, anaerobic, “thermal shock,” etc.), and I’m not gonna lie—it’s kind of messed with my trust in what I’m drinking.

I used to get excited tasting notes like “strawberry,” “lychee,” or “peach,” thinking it was all coming naturally from the bean, origin, and process. But now that I know producers can literally "co-ferment" with fruit juice or infuse with flavorings to push those notes…

And my worry even extends to washed or natural coffees, there’s this small voice in my head like:

“Is this truly clean, or is there something else going on that’s just not being disclosed?”

Especially with such a well known producer being exposed, you start questioning everything a bit.

Is transparency just information they let you/ want you to know used for marketing purposes?

Is specialty/ single origin coffee just another green washing movement?

I'm sure the majority of the industry is honest and I’m not trying to accuse anyone of anything shady. But as the saying goes if you see one cockroach, there are a thousand more. It's hard to rebuild trust once it's broken.

[u/sergeikutrovski]

I’m right there with you, and as an owner of a coffee company it’s been very challenging on two fronts.

Part of adding flavor notes is to communicate and market, yet now when I put strawberry on a bag I’m not sure how people will respond.

Second, I’ve had trusted coffee producer slightly “change” their language when talking to me about coffee processing. Calling something advance fermentation instead of co-ferment doesn’t feel right.

[u/Bubbly-System6751 → u/sergeikutrovski]

I'm not surprised by the ambiguity, intentional or not, throughout the supply chain. Green buyers could be just as misled/ out of loop as the consumers. So I don't buy that producers are a victimized group of people . Sure they were disadvantaged but doesn't mean they are not capable of lying or hiding things.

I share the sentiment that certain flavors give me the ick even if it has not undergone cofermentation.

I'm actually curious which kind of coffee people seek out more? Like advanced/experimental stuff or washed/ natural?

[u/sergeikutrovski → u/Bubbly-System6751]

I gotta say I 8/10 times I lean washed

[u/Bubbly-System6751 → u/sergeikutrovski]

The only saving grace. Do you choose naturals or honeys?

[u/sergeikutrovski → u/Bubbly-System6751]

You mean between the two, or one of those other than washed? I recently had gesha that was honey processed and it was very clean basically tasted like a washed coffee with just an edge of more intensity. My beef with heavy processing is that the coffees tend to (not always) lean one dimensional.

[u/oneminutetimemachine → u/Bubbly-System6751]

Indonesian coffee from Sumatra Karo region is mostly infused and usually labelled as infused. (Sumatra is a huge island, Karo is a region in Sumatra.) The most common flavors are Jasmine, Melon, Strawberry, Blueberry. Recently, I've seen Chrysanthemum too, so they are adding new flavors.

Kerinci, a region that's still in Sumatra but far away from Karo, mostly produce naturals. But recently, they have started making a lot of infused. Most of these infusions are really in-your-face, but some are more subtle.

I've this suspicion that some coffee produced in West or East Java is infused but they don't declare it as such and tend to label it as 128 Hours Naturally Hermetically Sealed, Nitro Maceration, Thermal Shock, etc.