What Is Co-Fermented Coffee?

Spotted: a coffee that spent three days in a tank with pineapple and came out better for it. The purists are clutching their pearls. Let’s talk, darling.

Short answer: Co-fermented coffee is coffee that ferments together with something else, usually fruit. The farm adds the fruit to the tank while the coffee cherries ferment, and the beans take on some of that flavour before they are dried and roasted.

• What goes in: Coffee cherries plus fruit (pineapple, peach, apple) and often a chosen yeast
• Where it happens: At the farm, during fermentation, long before roasting
• What it tastes like: Loud, obvious fruit. You don’t have to hunt for the tasting notes
• Who it’s for: Anyone who wants coffee that tastes like something other than “coffee”

How it’s made

Every coffee ferments. After picking, the sugars in the fruit around the bean break down, and that step shapes a lot of the flavour. In a co-ferment, the producer adds a second ingredient to the tank so it ferments along with the coffee.

Our Piña Colada is a good example. It’s a Caturra from Quebraditas Coffee Farm in Oporapa, Huila, Colombia, grown between 1,600 and 1,850 metres. The cherries rest for 24 hours, get pulped, then spend 72 hours submerged with pineapple and yeast. After that the coffee is washed and dried slowly for about 24 days.

What it tastes like

Piña Colada tastes like pineapple, coconut and tropical fruit, with a creamy finish. Co-ferments in general are fruit-forward and easy to read. If a classic washed coffee whispers, a co-ferment talks at full volume.

Is it “real” coffee?

Some people in coffee say no. We think that’s gatekeeping. A clean washed coffee can be wonderful, and a coffee that spent 72 hours in a tank with pineapple can be wonderful too. Liking one doesn’t mean you have to hate the other. Drink what makes you happy.

Quick answers

Is co-fermented coffee flavoured coffee?

Not in the usual sense. Flavoured coffee has syrup or oil added to roasted beans. In a co-ferment, the fruit goes in at the farm during fermentation, and the beans are then washed, dried and roasted like any other coffee.

Is there alcohol in it?

No. Fermentation happens on the raw coffee at the farm. What you buy is roasted, non-alcoholic coffee.

How should I brew it?

Go a little cooler than usual. For pour-over, try water at 92°C and a total brew time of 2:30 to 3:00. Cooler water keeps the fruit bright.

Why does it cost more?

It takes more work and more risk. The farm buys fruit, runs a longer fermentation and loses the batch if it goes wrong.

Try one

Piña Colada, Colombia is our co-fermented coffee. If you want to see the rest of the wild end of the shelf, look at our Angry coffees.

Read next: Co-Fermented, Infused or Flavoured? Where Coffee Draws the Line · Piña Colada Colombia Pour-Over Recipe · Terroir vs Fermentation: Who Gets Credit for the Flavour?

You know you love it.
xoxo, The Angry Roaster