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What does fermentation feel in coffee mean? The difference between anaerobic fermentation/aerobic fermentation/double anaerobic fermentation

Published: 2026-06-05 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/06/05, When many customers go to Qianjie stores to buy coffee beans, they can often hear the descriptor "fermentation feeling", so they have the following conversation: Customer: What is the fermentation feeling? (What is fermentation?) Front Street: It's like a fully ripe or even over-ripe fruit aroma, similar to the smell of alcohol. Guest: I don't drink alcohol! (I don't

When many customers go to Qianjie stores to buy coffee beans, they can often hear the descriptor "fermentation feeling", so they have the following dialogue:

Guest: What is the fermentation feeling? (What is fermentation?)

Front Street: It's like a fully ripe or even over-ripe fruit aroma, similar to the smell of alcohol.

Guest: I don't drink alcohol! (I don't drink!)

Front Street: Without alcohol ~(without alcohol ~)

So, what is the "fermentation feeling"?

Many people may not know that coffee is actually a fermented food. In daily life, there are many foods that we are familiar with, such as kimchi, soy sauce, wine, cheese... as well as fermented bean curd, stinky tofu, etc., which are all fermented foods. Although everyone has mixed comments on them, when describing their feelings, they almost always use one word: fermentation.

For people who drink coffee frequently,"fermentation" is a polarizing topic. People who like it will like it very much, while people who don't like it will avoid it.

The word "fermentation feeling" is indeed common in coffee, but its essence does not just refer to a specific flavor, but a taste that is highly recognizable. In general, well-received fermented coffees usually have strong fruit aroma with high maturity, appropriate wine feel, and present complex flavor tonality, as well as just the right balance of sweet and sour and mellow.

How did you get the feeling of fermentation?

Qianjie often mentions the great impact of processing methods on coffee flavor. Similarly, fermentation is also a key step in the coffee processing process. The fermentation feeling in coffee is a natural product from the picking of ripe fruits to subsequent processing. According to the fermentation environment, we can roughly divide it into two situations: aerobic fermentation and anaerobic fermentation.

Aerobic fermentation requires full contact with oxygen, usually the whole coffee cherry/peeled into an open lid barrel, open air fermentation, this kind of coffee usually has a soft fruity, sour and sweet feeling is relatively balanced;(sun and honey treatment will also carry out a certain aerobic fermentation, but the degree is low, fermentation taste will not be particularly heavy).

Anaerobic fermentation is to put coffee cherries into a large container, exhaust the air inside, let yeast naturally reproduce until the fermentation is over, and then let coffee cherries undergo sun or water treatment. (Double anaerobic fermentation is to first let yeast anaerobic fermentation, and then add lactic acid bacteria for secondary fermentation).

Properly handled fermentation will increase the aroma of coffee, because large molecules such as sugars are broken down into smaller molecules with higher volatility, which mostly show dark berries (raspberries, strawberries, mulberries) and ripe tropical fruits (pineapple, mango, guava), or obvious wine flavor.

But once the fermentation process is not properly controlled, coffee will be like a "rotten" fruit. Although it has aroma, it will also produce a bad taste. To make an inappropriate analogy, we can smell the sweet aroma of a banana that is just ripe. Once it becomes a "leopard banana" after a few days and black spots appear all over the body, then it will be very soon. Smell a burst of alcohol.

What types of fermented coffee are there

We have to admit that high-quality fermentation results have indeed brought more complex aromas, stronger flavors, and richer layers to coffee. But Qian Jie believes that these are not the criteria for judging the quality of a cup of fermented coffee, our own preferences are the most important.

1. If you like lightly fermented coffee, you will give priority to sun-dried beans. Because the complete skin and meat are retained when dried, the coffee will transform into more fruity fruits, mainly showing floral fragrance, peach, sweet orange, strawberry, guava, apricot... and other flavors are more delicate and bright. You can try Qianjie Sun-dried Hamaiu, Qianjie Sun-dried Huakui, Qianjie Guixia Village Red Label.

2. If you want to drink coffee with sweetness higher than acidity, you must find flavors and describe them as mango, pineapple, papaya, banana, dried apricot, preserved fruit... These smells can remind you of high-sweet aromas, such as using honey. The processed Qianjie Blackberries are as sweet as wine because they are briefly fermented before drying.

3. If you want to buy coffee with the richest fermentation aroma, the most complex taste and the closest to fruit wine, pick single beans with the words "anaerobic" or "double anaerobic". The controllable fermentation process provides coffee with a broader flavor intensity. They mostly show the strong flavors of ripe fruits such as passion fruit, jackfruit, guava, and pineapple. The flavors are concentrated, and they taste sweet, sour and juicy, as well as wine-like flavor. If you want to get such a rich fermentation experience, Qianjie Xizhao and Qianjie navel are the most typical representatives.

FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。