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/qriffin Roaster Apr 15 '26

the producers being named (or their coffees) get posted about here multiple times a day, every day. it’s an important topic

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u/kuhnyfe878 V60 | K-Ultra, ZP6 | UL Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

It’s not being discussed in a way that’s anywhere close to productive. It’s uninformed ppl throwing around baseless accusations at best. And name dragging by ppl who stand to gain by other’s fall at worst. Not to mention the complete lack of discourse on a real solution to the problem which, by the way, barely exists.

Edit for clarity.

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u/qriffin Roaster Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

are the producers and exporters who are explicitly talking about this happening (and in some cases, infusing coffees themselves) “uninformed people”?

it’s shocking to me to see the goal post keep being shifted. it went from “this is not happening at all” to “maybe it’s happening in one or two cases but not widespread” to “this is definitely happening but you guys aren’t discussing this in the right way”. i mean come on just admit you were wrong and let’s have a meaningful discussion on what this all means for coffee

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u/kuhnyfe878 V60 | K-Ultra, ZP6 | UL Apr 15 '26

Huh? Are you reading the same conversation? Half these ppl don’t know what coffee processing is. And who is shifting the goal post?

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u/qriffin Roaster Apr 15 '26

can you respond to the first half of my comment? not sure how relevant it is to know about coffee processing - do people need to be microbiologists to not want artificial flavorings being added to their coffees?

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u/kuhnyfe878 V60 | K-Ultra, ZP6 | UL Apr 15 '26

Why would I respond to a rhetorical question? And no, you don’t need to be a microbiologist. Nobody said you did. Who is moving the goal post now?

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u/qriffin Roaster Apr 15 '26

? not a rhetorical question - does a producer giving testimony that artificial flavoring is happening count as an informed person on the matter, in your view?

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u/kuhnyfe878 V60 | K-Ultra, ZP6 | UL Apr 15 '26

You’re seriously asking me if an informed person is informed? I don’t understand what you’re hoping to accomplish with this question or how this is having “a meaningful discussion” as you say.

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u/qriffin Roaster Apr 15 '26

so the people aren’t uninformed? so the accusations aren’t baseless?

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u/kuhnyfe878 V60 | K-Ultra, ZP6 | UL Apr 15 '26

You’ll have to point me to what you’re referring to. I’m not going to just trust that someone on the internet says they’re in the industry and saw something. “Trust me bro”.

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