The Fermentation Project 2026:
A Global Tasting Event
The Fermentation Project is an exciting global tasting event led by James Hoffmann (award-winning coffee professional, author, and communicator known for his influential work in specialty coffee), Lucia Solis (coffee fermentation and processing specialist), and Caravela (sourcing partner).
This project was designed as an educational tool to talk about the power and limitations of controlled fermentation. When most of the speciality coffee world is thinking about co-ferments/infusions and extreme processing, it's a chance to have a different conversation about the role of processing beyond creating intense flavours.
Get involved with the project
The Fermentation Project involves a live global cupping hosted by James Hoffman at the beginning of September. The exact date is yet to be confirmed, but keep an eye on this page or our socials for updates. This means that you can cup the coffees along with the livestream from the comfort of your home!
The four coffees are now available for pre-order and will be roasted on Monday 10th August and shipped out from Wednesday 12th August so there's plenty of time to receive the coffee before the live event. You can choose between 4 x 100g bags or 4 x 250g bags which will be presented in one of our Glen Lyon Coffee branded boxes, with information about each coffee and how to cup.
An introduction to fermentation in coffee
Like wine or kombucha, coffee is indeed a naturally fermented drink. Every coffee bean that we roast has been fermented to a certain degree. All coffee ferments during the processing period including the traditional washed and natural processed coffees that make up most of the world's market — fermentation begins as soon as the coffee cherry is picked from the tree when microorganisms like yeasts and bacteria start to break down the sugars in the picked coffee cherries’ sticky sweet mucilage to create a coffee’s acidity and fruit-forward notes. But producers actively encouraging, prolonging, and controlling the process is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Manipulating the fermentation process— such as removing oxygen, extending the fermentation time or even adding extra ingredients into the coffee fermentation tanks—can give the final cup noticeably different and unique flavours.
introduction to cupping
Cupping is how we ‘taste’ coffee in the industry. This standardised sensory evaluation method is used by everyone from roasters to producers and importers. It’s how we assess the aroma, flavour, acidity, body and aftertaste of a coffee as well as to spot taints or defects.
The cupping process itself involves a strict standardised procedure, but this is really quite straightforward and it is something you can do at home.
