You have seen the words on our bags. Anaerobic. Natural. Sometimes both at once. Here is what they actually mean, without the jargon.
Natural process, in plain terms
Natural means the coffee cherry dries whole, with the fruit still on the seed. The bean sits inside that sweet fruit for weeks while it dries, and it drinks up all of that flavor. Naturals tend to taste like berries and tropical fruit, big and juicy. For how this compares to washed and honey, see coffee processing explained.
So what does anaerobic add?
Anaerobic means the cherries ferment in a sealed tank with the oxygen pushed out. That low oxygen world changes which microbes do the work. Different microbes make different flavors, and the ones that thrive without oxygen tend to create the wild, vivid notes you taste in these coffees. Think grape candy, red wine, ripe berry.
Add a second sealed fermentation and you get what we call a double anaerobic. More control, more complexity, more layers in the cup.
How to taste the difference
Brew an anaerobic natural next to a clean washed coffee. The washed cup feels clean and bright. The anaerobic natural feels loud and fruity, almost like candy. Neither is better. They are two different kinds of pleasure.
Anaerobic coffees move through our weekly drop often. Get on the drop list and we will text you when the next one lands.