The Coffee Producer Toolkit #3: Fermentation

Support the show on PatreonIn this third episode, we give you a practical manual to take control of your fermentations and improve your farm's profitability. We start with the basics — what is actually happening inside your tank, where the microbes come from, and why your coffee is going to ferment whether you want it to or not. Then we go through five ways commercial microbes can make you money: consistency batch to batch, long fermentations you can run safely, lifting the score of your worst cherries rather than your best, clearing bottlenecks in your wet mill, and extending your coffee's shelf life. We cover what a well-run fermentation actually looks like — the cleaning, the monitoring, the record-keeping — with a step-by-step blue-barrel protocol for smaller farms and guidance on when to move to tanks. We also look at the investment sums needed for commercial yeasts and how to justify them. And we finish with the difficult questions — the environmental worries, whether using a starter culture is the same as adulterating your coffee, and how to talk about all of this with buyers who may view commercial microbes with suspicion.Related podcast episodes:Lucia: #72: Planning Your First Coffee Fermentation Trials? Start Here. #76: How Commercial Microbes Threaten The Coffee Industry#80: How Microbiology Can Explain Beginner's LuckJames:Filter Stories - Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavoursFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia Fridolin Stocker— Mount Sunzu, ZambiaShyira washing station, RwandaEvangelos Filippatos, La CabraLa Cabra, CopenhagenHelen Riley — NovonesisGunne Øregaard — NovonesisFranz Zeimetz — Lost Origin Coffee Labs, PanamaAlejandra Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto RicoGustavo Arroyo — Rancho Contento, Puerto RicoResources: pH meter & bufferThermometerNovonesis Pichia yeastNovonesis Lactobacillus bacteriaPressure washerFermentation Log SheetYeast’s impact on the environment in research on vineyardsSprudge Best Of Panama coverageLucia’s Fermentation Training CampCoffee Wet Mill SanitizeOpciones para la desinfección del beneficioCabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol Lucia's Favorite Tools:Temperature GunAmbient Temperature SensorTemperature ProbepH meter & buffer solution Cover Art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainProSupport the show