Carbonic Maceration in Coffee
It consists of placing the harvested ripe fruits in hermetic barrels before injecting CO2 to create an environment rich in this gas. The CO2 allows the fruits to break down different levels of pectin, often producing bright, winey coffees with strong notes of red berries.
The flavours and aromas produced by carbonic maceration have no way to escape. Instead, they are absorbed by the coffee parchment (seed), which contributes to a stone fruit quality in the cup. In addition, during the process, low temperatures are used to avoid the accumulation of alcohol.
Once the coffee has reached the desired level of fermentation, the fruits continue their process as washed coffee or proceed to drying. (Both processing methods are suitable for carbonic mash coffee).
Unlike anaerobic fermentation, the carbonic maceration of our coffee takes 650 hours to produce a coffee with a suitable flavour. This is because the cherries are left whole when placed in the barrels, rather than being pulped.