Do Co-ferments Suck?

Well…it is complicated.

Experimentation drives the specialty coffee industry.  At the farm-level, the best farms are the ones that embrace change and experiment with growing, harvesting, and processing in order to improve the quality of their crop.  At the roaster level, the best coffee roasters are always tinkering with airflow, charge temps, drum speed in order to get the more out of a bean and on the retail side, the best shops are the ones that don’t settle on just one way to brew coffee; they are always trying out new techniques for coffee extraction.  Why?  Some of this experimentation is driven by competition but a lot of the drive to push things forward is because coffee professionals are always asking questions: Is this the best way to do it?  Can I do it better?  What if we….?  The co-ferment world we are now in is a direct result of this experimental spirit within the specialty coffee industry.

Dry-processed coffee. Coffee cherries drying in the sun during at Finca Loma La Gloria, El Salvador

What is a co-ferment coffee?

Co-fermenting coffee is a method used to process coffee at origin.  After harvesting, coffee can be dry/natural-processed, washed, honeyed, or semi-washed in order to remove skin, pulp and parchment that surrounds a coffee bean.  Each processing style will have a drastic impact on how that coffee tastes once it is roasted.  Take one coffee and process it in a Natural method, you will get a coffee filled with dried berries in the cup; take that same coffee and process it using the Washed method and that coffee takes on far more citrus in the cup.

Honeyed Coffee also at Finca Loma La Gloria, El Salvador

All coffee, regardless of processing style, will go through some sort of fermentation when air borne yeast interacts with natural sugars in the fruit of the coffee.   (Coffee can certainly be over or under fermented during processing which is why good farms demonstrate a high level of quality control as they prepare their coffee for export.)

In the wine industry, co-fermenting usually refers to the technique of allowing different grape varietals to ferment together which can lead to new and very different flavor profiles in a wine.  With coffee, co-ferments are achieved by adding fruit or herbs to coffee during fermentation or by adding fermented yeast cultures from fruit to coffees during the fermentation process in a controlled environment.  The goal, like with wine co-ferments, is to open up new avenues of flavor that would not be possible with traditional processing methods.   For example, a farmer could add mango, passion fruit or pineapple cultures to his/her coffee and the end result on the cupping table would then highlight those specific fruits.

Yet another way coffee is processed: Anaerobic Nartual —fermentation in sealed bags, not in the sun. Photo: Finca La Bolsa Guatemala.

When I sold Bird Rock Coffee back in 2017, co-ferments were just starting to appear.  Some farms we worked with, like Finca Santa Ana in Guatemala, were experimenting with the process but those were the very early days of the processing movement and most farms that were interested were simply in the testing/experimental-mode.   

Flash forward to 2025, co-ferments are THE  big thing and very very trendy.  It seems as though most high-end specialty retailers now offer at least one co-ferment at all times.  Black and White Coffee seems to be leading the charge by offering a range of options from farms that are embracing the processing method but many of the top roasters in the country are eager to showcase this relatively new processing methodology.

For coffee farmers who excel at the style this is excellent news because the value of their crop only increases given more and more roasters want to offer co-ferments to their customers  — and not just US roasters but the style has become very popular in Asia and other parts of the specialty coffee-drinking world.  More demand leads to higher sales prices for farmers so this trend could represent a very real and potentially more profitable revenue stream for farmers who are skilled at the process.

But shiny new things often come with controversy.  In the coffee world, there are the detractors for specific kinds of processing and co-fermenting is no exception.  I know industry people who don’t like naturals because they say it adds to the coffee’s flavor profile “artificially.”  While I think this is a damn silly argument considering all coffee was first processed naturally over 400 years ago in Ethiopia and Yemen, these detractors think of themselves as purists and may only drink washed coffee for this reason.  To each their own but co-ferments do seem to elicit similar strong opinions that may or may not be founded on anything historical or scientific.

Think Belgian beers vs. German beers: Both countries have beer brewing traditions that go back centuries but it has been common practice to add orange peel and herbs during the brewing process of Belgian Wit beers in order to add a refreshing citric element to the drinking experience but the Germans would be fully against these additives.  They found beer additives so repulsive, in fact, that in 1516 German Purity Beer Law was passed which made it illegal make beer with anything other than water, barley, hops and yeast.   Does this mean that German beers are better?  Or are the Belgian beers less Beer-like?   I think if you are German, the answer would be “yes” but Belgian beers are still incredibly popular.  Clearly we are talking about a matter of perspective.

