Fermented coffees! - Page 2

October 1st, 2014, 11:36 pm

Ahah!!

It is quite distinct. The final notes and taste profile depend a lot on the specific beans we start with, but we specifically worked on astringency and bitterness for this beta version.

#12: Post by **chang00** » October 1st, 2014, 11:58 pm

Just FYI. Ex vivo fermentation of coffee was studied at Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan, using four strains of the gut bacteria from the civet cat. The principle investigator's name is 陳文祈. The method was transferred to private small farmers in southern Taiwan, and the product has recently been available commercially in Taiwan and Japan.

October 2nd, 2014, 12:16 am

Thanks, that's super interesting. I think I saw a patent from them but could actually never find their research. Any pointers on their scientific publications, the actual product's name and/or reviews of it?

#14: Post by **DavidMLewis** » October 2nd, 2014, 4:36 pm

Also, some years ago Thom Owen at Sweet Maria's sold some Brazilian coffee that had been "treated" in this way by Jacu birds. Since there was at least traceability, I bought a small amount and roasted it up. It also had muted acidity, a heavier body, some honeyed notes, and not too much else of note. I was glad I had tried it and not motivated to seek it out further. Still, I'd be interested in keeping up with what you're doing.

Is there any chance of a bacterium that can break down or modify caffeine?

Best,
David

October 2nd, 2014, 8:01 pm

Yes, microbial activity can degrade caffeine.

#16: Post by **jbviau** » October 2nd, 2014, 10:18 pm

Thanks for the info., Camille.

I noticed some relevant discussion on reddit as well as a Wired article just now:

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- http://www.wired.com/2014/10/civet-coff ... ut-civets/

#17: Post by **chang00** » October 2nd, 2014, 11:34 pm

Here is a video in Chinese from TVBS about the project from ITRI. This project was started after the 921 Earthquake in 1999, where over 2000 people perished. The budget was only a few thousand dollars in US dollars. In the video, it showed Dr Chen and his team, as well as Mr Ruan, the farmer, his organic farm and the 5 civet cats that provided the samples of the bacteria.

Because this project had the goal of improving farmer's livelihood, it is not in the same sense as a commercial venture in the Western society. For those interested, please contact Dr Chen directly instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPZaWMlXJJY#t=603

#18: Post by **sutono** » October 3rd, 2014, 10:11 am

Just to be clear, are you are buying green coffee (processed, and milled and dried), then fermenting it in a controlled setting, or are you finding coffee cherries, then controlling the fermentation, drying, and milling? Curious. Sounds really interesting.

#19: Post by **DavidMLewis** » October 3rd, 2014, 1:46 pm

kmyle wrote:Yes, microbial activity can degrade caffeine.

Well, the devil's in the details, "degrade to what, exactly?" being high on the list. But if you can arrange the process so that it produces a decaf that doesn't require shipping the beans thousands of miles and physically compromising them, and that produces something that tastes good, then you would have something that would finance scaling up and keeping your research running, at the very least.

Best,
David

October 3rd, 2014, 2:36 pm

He said it can degrade caffeine, but not that it can degrade caffeine preferentially, while leaving the beans otherwise unchanged. If the bacteria itself had a taste, or if it also eats other chemicals in the bean that contribute to taste, this would not necessarily be less harmful to the beans than the existing decaffeination methods.