Fine coffee made by artificial fermentation without the help of civets

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If wine, beer and cheese are all fermented, why not apply the same method to coffee beans? According to Well+Good, almost 83% of American adults drink coffee, but the latter figure is not very good-74% of Americans have so-called intestinal problems. Now Afineur, a biotech company based in Brooklyn, has created a fermentation process that reduces digestive problems caused by drinking coffee and will change the lives of many coffee addicts.

Afineur ferments the green coffee beans for two days before they are roasted. The final flavor is based on the chemical reactions between coffee beans and different microorganisms, which will reduce the bitterness, astringency and acidity of coffee, and make a cup of smooth coffee with flower and fruit flavor.

Treehugger points out that throughout the fermentation process, microbes eat chemicals that make coffee beans bitter after roasting, leaving flavor-enhancing substances that do not cause palpitations and gastrointestinal discomfort after drinking. Dr. Delebecque, CEO and founder, explained that people with acid reflux and irritable bowel disorders can drink this new type of coffee even if they are usually more sensitive to traditional coffee. The reduced bitterness also means that this fermented coffee tastes more mellow! He and another founder, Dr. Sophie Deterre, spent a year successfully controlling the reaction between coffee beans and microbes to create coffee that is both delicious and good for the body.

The two founders, Camille Delebecque, have a doctorate in microbiology and train bioengineers; Sophie Deterre, who has a doctorate in food process engineer, has worked in the field of food science for many years and has been involved in a number of projects, including the enhancement of the flavor of Grand Marnier orange wine.

Afineur fermented boutique coffee is inspired by Indonesian civet coffee, but it is a more practical and affordable option. Civet coffee, also known as Kopi Luwak in Indonesian, is actually Kopi Luwak, one of the most expensive and precious kinds of coffee in the world. In Southeast Asia, civets as small as cats are imprisoned in small cages, forced to feed coffee beans and fermented in their digestive systems, which are excreted and roasted because the beans cannot be digested. It becomes a round, full-bodied coffee, leaving an unforgettable aftertaste. In addition to the humanitarian issues, the price of civet coffee is also astonishingly high, which can cost as much as $80 a cup.

Afineur uses artificial fermentation to replace the fermentation process of coffee beans in the musk cat's stomach. For Dr. Delebecque, it's a way to combine his interests in biology and food. "I'm a biologist and I've always been a food enthusiast," said Dr. Delebecque, who has a doctorate from the University of Paris V and Harvard. "fermented coffee is only the first step for the biological startup to change the food of the future, which they hope will reduce the irritation of traditional food to the body, increase vitamins and protein, and make the food taste better.