So back to our question: Are co-ferments good or do they indeed suck?  And if they do suck, do they suck purely based on philosophical grounds “they are not traditional/pure” or do they actually suck as a consumable product?

I did not have a lot of experience with co-ferments until I participated in a few co-ferment-centric cuppings at the Expo in Houston this past April.  I had no idea what to expect and, initially, I found a few to be rather interesting.  I cupped one apricot co-ferment that was straight-up apricot tea.  Remarkable in that it tasted so little like coffee but at the same time horrible because it tasted so little like coffee.  I could drink one cup but if that was my only option for my morning cup coffee coffee for a week, I would mostly likely temporarily stop drinking coffee, the curiosity seemed to pass quickly for me.

Many of the co-ferments I have tried so far don’t have much to do with actual coffee but everything to do with what they are fermented with; many seem rather heavy-handed in their approach.  This does not mean all co-ferments are horrible or that you should avoid them.  In fact, some co-ferments are very good.  The number one coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 coffees for 2024 was a co-ferment, a Kona coffee fermented with oranges that scored a remarkable 98 points.

Obvioulsy a very large market exists for these coffees but who do they appeal to?  As a person pushing 60 who has been in the industry since 2002, they simply don’t hold a lot of interest for me.  However, I noticed in Houston that the people who are raving about the co-ferments were mostly youngster, early to mid 20s, coffee professionals just really starting their coffee journey which got me thinking a bit; albeit making a gross generalization based on a tiny sample I do wonder if co-ferments are, in fact, practice or beginner coffees.  Are co-ferments coffees for people who don't want to take the time or who cannot pick up the flavors that already exist in great coffees that are more traditionally processed?

Certainly, one can argue that for many passive coffee drinkers, tasting notes of “tropical fruit” on a bag of a washed Ethiopian coffee might not actually transfer to the end user’s kitchen table.  While a coffee professional may taste papaya, passion fruit or lychee in the cup, those flavors might not be highlighted by the end-user’s Mr. Coffee machine and/or detectable by someone who only has one cup of coffee per day — vs. a professional who cups perhaps 100s of coffees per week.

Co-ferments, then, fill that space.  If you are drinking a coffee that has been co-fermented with papaya or passion fruit or lychee, chances are, regardless of your coffee-drinking expertise, you will taste those flavors in your morning cup of coffee.   And maybe these co-ferments have the added value of helping people transition away from Starbucks/Peets and eventually lead them to higher end more refined coffee experience.

I won’t go as far as saying co-ferments are bad for the industry.  They do not suck on a philosphical level. Any tool that allows the grower to reach more customers or sell coffee for more money is a plus for the industry.  The same thing happened when Honeyed coffees got really popular several years ago; suddenly farms had a new tool to work with and a new way to market their coffees.  If co-ferments broaden the audience for great coffee, I am down with it. Bottomline,  a lot of people seem to like them so growers should, will, and are going to produce co-ferments in greater quantities over the next few years.

Just based on what is in the cup, however, I do think they suck.  There, I said it. Deal with it.  As of now. Maybe I just have not had enough good ones. I had one from Quailstreet coffee that I enjoyed but most I don’t. For me I think too often the actual coffee is lost in the co-ferment ingredients making it less coffee and more…well, I am not really sure. But certainly, that could change as the processing method evolves.

When it comes to sourcing coffee to roast and sell, I believe there are still plenty of fantastic natural, washed, and honeyed coffees out there.  The Kenya crop this year was very good.  I have been cupping some outstanding naturals from Ethiopia lately and fresh-crop coffees from Colombia seem terrific.  I do worry that chasing the co-ferment dragon might cause people to miss some remarkable coffee drinking opportunities not only this year but for years to come.  The other possible downside could come at the expense of great washed or natural coffees as more and more growers commit a higher percentage of their time and resources to co-ferments.  In a few years, will it be more difficult to source excellent washed coffees in Colombia as this co-ferment boom continues?  If so, that would be a real tragedy and a big loss for the industry.

Regardless of your opinion, co-ferments are here, pretty easy to find and I belive they are worth trying. The thing I love most about coffee is the journey.  Finding out what tastes good to you, is a big part of that journey.

At this point I would provide a link to our co-ferment coffee for sale, but, alas, you won’t find them here. If you like blueberries and tropical fruit, however, I suggest you check this this one out. Trust me, it is better than a co-ferment :)