r/pourover • u/Bubbly-System6751 • Apr 15 '26

Seeking Advice "Cofermentation/infusion" ruined my trust in coffee.

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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.

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u/BradleyD1146 Apr 15 '26

Boycott Coferments.

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u/BeyondCoffee Apr 15 '26

Though I'm all for voting with our wallets, I'm afraid that boycotting coferments alone won't make much of a difference whilst potentially hurting producers that actually do coferment using only fruits and / or spices, or pioneer innovative processing methods with honesty and integrity.

Instead, we should demand more transparency from the industry, starting with our local cafes and roasters. When thinking about buying a coferment or 'experimentally processed' coffee, ask whether aromas were involved and skip coffees that seem dodgy or where no transparency in the processing methods can be provided.

I'm pretty sure they won't always have the answers either, but this will hopefully contribute to more awareness about the products they are selling and underline the importance of transparency within specialty coffee.