Fermentation in coffee refers to the microbial reaction of yeasts and
bacteria breaking down the sugars in mucilage. This process produces acids
which will later add complexity and depth to a coffee. This reaction has been
studied and developed in coffee-growing regions everywhere, and great care
is taken to understand and master this process. Producers utilize a wide
variety of methods to control or enhance fermentation in their coffees. Some
processing methods are stylistic, while others are executed out of necessity
due to lack of resources such as water.
The washed, or wet, process is a common practice all over the world and
is the most widely accepted method in specialty coffee today. Beans are
pulped from their skin and fermented in cement tanks. Then, the beans are
rinsed with running water and the remaining mucilage is dried. This process
greatly controls fermentation and allows for terroir-driven flavors. With this
process one will clearly be able to taste inherent qualities of the coffee itself.
Controlling and inhibiting fermentation also decreases difficulty in creating a
consistent coffee from cup to cup. Clean, vivid and complex flavors are
expected in coffees labeled with low fermentation.
Pulped natural, semi-washed, and honey processing are all moderately
fermented to highlight sweetness and body. A common practice with this
level of fermentation is to allow the mucilage to coat the coffee beans after
they are pulped. This mucilage will continue to ferment on the bean while the
sun dries out, thus stabilizing the coffee. Coffees treated with these processes
tend to be universally loved, and are helpful components to a blend lacking in
sweetness. These processes typically result in creamy, sweet, and
approachable cups of coffee.
Coffee drinkers have always been fascinated with natural, or dry,
processed coffees. The flavors produced from so-called natural process can be
some of the most complex, intense and colorful flavors that one can ever
experience in coffee. Producers pick ripened coffees and immediately spread
them on patios or raised beds to be dried. This allows for fermentation to
occur within each individual bean. Each cherry will have slight variances in sugar content, and therefore slight variances in fermentation will occur. To be
successful, coffees must be picked at uniform ripeness to ensure that sugar
content within each cherry is similar. This allows for the fermentation process
to be similar from cherry to cherry. Coffees with high fermentation will have
exaggerated and wild characteristics. Fruity, wine-like and complex nuances
in the cup are expected.
【題組】44. Which of the following does this process in the first paragraph refer to?
(A) Growing of coffee (B) Production of coffee
(C) Fermentation in coffee (D) Reaction of sugar in coffee