Specialty coffee · Worth knowing

Ana María Donneys at Finca Primitivo in Colombia has developed a distinctive anaerobic fermentation process for her Green Mist lot that prioritizes clarity over intensity. Her method combines 24 hours of carbonic maceration, followed by 72 additional hours of the same, then an extended anaerobic period totaling nearly 96 hours, guided by selected yeasts rather than left to chance. Each fermentation stage is deliberately controlled to prevent the process from dominating the final cup, resulting in a clean, layered profile with notes of fresh mint, jasmine, and cocoa. This approach demonstrates that anaerobic fermentation can achieve precision and restraint rather than the heavy, funky characteristics typically associated with the method. Beyond her processing innovations, Donneys co-founded IWCA Colombia, an organization supporting women building careers in specialty coffee.

The Global Coffee Awards crowned top roasters across multiple regions, with Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters in Colorado winning the overall championship in the US and Canada segment. Other winners included Cafe Kreyol from Virginia in the Filter category, Lucky's Coffee Roasters from California in the Espresso category, Soul Cafe Coffee Roasters from New York in the Flat White Dairy category, and Pulp Coffee from Texas in the Ready to Drink category. Applications for the Global Coffee Awards Europe remain open through 21 October, with all regional winners competing for the World's Best Roaster title on 18 & 19 March 2027. Pact Coffee, a UK roaster, set a new auction record at the 2026 Best of Congo Cooperatives, paying US$55.50/kg for Izuba, one of the first anaerobically fermented lots from the DRC produced by growers at Yetu Qahwah. The coffee will be released as a limited-edition offering on Pact's menu in 2027, highlighting specialty coffee's growing interest in innovative fermentation processing methods.

Gesha occupies a unique position in specialty coffee as simultaneously a plant variety, historical lineage, sensory reference point, and market phenomenon. The lineage traces back to Ethiopian coffee forests through research stations in Africa and the CATIE germplasm system in Central America before reaching Panama in the 1960s, where high elevation and lot separation transformed it into an internationally recognized specialty coffee. The variety represents an Ethiopian landrace distinct from the narrow Bourbon-Typica cultivated base dominating Latin American coffee, offering genuinely different agronomic and sensory characteristics including jasmine, bergamot, peach, citrus, and tea-like aromas when grown at suitable high elevations. The modern breakthrough occurred at Panama's 2004 Best of Panama competition when Hacienda La Esmeralda's separated high-elevation Jaramillo lot demonstrated exceptional aromatic distinction, establishing lot separation as equally important as cultivar genetics in revealing quality potential. Recent 2025 research on Panamanian Geisha supports that altitude above 1,700 meters and cooler fermentation conditions correlate with higher sensory scores, though local farm management, harvest selection, and processing remain critical variables. Processing methods—washed, natural, honey, or elaborate fermentation protocols—act as a lens revealing or transforming varietal potential rather than creating genetic identity, and authentic Gesha requires transparent provenance information beyond prestige pricing to justify its premium market position.

Discover Shoondhisa Natural and Shoondhisa Anaerobic — the same Ethiopian coffee from Station Sookoo Coffee processed in two different ways to showcase how processing methods transform taste. The natural processing and anaerobic fermentation techniques each bring out unique flavor expressions from the same origin, offering distinctly different taste experiences featuring notes of blueberry, orange, berry compote, and strawberry juice. This comparative offering demonstrates the practical impact of specialty coffee processing methods on the final cup profile, available in both filter and espresso roasts.